Following earlier reports, it has been confirmed that Eugenie Bouchard will no longer be working with coach Thomas Hogstedt by a member of her team.
Assistant coach Roberto Brogin has spoken to Vanni Gibertini from Ubitennis about the current status of the Canadian player. Bouchard is experiencing a slump on the tour after falling down to 87th in the world. Since the French Open, she has only managed to win two matches in singles. It has been a difficult period for both her and her team. Brogin has helped guide the 23-year-old on the tour this season.
“Genie asked me if I could help her in 2017, but I have a commitment with the Tennis Canada Player Development Center in Vancouver, so we agreed for a 12-week cooperation, which involved following her in some of the minor tournaments, where Thomas [Hogstedt] would not have been present, and some off-tournament training stints.” He explained.
Originally it was suggested that Bouchard has been dumped by her former coach for Ekaterina Makarova. On the other hand, coach Brogin has a different version of events. Stating that the separation occurred due to Hogstedt’s ‘family issues’ and travel commitments. Placing the former Wimbledon finalist at a crossroads as to what she plans to do for the rest of the season.
“Thomas and Genie ended their cooperation, also because Thomas had some family issues and could not travel as much.” He said. “So now there needs to be a decision on whether to continue playing in 2017 or just focus on 2018. She caught a virus in New York and had to withdraw from Quebec City, Seoul and now also Wuhan. The plan would be to play in Hong Kong and then finish in Luxembourg.”
Already looking to 2018?
Winning just 13 matches in 18 tournaments, Bouchard can be forgiven for wanting to end her season early. Besides a desire to elevate her tennis back to the same quality that took her to fifth in the world, she is also in need of a new team. Borgin has ruled himself out of full time involvement due to his work with tennis Canada. It has been confirmed that Bouchard also has no fitness coach working with her on a permanent basis.
“Genie needs more than a sparring-partner, she needs an experienced coach who can follow her around the world, and that is not an easy find.” Said Brogin.
“She also does not have a fitness coach: she likes working with Gil Reyes, Agassi’s former fitness trainer, but he lives in Las Vegas and is not available to travel, so whenever she can Genie goes to his academy in Vegas and has some training stints with him.”
Trying to pinpoint her recent downfall, Brogin believes it is her mental side that is letting her down. In New York she admitted that her confidence levels were low. An inevitable outcome for a player that has suffered 11 first round defeats in 2017.
“I am not worried about her tennis: if she goes back to playing the way she knows, the ranking will improve very quickly.” Her upbeat assistant coach stated.
“She just needs to find the right balance, the right set-up and the right attitude: she gets very disappointed when she loses, and that affects her more than it should. She has not found an effective way to cope with defeats, which are part of an athlete’s life, and she needs to find the right mindset so that losses do not affect her game so much.”
Should Bouchard end her season early, she could fall outside the top 100 for the first time since May 2013.
