Wimbledon: Genie Bouchard in 'state of shock' after first round exit to Carla Suarez Navarro

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  • Struggling: Genie Bouchard.

    Eugenie Bouchard was in a “state of shock” after her 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 first round defeat to 25th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro and admits her 2017 season continues to be a “struggle”.

    Bouchard made a strong start against the Spaniard but says nerves crept into her mind, forcing her to lose concentration and allow Suarez Navarro to up her game.

    The Canadian former world No5 lost in the opening round in all three grass tournaments she has played and has dropped to 11-14 win-loss on the season.

    • READ: Reem Abulleil’s day one diary from Wimbledon

    The ex-Wimbledon runner-up was visibly disappointed with her defeat and is yet to realise how much it would take her to get over it.

    “I don’t know. I think I need it to settle in before I even know kind of what’s going on. I’m still kind of in a state of shock right now,” said Bouchard after the 89-minute defeat.

    “I don’t know what kind of loss this will be, will it be one of those hard ones or not. Probably because it’s Wimbledon.

    “It’s just so unfortunate that as soon as I started feeling like myself again (in Madrid in May), I started playing well, I had a setback. I got an injury (right ankle) and ever since my injury I still haven’t felt like I’ve had that good form like I had in the past, so you know I just don’t have quite the same feeling on the court as I had, I guess that will take more time and more practice to get back to it.”

    Bouchard has had a rough year and even decided to go back to the ITF circuit to get some wins, and didn’t walk away with the title there. She then strung together a couple of good wins in Madrid, where she beat Alize Cornet, Maria Sharapova, and Angelique Kerber en route to the quarter-finals.

    She then suffered an ankle injury that hampered the rest of her clay season.

    The 23-year-old admits the lack of victories this season has attributed to her dip in level against Suarez Navarro on Monday.

    Marching on: Carla Suarez Navarro.

    Marching on: Carla Suarez Navarro.

    “I think that’s a little bit of it. I haven’t played a lot of matches this year, haven’t had a lot of wins this year. I had momentum and felt myself lose it and I couldn’t get it back. With more match play I feel I have more match toughness and I was definitely feeling like I was lacking that today,” said Bouchard.

    She added: “Having the injury, not practicing enough, still being hesitant to move, seeing everyone slip on these courts and kind of being terrified to move is one thing, and when I’m not physically 100 per cent that affects my game.

    “My game is athletic, I like to move, I like to take the ball early, I can also run down a lot of balls, so if I’m not 100 per cent physically that affects my whole game and it affects my confidence as well.”

    Bouchard, who is next scheduled for some exhibition matches before playing the tournament in Washington D.C., concedes the past seven months have been rough.

    Asked if she was enjoying tennis at the moment, she said: “This year has definitely been a struggle. I felt like I enjoyed it at some moments and it felt really tough at other moments. Recently obviously it’s been a struggle, can’t deny that. You just always got to have faith that after some low moments there has to be some ups coming soon, so just keep thinking that.”

    She says she is working with a sports psychologist, as she has done in the past, but admits there’s a lot of work she has to do herself in order to find her way back to form.

    “Yes I have (worked with a sports psychologist before), I work with one now, I think a lot of athletes do. I think it’s a good tool if it helps. But you still have to work on yourself and it’s all about you and your head. I could have done a better job out there today for sure,” she said.

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