Eugenie Bouchard is plotting her return to tennis in 2016 at a deliberate pace.
Whether that is due to her health, her lawsuit against the USTA or both remains to be seen.
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The 21-year old Canadian tennis player would not commit to playing in the 2016 Australian Open in January because of concerns over the lingering effects of a concussion she suffered before the fourth round of the U.S. Open In September, Bouchard slipped on the floor in a physiotherapy room after a doubles match at the Billie Jean National Tennis Center and hit her head, she said in an interview with CP 24 television, via Yahoo Sports Canada.
When asked how she was feeling, Bouchard responded cautiously.
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"I'm okay, thank you. And I'm really looking forward to being healthy and playing next year," she told the news station. It's all a process."
The reporter assumed Bouchard was preparing for the Australian Open and asked what she was doing to prepare when Bouchard put the brakes on the question.
"I don't know yet. I don't want to make any comments or commitments in terms of that. Just doing my best to try to get healthy, and yeah, just want to stay positive," she said.
Bouchard is suing the USTA and the Billie Jean National Tennis Center for her concussion that forced her to withdraw from the U.S. Open as well as a later tournament in China. Her lawyer, Benedict Morelli, told TSN earlier in the week that Bouchard suffered concussion-like symptoms 2 ½ weeks earlier and just received the OK to resume practicing.
"I've spoken to Genie (on the telephone). Genie is going to try to her best to be able to come back. She really has a very big problem with this concussion and this traumatic brain injury. We are hopeful this will not be a permanent situation. She is starting to practice as we speak, and trying to get back into shape to be able to play," Morelli told TSN. "We believe that ultimately she's going to be okay. But her ranking is dropping precipitously. Most people don't realize that if you don't play, you lose so much, not only in your ability to win, but in your ranking."
The USTA responded to the lawsuit last week, saying it was not responsible for Bouchard's concussion; it was the result of her own negligence.
There is one hole in Morelli's defense of Bouchard. It is true that her ranking is dropping (now at No. 48 from the mid-20s at the U.S. Open), but he's also saying that Bouchard had an excellent chance to win the U.S. Open because Serena Williams did not win it.
But Bouchard would have met Williams in the semifinals if she had continued to win. In fact, her next opponent at the U.S. Open was Roberta Vinci, who defeated Williams.
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