For a starlet of tennis capable of performing well in singles and doubles, who has had a few brilliant weeks on tour, Eugenie Bouchard has hit a setback, hurting her right groin during the Swiss Open semifinal on July 21st against the eventual champion Alize Cornet. Bouchard also cancelled her match in Jiangxi Sunday against Vitalia Diatchenko as well as her slated Thursday appearance (7/26) for the World TeamTennis squad, the New York Empire, which will face off against the Orange County Breakers. The Canadian partnered with Dominika Cibulkova and played into the round of 16 of the women’s doubles bracket in the Birmingham Classic, losing to Katarina Srebotnik and Vania King.
Touched down in Africa. I can officially say I’ve been to every continent on the planet! It’s been one of my life long dreams. So grateful to have these experiences. In the mountains in Marrakech, Morocco, showing off my new handmaid shirt 💕⛰ pic.twitter.com/2YZ8hQiGZA
— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) July 24, 2018
“It happened in the second point of the match,” said Bouchard. “I felt stress or pain in my groin, the adductor. But it was getting continually worse and really hampered my movement.”
“I was really hampered but I was still so close to winning the first set,” said Bouchard. “I’ll have good memories from Gstaad no matter what. I think I made a good run here.”
It was Bouchard’s first trip to a semi-final since January, 2017, when the native of Westmount, Que., reached the final four at a tournament in Sydney.
World TeamTennis, the sport’s remixed round robin competition started by Billie Jean King and her associates, is going on its 43rd season, featuring six touring teams. The reality of the sport’s unpredictable set of circumstances (if not, the grueling schedule) often affect who is on the teams’ lineup cards. The star players are chosen in a schoolyard / fantasy sports styled draft, back on March 13, on the grounds of the Indian Wells Masters. WTT has billed itself as not just a tennis proving ground for the 25 second serve countdown clock, DJ atmosphere and no ad scoring matches, but also a warmup opportunity for players in the run-up to the US Open, among the few other US Open Summer Series events and Challenger Tour tournaments.
The competition also features Vania King, Venus Williams, Jack Sock, Tennys Sandgren, one half of Wimbledon women’s doubles bracket champion Nicole Melichar, Bob and Mike Bryan, 45-year-old veteran Daniel Nestor, and ESPN commentator Mardy Fish. WTT is livestreaming all matches up to the final on August 5 on the league’s viewing platform, http://wtt.tv. “Genie” Bouchard played three seasons of WTT, including one last year for New York.
The New York Empire are winless on the year and already had to deal with John Isner backing out of his one-off match at New York’s home opener, after his grueling showdown with Kevin Anderson at Wimbledon. Though Anderson will be in attendance for the Philadelphia Freedoms tomorrow (7/25), he withdrew from playing for them on the 20th and 21st, after beating Isner and playing in the final of The Championships against Novak Djokovic.
Melichar did eventually play for the Washington Kastles on the 23rd and Sock was able to represent the Springfield Lasers of Missouri last Saturday, after topping the men’s doubles bracket in Wimbledon with his partner Mike Bryan.
Earlier this week, Roger Federer, who lost to Anderson at The Championships, announced he will skip the Rogers Cup in Toronto but indicated that the US Open is in the cards for him. The start date for the US Open is August 27, and the qualifying rounds, free and doors open to the public in New York City, begins the week before, on Tuesday August 21.
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