Eugenie
Bouchard did not receive a wild card for the 2023
Canadian Open and will have
to play the qualifying rounds in her home tournament.
The
29-year-old tennis player dropped out of the top 100 in July 2019 and has since
experienced a consistent decline in the rankings. However, in recent months,
she has earned important points that have helped her climb slightly in the
rankings, currently sitting at her best position since 2021 as world No. 215.
Injuries
have prevented Bouchard from competing regularly on the WTA tour in recent
years, and she has never fully regained the level that led her to the
semifinals of the Australian Open and Roland Garros in 2014, as well as the
final of Wimbledon, where she was defeated by the Czech player Petra Kvitova.
The Twitter
account of Omnium Banque Nationale, the name of the Canadian Open, announced
that three Canadian players will participate in the qualifying rounds:
Katherine Sebov, Carol Zhao, and former world No. 5,
Eugenie Bouchard.
“Three
Canadian tennis players will make a splash on the courts during the #OBN23
qualifiers in Montreal! Eugenie Bouchard - Currently holds her highest ranking
since October 2021. See them in action on August 5 and 6.”
Eugenie
Bouchard participated in the main draw of the Canadian Open nine times in a row
between 2011 and 2019. She also played in the qualifying rounds three times,
from 2008 to 2010, but she was unable to advance past the first round of
qualification on any of those occasions.
For this
year's tournament, the organization awarded wild cards to three Canadian
players, all of whom are within the top 100 rankings. This ensures the
participation of former US Open champion
Bianca Andreescu, 2021 US Open
finalist
Leylah Fernandez, and former world No. 38 Rebecca Marino.
In addition
to the Canadian players, two former world No. 1 players received wild cards:
Venus Williams, a 7-time Grand Slam champion, and
Caroline Wozniacki, the 2018
Australian Open champion. Wozniacki's inclusion is particularly notable as she
will be making her return to the WTA tour after three years since her
retirement.
