"I literally thought I was playing Serena" - Genie Bouchard recalls her first match back following 17-month injury hiatus
WTA
Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard returned to tennis after being absent for 17 months and she talked about it in a recent interview.
Bouchard is back to playing regular tennis as she tries to return to her best tennis. She's far removed from it but also shows a solid level that makes it easy to believe she could be a fairly consistent and good player.
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"My first, first match, I felt like the ball was coming at me so fast," recalled the former Wimbledon finalist. "I was playing a girl ranked 200, and obviously no disrespect to her, but I literally thought I was playing Serena. Her ball was coming so fast at me, I was like, ‘Oh my God.’"
It was a slow return for Bouchard who looked very rusty but quickly improved to a fairly respectable level. The shoulder is a thing of the past as it didn't bother her during a recent active period of three months. She's hopeful that it remains that way so she can enjoy the full schedule.
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"I played three months straight from August until November, and I didn’t have any issues with my shoulder," she added. "After playing a lot, sometimes you’ll get a little bit tight, but it’s very normal and expected. I’m really looking forward to a full 2023 schedule."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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