Former world No 5 Eugenie Bouchard to play first tournament in over a year next month

The 2014 Wimbledon runner-up has not played since March 2021 due to a shoulder injury for which she underwent surgery

Eugenie Bouchard of Canada in action during the third round at the 2020 Roland Garros Grand Slam tennis tournament Image Credit: Zuma / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

March 24, 2022

Former world No 5 Eugenie Bouchard will make her return to the tennis circuit at next month’s U.S. Pro Women’s Clay Court Championship at Innisbrook Resort in Florida.

Bouchard has received a wild card into the main draw of the ITF $100K event, which begins on April 11 and is being played at the Innisbrook Resort for the first time since 2019.

The tournament is also part of the USTA French Open wild card challenge, which will enable one American player on the men’s and women’s side to get a wild card entry into the main draw of Roland-Garros.

As per the tournament website, reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova and Americans Coco Gauff and Shelby Rogers are also on the tentative player list.

💜 28 💜 pic.twitter.com/RzQPtVkhxN
— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) February 25, 2022

Bouchard has not played a match since March 2021

28-year-old Bouchard’s last tournament appearance was in Monterrey in March 2021. The Canadian had worked her way from outside the top 300 to go back inside the top 120 in March 2021 while working with Rennae Stubbs and Gil Reyes, the former trainer of Andre Agassi. However, a shoulder injury halted her season and she had to undergo surgery in June 2021.

Due to the inactivity, Bouchard’s ranking has dropped to No 1,454 in the world. The Canadian peaked at No 5 in the world rankings in 2014 after reaching the Wimbledon final where by she became the first Canadian player, male or female, to reach a Grand Slam singles final. That same year, she also reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and French Open.