Despite a 7-2 match-record start to 2016, Eugenie Bouchard isn't about to get overly excited yet. But another win at the Australian Open just might do the trick.
The 21-year-old Canadian, who is trying to bounce back from a nightmarish 2015, won her opening round match at the Australian Open, defeating Aleksandra Krunic 6-3, 6-4 on Monday night, according to ausopen.com.
Eugenie Bouchard Posts Stunning Photo
The victory puts the resurgent Bouchard into the second round against perhaps the hottest player coming into the tournament, No. 4-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska. Radwanska, who won the 2015 season-ending WTA Finals in Serena Williams' absence, also won the Shenzhen Open to start 2016.
"She's playing great right now," Bouchard said about Radwanska in a postmatch interview. "I'm expecting a really, really tough match and I just want to enjoy it, try to dominate, try to play my aggressive game and we'll see what happens."
Healthy Eugenie Bouchard Hires Full-Time Coach
If Bouchard, who started the season ranked No. 49, can pull off the upset, she would not have to face another seeded player until at least the quarterfinals.
Bouchard is 10-2 in her last 10 matches after losing 18 of her previous 23 in 2015. She switched coaches to start last year, parting with longtime mentor Nick Saviano, who was with her for eight years. He helped her reach No. 5 in the world in 2014.
Bouchard hired Sam Sumyk as her coach after last year's Australian Open. She lost in the first round of her next tournament before reaching the third round at Indian Wells. Then, Bouchard proceeded to lose seven straight and 10 of her next 11 matches. She and Sumyk went their separate ways soon after.
Bouchard appeared as if she was going to salvage her season, winning her first three matches at the U.S. Open. But she suffered a concussion after a mixed doubles match at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and was forced to withdraw from her fourth-round match against Roberta Vinci.
She tried to play one more match in 2015 but withdrew because of lingering effects from her concussion.
Her main goal in 2016 is to stay healthy, and without any pressure to live up to past glories, Bouchard is making her way back among the women's tennis elite.
"I have no expectations," she said. "When I started 2016, my expectation was just try to stay healthy, and so I have no results expectations at all and just want to enjoy it and be grateful to be back on tour."
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