MONTREAL — One year after being the darling of women’s tennis, Eugenie Bouchard has had a rough start to 2015.
The native of Westmount, Que., who is No. 7 in the WTA rankings, has lost three matches to relative unknowns, with the highest-ranked of those being No. 66 Lauren Davis.
"I haven’t had the start to the year I wanted and obviously I want to do better," Bouchard, 21, told a news conference ahead of Canada’s Fed Cup World Group playoff tie against Romania this weekend.
"But I know I have to be patient and I know I can’t win every match and every tournament. So I’m taking all these tournaments where I’ve lost early as lessons to be learned."
The disappointing results come after Bouchard took the tennis world by storm last year, reaching the semifinals of the Australian and French Opens, making it to the Wimbledon final and winning her first WTA title.
Bouchard will team up on the weekend with Montreal’s Francoise Abanda, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Toronto’s Sharon Fichman.
Romania will be without the world No. 3, Simona Halep, who has chosen to stay in Europe.
Still, Bouchard knows Canada is in for a hard contest even without having to face Halep.
"Romania has four players in the top 100," she said.
"It’s not the case for Canada, so it’s going to be a very difficult task. Even if they don’t have their best player, they still have some good depth. I do know some of their players. I did play against one of them (Irina-Camelia Begu) in Australia, I know they’re going to be tough competitors and I’m looking forward to trying our best. It’s a team effort but we will all try our best."
Bouchard only confirmed last Sunday she would play this weekend.
"First of all, until February, I’ve played in every Fed Cup I’ve been invited to and I’ve always been proud to play for my country," she said.
"I know as well that I have to play one more time in 2015 or 2016 to be eligible for the Olympics. So, that was part of my decision and you know the fact that it is in Montreal, the city I was born in, makes it extra special."
Bouchard said reconciling the Fed Cup and the regular WTA tour isn’t always easy.
"Most of the time we have a tournament the week right after the Fed Cup weekend," she said. "So, for that reason, I find it a bit difficult to try to play in all the tournaments I want as well as all the Fed Cup matches.
"I played a lot in the past and that’s why I didn’t play in February."
Bouchard helped the Canadians reach the World Group for the first time in the team’s history last year.