The questions concerning Eugenie Bouchard no longer are about what happened to her in 2015 but rather what would've happened at the 2015 U.S. Open had she not suffered a concussion.
The 2016 Bouchard Comeback Tour is alive and well as the 21-year-old Canadian is showing the competition at the Hobart International, just days before the start of the Australian Open.
Eugenie Bouchard Shows Off Curves In Workout Clothes
Bouchard moved her 2016 record to 6-1 after gutting out a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win over Dominika Cibulkova on Friday (Thursday night in the U.S.) to reach the finals of the event, according to the Hobart International website. It's her first finals appearance since the 2014 Wuhan Open in September, 2014 -- the first tournament following the U.S. Open that year.
During her Hobart run, Bouchard has defeated a trio of top-50 players in No. 37 Cibulkova, No. 35 Camila Giorgi (in the quarterfinals) and No. 44 Alison Van Uytvanck (in the second round), according to the WTA current rankings. She had not won four consecutive matches since reaching the 2015 Australian Open quarterfinals.
Healthier Eugenie Bouchard Hires Full-Time Coach
After last year's first Grand Slam, Bouchard hired coach Sam Sumyk and subsequently went into a deep funk. She lost 18 of her last 26 matches of 2016, and that included ending the season on a three-match winning streak by reaching the fourth round of the U.S. Open.
Bouchard was scheduled to play Roberta Vinci in the fourth round but was forced to withdraw because of the concussion she suffered after hitting her head on the floor of a physiotherapy room following a mixed doubles match the night before.
Bouchard has sued the USTA over her concussion because there was a slippery cleaning agent on the floor, alleging that she likely lost a lot of money over not advancing farther in the tournament and falling in the rankings because of it -- and she is building her case with her recent winning streak.
Bouchard, who lost 10-of-11 matches at one point last year, has hired former Maria Sharapova coach Thomas Hogstedt, and is starting to resemble the player that advanced to three Grand Slam semifinals -- including the 2014 French Open final -- and reaching No. 5 in the world.
Because she enters the Australian Open unseeded (Bouchard was No. 47 going into Hobart), Bouchard potentially could face No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round, but her comeback results give her a fighting chance to advance far in Melbourne.
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