Eugenie Bouchard is to sue the United States Tennis Association over her US Open locker room fall.
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In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, Bouchard claims her fall was caused by a “slippery, foreign and unsafe substance” on the floor.
Bouchard was injured after returning to the locker room at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens shortly after 10pm. A few minutes later, she slipped & then fell onto the tile floor of the physiotherapy room which was in the locker room and slammed her head into the ground.
She claims the organization didn’t keep the locker room in a “safe and suitable condition” because the organization failed to maintain, clean and fix the floor, which led to her fall. The court papers didn’t identify the substance though.
Bouchard, who is the top ranked female player in Canada, “sustained a severe injury to her head, including, but not limited to a concussion”, the suit states.
She later withdrew from the US Open and subsequent tournaments in China and Japan.
Bouchard has dropped to No. 39 in the world and is asking for a jury trial and unspecified damages.
The lawsuit says she continues to suffer pain as a outcome of the fall, resulting in medical costs, a loss of income and affecting her quality of life.
Bouchard, who was forced to withdraw from the tournament prior to her fourth-round match and subsequently pulled out of her comeback event at the China Open due to dizziness, is seeking damages from the USTA and USTA National Tennis Centre.
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Chris Widmaier, a USTA spokesman declined to comment and said that they had a policy for not discussing any ongoing litigation.
