"I'd much rather be sweating on the court" - Bouchard on being a TV analyst during her recovery from injury

Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard, who won her first WTA 1000 level match in more than three years after beating Kayla Day 7-5 6-3 in the first round of the Guadalajara Open Akron, said she hopes to play tennis for a few more years before hanging her boots.

Bouchard was out of action for 17 months – from March 2021 to August 2022 – due to a shoulder injury, subsequent surgery, and recovery. During her time off the court, Bouchard played the role of an expert on television, analyzing various matches.

After getting back to winning ways, Bouchard said being live on TV helped her fill the need for adrenaline she was missing while playing and added that prefers sweating on a tennis court rather than analyzing matches on TV.

"I much prefer playing tennis. It was great to do some different activities off court while I was out. Honestly, being on live TV kind of helped kind of fill that need for adrenaline that I was missing while playing tennis. It replicated it a little bit," she said in a post-match press conference after her first-round win at the Guadalajara Open.

"It made me challenge myself and push myself out of my comfort zone. I'd much rather be sweating on the court. I can always do that later in life. I still want to play tennis for a few years."

The former Wimbledon finalist would go on to lose to Jelena Ostapenko in the second round, falling in three sets.