Eugenie Bouchard is set to return at this year’s French Open. The Canadian received a wild card from the FFT earlier this week. Other big names who received a wild card for Roland Garros are Andy Murray and Tsvetana Pironkova.
Prague Open
Bouchard received a wild card for the Prague Open and took full advantage of that. She reached the quarterfinals in Prague, losing to eventual finalist Elise Mertens in three tough sets. Along the road she defeated Veronika Kudermetova easily in two sets. Then, she defeated Tamara Zidansek in three sets, finally losing to Elise Mertens.
Impressive Istanbul Open Run
Furthermore, she showed an incredible form in Turkey. She went through the qualifying stages of this event after receiving a wild card into qualifying. In the qualifying rounds she defeated Ivana Jorovic and Leonie Kung, both in straight sets. Next, she defeated Viktoriya Tomova in straight sets, then in an amazing match defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in three tough sets. In the quarterfinal she beat Danka Kovinic in three sets while in the semi-final she defeated Paula Badosa in two dominant sets. In the final, she eventually lost in a thriller to Romanian Patricia Maria Tig in three hard fought sets.
Her impressive performances in Prague and Istanbul did not go unnoticed. The FFT has granted Bouchard a wild card entrance to the main draw. This will be Bouchard’s first Grand Slam since the 2019 US Open. Her best result in Roland Garros was in 2014, where she reached the semifinals, losing in three sets to the eventual champion Maria Sharapova. Bouchard is looking to have the same success as she did six years ago. When the tour resumed from the pandemic, she was ranked #330. Now, she is ranked #167, all thanks to her stunning performances in Prague and Istanbul.
Continue To Improve
To conclude, Bouchard has clearly improved her tennis, but will need to continue. She will face tougher opponents along the road. What really helps her is that she has experience and has a great coaching team pushing her forward. Rennae Stubbs is now her coach and you can see that her coaching and experience is helping the Canadian. Tim Blenkiron will accompany Bouchard in Paris as he is working with her throughout her current ventures. Expect Bouchard to keep playing quality tennis and continue to improve as she gets more playing time. Maybe, just maybe, she can go down a trip to memory lane and make a deep run at this years French Open just like she did before. Only time will tell, but for now, we will have to just wait.
Main Photo from Getty.
