Eugenie Bouchard continues to surprise the world. Only this time it’s not losing in the first round to an opponent outside the top one hundred, or refusing to shake an opponent’s hand. This time, it’s her choice of coach. As a season nothing short of disastrous comes to a close, with one major to go, Bouchard has brought in a coach to help her through the US Open and perhaps beyond. Given her current situation, one would think she would want someone experienced, someone who would understand what she’s going through and be able to mentor her. That’s what most twenty-one-year-olds would look for in a coach were they in Genie’s shoes.
But Genie has gone and surprised us once again. She’s chosen one of the most fiery personalities in tennis history. A man whose coaching experience on the WTA Tour is a total of one match. Genie Bouchard has hired none other than eight-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one Jimmy Connors.
This seems like a very bizarre choice for several reasons. The first is Connors’ experience or lack thereof. Connors no doubt understands tennis. He won eight slams in his time and spent over two hundred weeks at number one. His career was one of the longest and most successful the sport has ever seen. But as a coach, he has very little experience. He coached Andy Roddick for nineteen months from July 2006 until March 2008, reaching one Slam final together (a loss to Roger Federer at the 2006 US Open). During their time together, Roddick’s days as a consistent contender essentially ended as Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic joined Federer as the cream of the ATP crop. Connors did not coach again until 2013, when he embarked on an ill-fated stint with Maria Sharapova that lasted a mere one match. Connors has very little professional coaching experience to begin with, and next to none on the WTA, which makes him a strange choice for Bouchard, who desperately needs a good coach.
The second reason Connors is an odd choice for Bouchard is Connors’ personality. If Connors is at all as a coach like he was as a player or is as a person, personality clashes with his charge are almost inevitable. Things were tough between Connors and Roddick, but they worked. However, the tension between Connors and Sharapova was too much and that partnership fell apart faster than it had formed. Connors is a big personality. If Bouchard can’t handle that, the partnership will not work. She needs to be ready for Connors to be bossy and to yell and want things his way. And she needs to be ready to be criticized. Connors has never had any problems speaking his mind as long as he’s been in the public eye and that is unlikely to change anytime soon. If she’s losing, he’ll make sure that she knows that he’s not happy about it. She won’t be coddled like a baby anymore. Connors is going to make sure she’s aware when she screws up and he won’t take any of her nonsense. And Bouchard needs to be ok with that.
That being said, the fact that Jimmy Connors is a no-nonsense type a guy may be exactly what Bouchard needs if she wants to return to the top of women’s tennis and stay there. Part of the problem for Bouchard this year has been that there haven’t really been any consequences for her poor performance. Yes, her ranking has fallen and the media rips on her for it, but that hasn’t stopped her from getting all the perks of being a young, blonde celebrity. Has Nike or anyone else canceled her contract? No. Have they even cut down on how much they market her? No. She’s just as famous, if not more, despite her poor play. A non-tennis fan would probably have no idea that Bouchard is stinking up the court every time she steps out to play. At times, it feels like her celebrity status is more important than her play and this is allowed to happen because apparently, no one has reminded her that she became famous for playing tennis and needs to keep playing tennis to stay relevant.
No one may have been willing to stand up to Bouchard about this as of yet. But that is certainly about to change. There is no way that Jimmy Connors will stand by quietly while Bouchard happily leaves the court after a loss to go to some media event. When she plays poorly, he will make sure she knows. He will make sure she feels every loss. This is the man who has been quoted as saying he hated losing more than he liked winning. He will surely bring that philosophy to his coaching. Not only will he want to make Bouchard hate losing as much as he does, but Connors will probably treat every loss by Bouchard as one of his own. And she will not like what happens then. What Connors needs to do, and will no doubt try to do, is get Bouchard to start hating every loss. He needs to motivate her. She needs to start focusing on her tennis again. Right now, it feels as though she cares more about being famous than winning tennis matches. Connors will not let that happen. He’ll work to break down her ego and turn her into a tennis player again.
In that sense, Connors is exactly what Bouchard needs. He’s someone who tells her what she needs to hear. If she’s serious about actually winning tennis matches rather than beauty contests, she’ll listen to Connors. Looking back on the 2014 French Open, the day before her semifinal with Maria Sharapova, TSN was showing a clip of Bouchard arguing with her then coach Nick Saviano on the practice court. Saviano was trying to give her instructions and she wasn’t taking to that well. A month later, she was in the Wimbledon final. Her collapse truly began after parting with Saviano and it’s tough not to wonder whether that’s a big reason why Bouchard has struggled. Have her coaches since Saviano been unwilling to tell her what to do? Quite probably. They’ve probably been sitting back and letting Bouchard focus more on her fame than game and then have not been willing to really impress upon her the severity of her losses. That will not be the case with Connors. If Bouchard lost one thing when she parted ways with Saviano, it was discipline. Connors will certainly try to bring that.
While Connors will certainly be trying to do the right thing with Bouchard, will she listen? That is where problems, potentially career-ruining, could occur. Connors is hard to work with at the best of times. Bouchard has an ego, so how will she deal when she’s being told that she’s screwing up? If Connors tells her not to go to a media event because she needs to practice, will she listen? How well will she take his criticism? Will she be able to handle it when he inevitably yells at her after a bad loss? In most of these cases, Connors will undoubtedly be in the right, even if the way he does it isn’t the best. Can Bouchard’s ego take the abuse Connors will undoubtedly hurl? His job will be to break down her ego. That’s a difficult job at the best of times. Will Bouchard’s ego yield, or will she fight back? If she’s not willing to take Connors’ criticism, it may be a very short partnership. If this is going to work, she needs to listen.
While Connors’ personal playing experience may not benefit Bouchard greatly, their styles aren't the most similar, what he will bring from his playing days is understanding how to play through adversity. Connors was always controversial. Everything he did was always all over the media. He was always the center of attention. Bouchard is the same in many ways and it isn’t always for good reasons. Connors can teach Bouchard how to block these things out. He can help her get her head in check and focus on playing her best despite what’s going on around her. It would have been so easy for Connors to get swept up in the hysteria and collapse on court but he didn’t. But Bouchard is. That needs to stop and there may be no one better to help with that than Connors. If he can help build Bouchard’s mental strength and teach her to block out those types of distractions, she’ll be in much better shape.
Stylistically, Connors may not have been the best choice for Bouchard, but not a bad one either. While they don’t play the same style, there are similarities. Neither one is the biggest or strongest or even fastest player out there. They may not have the best shots or, particularly, serves. But Connors always found a way to win, and that’s what Bouchard needs to do. Maybe he can help her develop her strokes more, getting her attacking more in big matches. He certainly understands how to play the game. He can advise Bouchard in that way. But he is not the best choice if she wants to hit the ball harder or serve better. But she probably doesn’t need to. She showed in 2014 that she is a very capable ball striker. Her priority should be her mental strength, which Connors can certainly help with.
Hiring Jimmy Connors as a coach is a huge gamble by Eugenie Bouchard if he stays on permanently. Connors will be tough and potentially difficult to work with. If she’s not willing to let go of her ego and be dragged down to earth by Connors, all she’ll have managed is getting her name in the newspapers once again. But there is certainly lots of potential for payoff. Bouchard needs to get her head in gear if she wants to win and Connors is certainly capable of that. It won’t be easy. Bouchard needs to be ready to take a lot of criticism and no-nonsense from the American legend. But if she’s patient and willing to do what Connors says, potentially without question, she may be a champion yet.