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Eugenie Bouchard recently stated that she still has confidence in her tennis abilities. The Canadian is far away from the top echelons of the sport right now, after being sidelined for a long time with injuries.
A former World No. 5 but now ranked 292nd on the WTA tour, Bouchard is on the comeback trail at the moment. She spent 17 months nursing a shoulder injury that required surgery, before returning to action last August at the WTA 125 tournament in Vancouver.
Th 29-year-old has taken part in just three tournaments this year. She advanced to the Round of 32 at the WTA 250 Copa Colsanitas after exiting the ASB Classic and the Australian Open in the qualifiers.
Bouchard is currently in Portugal for the ITF Oeiras Ladies Open, where she was granted a main draw wild card. Speaking at a pre-tournament press conference, Bouchard stated that she would have gone on a different path, like having kids, if she didn't believe in her tennis abilities anymore.
“Of course [I see myself fighting for title again and winning]. I feel like I wouldn't put in all this time and effort if I didn't still believe that. It's a lot to come back from injuries, takes a lot of patience, a lot of time, a lot of energy and life is short. I am doing it because I think I still can. If I didn't, I would be having babies or something else,” she said.
The 2014 Wimbledon Championship runner-up admitted that at one point she did entertain thoughts of retirement. But she quickly put them aside as she didn't want injuries to be the reason why she stopped playing professionally.
“It's been very difficult, there's no secret about it and I'd be lying if I said it [retirement] didn't cross my mind,” Bouchard said. “It has been a very long process and I thought if it was worth it, but then I decided yes because I would regret it if I let an injury stop me. I missed the competition while I was on the sidelines and that also motivated me.”
Eugenie Bouchard hints at representing Canada at Billie Jean King Cup 2023 finals in November
Canada secured their spot in the Billie Jean King Cup finals with a thrilling 3-2 win against Belgium in Vancouver on Saturday, April 15.
Bouchard congratulated Team Canada for their performance in the qualifiers and hinted at the possibility of joining the team for the finals. On her Instagram stories, she wrote:
"Congrats girlies!!!! Thanks for doing all the hard work, see ya in the finals."
Leylah Fernandez put Canada in the lead against Belgium with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Yanina Wickmayer. Ysaline Bonaventure, however, defeated Rebecca Marino 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to level the score.
Fernandez then fought hard to defeat Ysaline Bonaventure 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, but Belgium again came back into the tie when Greet Minnen downed Katherine Sebov 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
With the entire tie riding on the doubles match, Gabriela Dabrowski and Fernandez secured Canada's spot with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Kirsten Flipkens and Minnen.
