Eugenie Bouchard is back. Not all the way back, mind you, but back from the abyss that was 2015.
Bouchard scored her most impressive victory since 2014 with 7-5, 7-5 victory over 22nd-ranked Sloane Stephens in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Eugenie Bouchard's Dizziness Returns In Malaysian Open Finals Loss
The 22-year-old Canadian now will face No. 21 Timea Bacsinszky as she continues to put last year behind her, as Yahoo Sports Canada repored.
Entering 2015 ranked No. 7 in the world, Bouchard advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Then fell off the face of the earth.
Eugenie Bouchard Turns Her Back On Canada For Canada's Sake
She lost 18 of her next 23 matches that included 10 losses in an 11-match span. She was the subject of ridicule when she refused to shake hands with Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru before a Fed Cup match. Dulgheru, then ranked 69th, defeated the No. 7 Bouchard 6-4, 6-4 and then celebrated with her team by making fun of Bouchard's handshake snub.
Even when Bouchard seemed poise to rebound at the 2015 U.S. Open by winning her first three matches, she suffered a concussion in a locker room fall and was forced to miss the rest of the event. She ended the season ranked No. 49.
While the concussion symptoms lingered for the rest of the year, Bouchard hired former Maria Sharapova coach Thomas Hogstedt, and the results have been encouraging. She has a 15-5 record in 2016, and has finals appearances in two tournaments.
Bouchard did suffer a setback in the finals of the Malaysian Open, suffering dizziness during her three-set loss to Elina Svitolina.
It was unclear whether her dizziness was related to the concussion suffered last September.
That hardly seems to matter now.
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