“I am 100 percent focused on tennis and I have lawyers who are working on the case and I don’t think about it very often at all”, Bouchard said.
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Sam Querrey, of the United States, returns a shot to Janko Tipsarevic, of Serbia, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016, in NY.
However, the biggest ailment for Bouchard might be her mental game, something that seemed so strong only two years ago at Wimbledon when she became the first Canadian – female or male – to reach the singles final of a Grand Slam. “My opponent played probably really well, I think”.
“I never played her before so I didn’t know what to expect, but I felt like she was really going after it”, Bouchard said. “It’s really something I don’t think about”. “But besides that, I mean, it has nothing to do with my day-to-day life”.
The Czech player broke Bouchard three times in the third set en route to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory.
The 2012 champion at Flushing Meadows and seeded No. 2 this year, Murray beat Lukas Rosol 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Murray won his second Wimbledon title last month and an Olympic gold medal this month.
Earlier, Williams’ sister Venus got through a tougher-than-expected 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win against Kateryna Kozlova. You know I’ve also had great memories here at the U.S. Open. Another American, 19-year-old Jared Donaldson, upset 12th-seeded David Goffin, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-0. You hope she can shake the off the confidence issues and rust and return to the high level of play Bouchard displayed back in 2014 and a year ago.
Coming into the tournament, Bouchard said she had “no expectations at all”, which isn’t the mentality the world’s best players have. Then came her slip-and-tumble, and the concussion diagnosis, and she pulled out of what would have been a matchup against eventual runner-up Roberta Vinci. “But it’s something that’s so far in the back of my mind”, Bouchard said. One break down inspired Siniakova to get two break points while the Canadian was serving for the set, but Bouchard managed to recover and she hit a serve that Siniakova was not able to return to take the second set 6-3, and force a deciding set. “But I wish I wish I had better feeling on the court and served better”.
USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier said the organization would not comment on the “substance” of litigation.
Bouchard, however, says she is completely focused on what is happening on the tennis court and has left legal matters to her lawyers.
The 22-year-old Canadian, once ranked fifth in the world, has since filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Open and the USTA.
Bouchard’s coach, Nick Saviano, was asked whether her ability to play tennis Tuesday had been affected at all by any possible distractions created by the lawsuit.
“I think I had wonderful results in 2014”, Bouchard said, “And it’s hard to have results line that every year. I’m just working on what I can do to try to become as good as I can and have the results I want, but it doesn’t always go your way”. “I tried to come back and still had symptoms and probably tried to come back too soon because I love playing and I wanted to play”.
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