By Chris Oddo | Thursday, October 16, 2014
Rising from all the way outside the top 30 to become a bona fide top ten talent, 2014 was a statement year for Canada’s breakout star Eugenie Bouchard, but the 20-year-old still has a lot of hurdles to jump if she plans to have her name regularly mentioned alongside the game’s elite.
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Bouchard proved herself worthy of all the hype and adoration that she regularly received in 2014 by reaching the semifinals of the year’s first three Grand Slams, and while she couldn’t manage to come away with a major title, she did notch her first tour-level title in Nurnberg and became the first Canadian—male or female—to reach a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon.
Oh, and she met the pope (well, not quite, but sort of).
But Bouchard was outclassed in that Wimbledon final by Petra Kvitova, and even though there was very little the Canadian could have done about curtailing the on-fire Czech, the setback seemed to haunt her as she made her way back to North America. With the eyes of her nation upon her she seemed overwhelmed in suffering a setback in her opening match to Shelby Rogers in Montreal, and she never fully recovered until after the US Open.
Health was certainly an issue, and burnout from all the match play and media responsibilities no doubt played a factor, but such is life on the WTA Tour. Now as the hunted rather than the hunter, Bouchard will have to face the best that each lower-ranked player has to give while at the same time, fine-tuning her game and fitness so that she can make a run at the next level of the tour.
Currently solidly entrenched in the top ten, Bouchard must deal with the fact that she is a combined 1-8 against the tour’s top four. Her time will surely come—she has too much fire power, quickness, maturity and mental toughness for it not to—but if it is to come in the not-too-distant future, next week in Singapore is the optimal opportunity for Bouchard to send the message that she’s ready to take on the next challenge right now.
Season Highlights: 45 wins, 20 losses
Winner – Nurnberg
Finalist – Wimbledon, Wuhan
Best Result at Year-End Championships – First appearance