18 time grand slam champion, Chris Evert has praised Eugenie Bouchard’s efforts to compete at a high level on the WTA Tour again.
Since her Wimbledon final in 2014, the Canadian has since plummeted down the world rankings and is now competing on the ITF circuit regularly. The 24 year old is now ranked at 123 in the world and is currently competing in qualifying at the US Open. This has been a bitter pill to swallow for Bouchard who was once a top 10 player and was used to the commercial rewards of being a to player.
However now she is competing to try and regain those rewards, six time US Open champion Chris Evert has praised Genie’s determination to try and reach those heights of 2014, “The thing I like about Genie Bouchard is very much like Andre Agassi did…starting to play the lower-tiered tournaments, to really win some matches,” Evert explained to the WTA website.
“I think it’s going to humble her, and it shows me that she’s hungry to get back to close to where she was. I don’t think she can get back to where she was, but I don’t doubt that she can get back to Top 30. I don’t see why not.”
The American legend though still insisted that she needs to find consistency if she wants to reach her goals, “Her game is to be aggressive, to hit the ball. She’s got to work on her moving, to be in position to hit the ball. She’s got to work on consistency, and she’s getting the matches that she needs right now, and she’s gaining more and more confidence.”
The Canadian will play Georgia’s Ekaterine Gorgodze in the second qualifying round of the US Open on Thursday.
