Two years ago when Eugenie Bouchard returned to her hometown event at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal, she froze and struggled to play in front of the home crowd.
The former world number five was coming off a trip to the Wimbledon final and was seeded fifth but lost her opening match to Shelby Rogers 6-0, 2-6, 6-0.
The Canadian returns two years later ranked at number 42 in the world as she suffered a terrible 2015 campaign failing to defend her semifinal points at the Australian Open and French Open and suffered a shock first round exit at Wimbledon where a hefty amount of points were dropped from her stellar 2014 breakthrough season.
Dominika Cibulkova will be Bouchard's second round opponent and this clash of two former Grand Slam finalists from 2014 will be a close encounter.
The Slovakian number one has had a good summer of tennis by winning the Premier grass event at the Aegon International in Eastbourne and reached the quarterfinals at SW19 arguably playing the match of the tournament and certainly a candidate for match of the year against Agnieszka Radwanska.
How they got here
Bouchard had a tough first round match against fellow former Grand Slam finalist, Lucie Safarova and the Czech herself has struggled with injuries and illness with being ranked at 28 in the world due to failing to defend her French Open finalist points.
The Canadian number one produced some good tennis and it was a tough gritty encounter with Safarova and she prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 7-6.
The recently married Cibulkova's season just seems to be getting better and better. The 2014 Australian Open finalist suffered an Achilles injury last year which required surgery and her ranking dropped as a result of missing some tournaments but she has fought her way back into the top ten.
The 11th seed from Slovakia was on late last night but registered a straightforward 6-2, 6-2 victory over Colombian qualifier Mariana Duque-Marino to set up this clash with Bouchard.
Bouchard's notable results
2016 has been a year filled with early exits for Bouchard and the Canadian hasn't won a title this year but reached two finals losing to Alize Cornet in Hobart and Elina Svitolina in Malaysia.
At the Australian Open, Bouchard was unseeded and was in danger of getting a tough draw and so it proved, the former Wimbledon finalist suffered a second round defeat at the hands of fellow former Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska.
More woes continued for Bouchard as she lost to Timea Bacsinszky in three sets at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in the third round but she recorded a straight sets victory over Sloane Stephens in the second round before her loss to the Swiss.
A disappointing first round exit at the Miami Open was dished out to Bouchard by doubles specialist Lucie Hradecka.
The clay court season was a disaster for the Montreal native as Irina-Camelia Begu defeated her in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open but at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia ,Bouchard registered two impressive three sets victory over former world number one Jelena Jankovic and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, however she was thrashed 6-1, 6-0 by Barbora Strycova in the third round.
Another Grand Slam tournament rolled around and Bouchard was again unseeded, and she paid the price for that as she suffered another defeat to Bacsinszky again at the French Open in the second which culminated a poor clay court season for Bouchard.
The transition from clay to grass arrived and Bouchard didn't make a quarterfinal appearance at any of the grass court tournaments she participated in. At Wimbledon, Bouchard defeated Magdalena Rybarikova in the first round and Britain's Johanna Konta in an entertaining second round match on Centre Court but her tournament ended at the hands of Cibulkova in the third round.
Cibulkova's notable results
The 2014 Australian Open finalist was ranked outside of the top 30 when she started the year but she has picked up two titles at the Katowice Open and at the grass court Premier event in Eastbourne.
At the Australian Open, Cibulkova was unseeded and she suffered a first round defeat to Kristina Mladenovic which would have been a heartbreaking result for the Slovak.
The 11th seed here in Montreal, reached the final in Acapulco benefitting from Victoria Azarenka's second round withdrawal but suffered a defeat to Sloane Stephens in the final which was a close match losing in the final set tiebreak.
Being unseeded means facing the prospect of having a tough draw and so it proved for Cibulkova in Indian Wells and Miami. She lost to her rival of 2016, Agnieszka Radwanska in three sets in the Californian desert and to French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in Miami again going to three sets but Cibulkova battled well in both matches to prove that she is still a top quality player.
Cibulkova's clay court season was brief but she took advantage of a depleted draw at the Mutua Madrid Open and she reached her biggest final since the final in Melbourne two years ago.
For their second meeting in 2016, Cibulkova dispatched Radwanska in three sets and had plenty of three set battles in the Spanish capital but she was fatigued and went down easily to Simona Halep in the final.
At the French Open, Cibulkova was seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since the Australian Open in 2015 and despite winning the first set, she lost to Carla Suarez Navarro in the third round.
After taking a few weeks off from playing in Paris, Cibulkova won the title in Eastbourne defeating Bouchard along the way and Radwanska once again in three sets. In the final, she dispatched Karolina Pliskova who won the grass-court title in Nottingham a few weeks before.
Their history
Bouchard and Cibulkova have played each other on three occasions and they have met twice this year. The Canadian leads their head-to-head 2-1.
Their first meeting was in the third round of the US Open which was a slugfest but Bouchard prevailed 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 however that would be the last match Bouchard would play as she slipped in the locker room and suffered a concussion.
Bouchard extended their head-to-head to 2-0 as she won their semifinal meeting in Hobart 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
Cibulkova won their first meeting in straight sets and it was on the lawns of Wimbledon, 6-4, 6-3.
Who wins?
Bouchard will have the crowd firmly behind her but Cibulkova will have her support too as she is a popular player on the tour. Both players are looking to get back to where they were in 2014 but Cibulkova has got back there quicker.
The Canadian will need a good run here in Montreal to build some confidence and momentum heading into the Olympics and the US Open, whereas Cibulkova will want to win this match to continue her hot streak too.
Bouchard's first serve can be a weapon at times but she is prone to serving double faults and Cibulkova has good endurance as she can track balls down fast and she occasionally throws in a drop shot.
Cibulkova's serve isn't as strong as Bouchard's but her return game is good which can bail her out of trouble. The diminutive Slovak will enjoy this match with Bouchard as they have close matches and Cibulkova will have some confidence with beating Bouchard at Wimbledon last month.
The winner of this match will play 8th seed Carla Suarez Navarro or Cibulkova's compatriot and qualifier Kristina Kucova in the third round of the Coupe Rogers.
This encounter between the two former Grand Slam finalists will kick off the night session on Centrale, not before 6:30pm local time.
Prediction: Cibulkova in three sets