She has lost 12 of her past 14 matches on tour, some that make her upset to Rogers in Montreal pale in comparison.
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“I feel OK about my game”, Williams said on a recent conference call. “I just want to continue to get better and do the best I can”.
The move comes six months after the Westmount, Que., native hired Sumyk after she had fired long-time coach Nick Saviano in November, 2014.
Tennis.com added that Marko Dragic, who has trained with her previously in Florida, will work with her while she looks for another full-time coach.
“I’m looking for someone who can help me improve all areas of my game”. “I think it’s very important to be able to address the technical side, the tactical side, the mental side and the physician side”.
On the eve of the high-octane Canadian Open combined (aka, the Rogers Cup), the Francophone star Bouchard – a 2014 Wimbledon finalist once ranked as high as No. 4, now down to No. 25 – remains mired in a horrific slump. If she beats Bencic, fourth-seeded Carolina Wozniacki awaits in the second round.
The Canadian has been beaten in the first round of eight tournaments during 2015 – including the Grand Slam events of Roland Garros and Wimbledon – and has not won back-to-back matches since March. She said she’s feeling good now.
“Obviously being in the city I grew up in was very insane”, she said.
That followed on the heels of losses to Bencic (Eastbourne), Kristina Mladenovic (Birmingham and French Open) and Yaroslava Shvedova (‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands).
She was scheduled to play in the tourney before the Rogers Cup, the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., but withdrew. “I have not made plans for something more permanent”. She will need to rediscover that and, most importantly, realise she is an elite athlete and not some up-and-coming model.
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In other Rogers Cup news, Maria Sharapova pulled out of the event on Friday, citing a leg injury. “I did everything possible to be ready, but my doctors have advised me that I can’t compete next week”. Gabriela Dabrowski will play world No. 26 Flavia Pennetta and Carol Zhao will play American Madison Brengle.
