Bouchard not in mood to talk after Wimbledon win

Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard LONDON generated plenty of headlines Tuesday and it wasn’t for her firstround victory in the qualification draw at Wimbledon.

A one-time finalist at the AllEngland Club, Bouchard gave a terse post-match interview after her 6-0, 6-2 win over Lin Zhu of China. Despite posting a comfortable victory, Bouchard appeared less than enthused and provided pithy answers.

A former top-five player, the 24-year-old Canadian has tumbled down the rankings. Bouchard sits at No. 191 on the WTA Tour list.

It wasn’t immediately clear why Bouchard seemed so displeased. Online reaction was swift after the video clip of the 35-second interview started making the rounds.

The toughest question was the last one: “How hard is it having been in a final here to come back and to have to go through qualifying ?” the interviewer asked.

“It’s not hard at all,” Bouchard said. “I’m happy to be here.”

The interviewer thanked Bouchard, who quickly nodded and walked away.

“Well you probably noticed as she walked over, she was not keen to do the interview,” the broadcaster said.

Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., has yet to beat a top-75 opponent this season.

Bouchard will face world No. 219 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the next round. A third-round victory would get Bouchard a spot in the main draw, set to begin Monday.

In other women’s first-round qualifying matches, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., advanced, while Montreal’s Francoise Abanda and Ontario’s Carol Zhao were ousted.

In men’s second-round qualifying play, Montreal’s Brayden Schnur and Peter Polansky advanced.