One... and done
Injured Canadian star sent packing after first-round defeat to No. 117-ranked Duan
Eugenie Bouchard was the belle of Wimbledon last year. This time around, it was a gong show.
WIMBLEDON— Fade to black for Eugenie Bouchard.
Who, among her other myriad problems, seems to think that black is the new white. Not lacy black either, but functional sports bra black.
That little swatch of undergarment visible on one shoulder nearly got Canada’s It Girl a dress code violation Tuesday afternoon on top of an ignominious first-round exit from the fussiest tennis tournament on the planet.
“I was not aware of that at all,” the taken aback 21-year-old told reporters, who wondered whether she’d been cautioned about her attire. “And no one told me anything about my bra.”
More on what really matters — a straight-set heaveho at the hands of an opponent ranked 117th on the ladies world depth chart — shortly. But first, a word from the Wimbledon official website on matters of apparel, which stipulates competitors must be clad in “almost entirely white” when entering the “court surround.”
The directive continues: “Any undergarments that are or can be visible during play (including due to perspiration) must also be completely white except for a single trim of colour no wider than one centimetre.
Bad Genie. Such was her fashionista transgression that court umpire Louise Engzell radioed a referee for clarification on the rule. In any event, Engzell let it pass, this time, not even issuing a caution.
But it was all the rage on social media and along press room row, at least among delighted British tabloid scribblers.
We now return to our regularly scheduled sports reportage.
Didn’t take long for Bouchard to get booted from SW19: 90 minutes. One and done.
The belle of Wimbledon just a year ago crashed out 7-6, 6-4, ousted by Chinese qualifier Ying-Ying Duan, and will forthwith fall out of the top 20, perhaps even further, depending on how this competition shakes out. From 2014 runner-up to also-ran.
A Grade 2 abdominal tear suffered a week ago doubtless had something to do with it. Certainly Bouchard laid the brunt of blame on the taped body part beneath her offending brassier. “I just haven’t practised that much. My timing was very off.”
Off and wilting under the torpor of a result studded with 10 double faults — the injury obviously affecting her serve — for a young woman who had Wimbledon and much of the tennis universe eating out of her hand 12 months ago, heralded as the Next Big Thing in the women’s game, celebrated for her attacking style, her cucumber cool under pressure, and of course — though such things shouldn’t matter — her dewy beauty.
The player’s fitness, or lack thereof, has clearly become an issue. At Indian Wells, the ab rip was graded 1.5, so this time it’s worse. “I’m not as strong as I want to be. It’s something I’ve realized and I’ve started to address. I want to find a good trainer who can make me as strong as I can be so I don’t get these injuries.”
So there’s that. And there’s also this: The wisdom of dumping long-time coach Nick Saviano last November — been with him since age 12 — and hiring Sam Sumyk, all scowling and Rasputin looking in the coach’s box Tuesday.
“Maybe I should?” Bouchard countered when asked whether another coaching switcheroo should be contemplated.
After all, her career has gone into a nosedive under Sumyk, with 11 losses in her past 13 matches, including a first-round defeat at the French Open, another to a world No. 113 stiff in Miami, and an embarrassing dispatch in front of a hometown Montreal audience in Fed Cup play, where she was further ridiculed for refusing to shake hands with her opponent (did that twice, actually).
“We definitely haven’t started very well,” Bouchard acknowledged of her yoking with Sumyk, part of a broader entourage overhaul.
This time ’round at the All England Club, even Bouchard’s trademark perky braid looked droopy.
In the context of her current form — which has been horrific — this outcome isn’t shocking; quite predictable as Bouchard’s “Sophomore Slump” season has unfolded. Yet there was immediate gasping and groaning on the social media tomtoms afterwards, among her million-plus Twitter followers, with gusts to anger as if Genie has let everybody down — the girl who famously said she didn’t care for making friends on the women’s tour even had a falling out with her only buddy, Laura Robson. That’s when some of the gossamer started to flake off.
That kind of attitude is a lot easier to pull off when you’re winning. And Bouchard isn’t.
Wimbledon finalist a year ago, Australian Open semi-finalist in 2014, French Open semi-finalist, finished the year ranked No. 7. Where did she go? Impossible to say, though the downward trajectory was well in evidence long before the abdominal ailment surfaced.
Perhaps the schooling really did start at Wimbledon ’14, eviscerated in two sets by Petra Kvitova, because it’s been pretty much straight downhill ever since — falling off the firstround precipice at Roland Garros and now déjà vu again.
In fact, Bouchard looked strong to start this match, less the forlorn girl we’ve seen at tournaments lately — including Eastbourne last week, where she retired in the second round with the injury. Said then she would be at Wimbledon come hell or high water. Put it this way: “I’m going to play no matter what, even if I’m on one leg.”
Two legged and shuffling off the court on them.
Loser to an opponent whose name rang no bells. “I didn’t know who she was.” It’s not supposed to be easy and maybe that’s part of the Genie conundrum. She’s soared with supernova glare since winning the junior title here in 2012. Now she’s throttling backwards, as she did against Duan after breaking her in the first game Tuesday to shouts of “We love you Genie!” from her admirers in the crowd. Broke Duan twice in the first set but was twice broken back en route to a tie-breaker.
Bouchard visibly flagged in the second set and it wasn’t just because of temperatures approaching 34 C.
Afterward, she withstood the gentle grilling from journos with poise and some splashes of humour. Admitted her frustrations, which she hasn’t shown publicly. “I definitely wasn’t going to break my racquet on the court. You can’t do that at Wimbledon.” But, yeah, perhaps later, out of sight. “Maybe something will explode later tonight. I’ll let you know if that happens.”
It’s been a year of living tumultuously and she’s trying to put events in context. “It’s been a huge learning process, to have great results and then have, you know, so much attention, then have bad results, just learning the ups and downs of life and tennis, how things won’t always be good perfectly like I expect them to.
“I’m always trying to keep the belief and stay true to myself and do what I need to do to become as good as I know I can be. It’s really just been kind of eye-opening.”
Then she rolled her eyes. “I’m good for the learning experience to be over now.”
Bouchard recalled the criticism that flew her way after a poor performance at Indian Wells.
“I didn’t feel like it was the end of the world, but to some people it was.”
Snort. “We’re closer to the end of the world now.”