I was only thinking the other day about Genie Bouchard’s fall from grace and – rather unfairly – had subconsciously attributed it to an all-too-common trait in the women’s game that once broken into the spotlight, most players fail to deal with the considerable hype.
I had completely forgotten about the Canadian’s accident at the US Open when after a late night doubles match, the player slipped and fell onto a freshly cleaned and chemical covered changing room floor with concussion to boot.
Of course, while this singular admittedly scary episode cannot be attributed to Bouchard’s nosedive down the rankings and abandonment of confidence, it is a major thing.
But, in the case of the nasty spat and lawsuit that followed, the outcome which fell in Bouchard’s favour, did still attribute 25% of the blame to her.
After all, as with the case of Sharapova’s drugs ban, players are often likened to helpless children who cannot be held responsible for any poor decision but rather their sea of managers, coaches and tour buddies.
So was the case here, but it was the amount of chemicals on the floor and a proven lack of any official guidelines in the player handbooks for when the floors are cleaned.
Anywho, with all of this now behind her, let’s hope Bouchard can return to the big-time and make the already fascinating WTA summit even stronger.
All Things Tennis 