It certainly was not the outcome anyone was anticipating but to be perfectly honest, Eugenie Bouchard’s early departure from the Rogers Cup could be exactly what the doctor ordered for the young Canadian heading into the season’s final major at the USTA National Tennis Center in New York.
There is no question Tuesday evening’s 6-0, 2-6, 6-0 thrashing at the hands of American qualifier Shelby Hunter will be tough for fans across the Great White North to stomach, especially with it coming on home soil, but in the grand scheme of things it truly means nothing. As much as all of Canada would have loved to have seen their new darling dominate in her own backyard, the time to start playing for keeps begins in three weeks’ time.
With all due respect to those who do such a wonderful job in putting together this tournament on an annual basis, be it Montreal or Toronto, Bouchard’s goal remains the same….winning the first Grand Slam title of her career. As nice as a Rogers Cup crown would have likely felt, a US Open Championship would obviously dwarf it in comparison.
In order to have any shot at earning her fourth consecutive trip into the final weekend of major championship, the number eight player in the world will have to be firing on all cylinders and at the moment…she is clearly nowhere near her best. Bouchard looked nothing like the player who reached the Wimbledon Women’s Final roughly five weeks ago but in her defence, her appearance in Montreal was Eugenie’s first time back on the court since being humbled by Petra Kvitova at the All England Club.
The rust in her overall game was obvious and playing at home did not help. From start to finish it was ugly and in a sense, it very much resembled her dismantling at the hands of Kvitova at Wimbledon. Having said that, expecting this kid to use both of those results as fuel to help find her game would be wise. Bouchard is scheduled to be back in action next week in Cincinnati and you can bet she will look nothing like the player we saw on Tuesday evening.
This writer's guess is being embarrassed in the manner she was will push her to refocus and concentrate on what really matters: winning matches. Bouchard is at her best when she plays with a chip on her shoulder and almost dares her opponent to come at her. That player never surfaced against Hunter but something tells us that will change in Ohio.
After a solid week of practice and allowing the disappointment of being dismissed from the Rogers Cup in the manner she was to become nothing more than just another result, look for Eugenie Bouchard to be all business in Cincinnati and come out of the gate with something to prove. Now that does not mean she will go out and win the tourney, but if this author were a betting man, his money would be on this young lady finding her game in time to take another serious stab at earning that first Grand Slam title of her career and at the end of the day, that is all anyone will ever remember.