Back on the boards

Eugenie Bouchard provided relief from a deluge of bad injury news in the women’s game ahead of the Australian Open, as the Canadian won 6-2, 6-1 against Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the Hobart International on Monday. The former No. 5 is on the comeback trail since sustaining a concussion when she fell in the dressing room during last year’s U.S. Open, with the Shenzhen Open last week being her first tournament since. Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., said before her first match in Hobart she had “zero expectations” for the tournament as she eases back into competitive tennis after the four-month layoff.