Eugenie Bouchard: 'I can't complain even if I play terrible'

Eugenie Bouchard knows she has a long road back if she is to reclaim her former glories but for the moment the 21-year-old Canadian is just happy to be playing again.

Victories in her first two matches here at the Qatar Total Open have demonstrated that Bouchard has lost nothing of her fighting spirit despite her problems in 2015, which culminated in a controversial incident at the US Open when she suffered concussion in a fall in the locker room. She is suing the United States Tennis Association in an ongoing legal case.

Bouchard, who is through to the third round after a 7-6, 7-5 victory over the Czech Republic’s Denisa Allertova, was unable to complete a match in the remaining weeks of last season but returned to competition at the start of this year. In January she reached the quarter-finals in Shenzhen and the final in Hobart before losing to Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round of the Australian Open.

Having reached a career-high position at No 5 in the world rankings in October 2014, Bouchard has since fallen to No 61. Even before the US Open she had had a poor run, losing 16 of the 21 matches she played between the Australian Open and the year’s concluding Grand Slam event. Having parted company with Nick Saviano, her long-term coach, at the end of her breakthrough year in 2014, she stayed with his replacement, Sam Sumyk, for only six months before they went their separate ways.

Bouchard, who took a wild card to play here, is now coached by Thomas Hogstedt, who counts Maria Sharapova among his former employers. “It's great to have a great coach with me,” Bouchard said. “I started with Thomas after the US Open. It's been very good. He's very intense and motivating. He kind of gives me energy. I think those were the things I was actually surprised with and something I haven't had in a coach before.”

Although Bouchard’s second-round win was more comfortable than her opening effort – she saved match points before beating the Latvian qualifier Anastasija Sevastova – the Canadian said there was still plenty of room for improvement.

“I'm happy with the way I fought, but I definitely feel like my level of tennis could be better,” she said. “Directly after the match today I went to the practice court to do some extra serves because I just felt like that part of my game today was really not good enough.”

Nevertheless Bouchard said it was “amazing” to be back playing tennis regularly. “I can't complain even if I play terrible,” she said. “I'm so happy to be back on tour. I'm really grateful. I really realised how much I missed and loved tennis when I was forced out because of my injury at the end of 2015. So grateful is the main feeling - and motivated.”

Asked if she had recovered fully after her head injury, Bouchard said: “I take it day by day and I'm careful with everything I do. I’m still analysing and still self-assessing how I feel. But I was able to go to Australia and play some good matches over there. So I'm confident of taking a step forward. I hope to continue to do so.”

She added: “I'm hoping with each match that I play here, my level will get better and better. It's a work in progress. It's a long journey. I was out for a lot of months last year, so I'm not expecting miracles. I know I have to work hard every day in practice and every match I play.”

Bouchard’s next match will be against China’s Saisai Zheng, who beat Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-1 in the German’s first tournament since her triumph at the Australia Open. Kerber, who is usually a model of consistency, made 38 unforced errors.

“It was completely not my day,” Kerber said afterwards. “I was not feeling the ball. I was not finding my rhythm at all. I made too many mistakes. It was not my game.”

Kerber said that returning to competition as a Grand Slam champion was a completely new experience for her. “I had actually been practising very well in the last few days, but my practice this morning was not the best,” she said. “I was not feeling good from the beginning. I think sometimes you have days like this.”