Auckland has a heart for genius Bouchard
Genie Bouchard is only 183th in the world rankings after a weak year in 2019 - too little to get into WTA tournaments. In Auckland, she receives a wildcard.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Dec 06, 2019, 04:45 pm
"We are really happy that Genie is coming back to Auckland, and we were happy to see her back this year, and I think her performance has made her feel equally happy," Tournament Director Karl Budge is quoted as saying.
Can you put it this way? At least Auckland was the most successful tournament in the Canadian. It went into the quarter-finals for her in January 2019, before she defeated the eventual winner Julia Görges in the tiebreaker of the third set. Bouchard had a lot of hopes for a good tennis year - which followed, however, was a horror season: She suffered 13 consecutive defeats from February to September. Only in November, at the ITF tournament in Houston, she won two matches, one of them thanks to a task.
Australia as a good place
Bouchard generally has fond memories of Australia: in 2014, she surprisingly reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, taking her to the top of the world, including the Wimbledon finals, where she lost to Petra Kvitova. Also at the French Open Bouchard came at that time to the semifinals. Up to sixth place, it was finally in the ranking for them.
Whether the 24-year-old can once again venture into similar spheres? Seems now more than questionable. Her performances are too unstable, too often she is injured. And how many wildcards she will receive in the future remains just as open. If Bouchard does not take advantage of the few opportunities, it will have to try to catch up with the Top 100 in 2020 through qualification mills and ITF tournaments.
Perhaps Auckland will bring a new lease of life, as next to the quarterfinal in the singles in Auckland, Bouchard has even more good memories of their appearance this year: In the doubles, she even won the title on the side of Sofia Kenin.