TENNIS WIMBLEDON 2014 – 24th of June. E. Bouchard d. D. Hantuchova 7-5, 7-5. An interview with Eugenie Bouchard
Q. You had indicated earlier this week you knew it was going to be a challenging match because of her experience and her skill on grass. Was she as you expected her to be?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, I expected a tough match, and it was a tough one. I definitely feel like I didn’t play my best most of the match, but competed when it counted, raised my level at some big points, at 5-All in both sets, I played a bit better. I’m proud of that.
Q. How did you feel about the way the first set ended? Did you see the ball out?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I thought it was out, yeah. But, you know, you never know with the challenge system. So I was ready for anything.
You know, even if it was in, no big deal, just go one more point, one point at a time, that type of thing.
Q. When you say you didn’t play well, what does that mean?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I felt like I was a bit inconsistent. I didn’t take the ball as early as I would have liked to. She was definitely trying to be the one in control. I felt myself more on defense more often than I’d like to be.
At least I realized this during the match and tried to make, you know, later in the second set make some adjustments. But, you know, it’s important for me to kind of start the match that way.
The first match of a tournament, especially a Grand Slam, is always a bit nervy. I think there was a bit of nervous tennis out there.
Q. After Paris you said that grass is probably your favorite surface. Coming into the tournament, you didn’t have a lot of matches under your belt. How do you feel you are prepared for a Grand Slam on grass?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, I played one match, but I got a lot of practice in. I had a few good practice weeks on grass. So I’ve been feeling good with my game.
I feel like, you know, getting better every day. So that’s the most important thing.
Grass is such a short season, so I’m going to try to make the most of it in every single match. It’s definitely tough to adjust. But I feel like, you know, I’ve adjusted pretty well.
Q. You’ve drawn your share of attention in the buildup to this tournament for good reasons. Do you feel pressure at this point?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I do. I feel more eyes on me, for sure, and expectation to win more matches. Being higher ranked than most opponents most of the time, there’s that expectation to win.
I really try not to focus on it. There’s so much that’s said around me, I try to ignore most of it and focus on my game. That’s the most important thing. Try to play as well as I can, try to improve.
So hopefully my next match I’ll try to improve from this one. I’m proud of the way I fought. Tough opponent in the first round. It was a really tough match.
Q. What is the simple difference between the kind of tennis you played, how you thought about it on clay a couple weeks ago, and the tennis you’re playing now on grass?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: You know, even on clay I try to be aggressive. I think I can move forward in the court even more than I did today, so that’s the goal on grass a little bit more.
Probably step in a bit more on the returns, as well. So those two things I could have done better and help me on grass more, I think.
Regardless of the surface, they’re different of course, but at the end of the day it’s still about me playing my game, you know, hitting my shots and trying to be as good as I can.
The surface is different, but at the end of the day it’s still about me and my opponent.
Q. Who did you have the best practice session with before the tournament?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I think Vika was probably the best one. She brings intensity to the practice. I do as well. So it was good.
