Genie Bouchard through to face Halep

MELBOURNE, Australia – Genie Bouchard’s last Grand Slam singles win was all the way back at last year’s French Open.

And in nine of the 11 tournaments she has played since then, she has bowed out in the first round – including at Wimbledon and the US Open.

So the smile on the 23-year-old Canadian’s face after she took care of 21-year-old Océane Dodin of France in two fairly tight sets – 6-3, 7-6 (5) –  no doubt was a welcome sight for her family, friends, support team and most of all herself. 

The original Genie Army, always loyal, were on hand with their chants and positive vibes.

“I haven’t played a big match, or a match with that many people rooting for me in awhile. So it was very, very special,” Bouchard said.  “It’s been awhile since I had a win, so it gives me confidence. I felt good this week in practice. Before the match I was nervous, for sure, but I had a little more confidence than in my tournaments at the end of last year, so I feel like I’m on the right road,” she added.

In Dodin, Bouchard faced a hard hitter with a big serve who still hasn’t harnessed that power to achieve the consistency she needs through a whole match.

Even at her best – and Dodin is not at her best right now, not having played since mid-September because of a recurring dizziness issue – she’ll hit a couple of screaming winners, followed by a couple of balls so far out they don’t even need a lines person to call them.

But on Bouchard’s side of the court, there were a lot of good things.

Effective serving and returning

Some powerful serving – she hit the high 170s (kilometres per hour) regularly and even hit 180. She’s hitting her second serve a lot harder than even during her best days in 2014 – and a lot better than she did in 2015 and 2016.

On the return, Bouchard pounced on every second serve she could. And she missed very little despite playing the aggressive game she mastered during her peak. 

Really, she had only one poor game, early in the second set. And she quickly recovered the break.

“I really told myself to stay with her and take my opportunities when I could. And I feel like I did that in the second set. It was a long second set, we kept holding, and I kept staying with her until I had my chances,” she said.

Video study an added tool

One thing Bouchard has started doing more this season, under the tutelage of coach Harold Solomon, is watching a lot more video of herself.

“I did it in the past, but I’m trying to do it a bit more at the beginning of this year, I’ve already watched all my matches at Hopman Cup and last week, so I can see right away how I look on the court, the things I do well and not well. I think it’s a good tool,” she said. “Whether I’m playing my game, if I’m being aggressive, if I made the right choices, if I’m playing the points well tactically, movement, little things.”

Bouchard said she didn’t know exactly what her ranking was this week (it fell 29 spots to No. 112, after she failed to defend semifinal points earned at the Sydney tournament a year ago).

But she knows enough to know it’s not good. Asked about her plans after the Australian swing, she mentioned feeling as though the offseason was too short to implement all the little tweaks she wanted to do to her game. 

But she also mentioned that she might well play some smaller events, and knows that’s not an option, rather a necessity. 

There is also the matter of her lawsuit against the USTA finally scheduled to go to trial in a month, in New York City.

Fallen ranking, changed circumstances

“I feel like I have some more training to do. But after that I really want to play a lot of matches. And I might play some smaller tournaments to get more matches, tournaments I can get in because of what my ranking is,” she said. “I have to work my way back up, so that’s what I have to do.”

But the number is not taking up much head space, she maintains.

“For me, it’s how I feel on the court, and how I progress in my practices, training, trying to improve little things in my game every day. I know the results will come. I did it in the past, I know I can do it again,” she said. “The ranking is what it. That’s the reality, but it’s not going to stay like that forever. I have to stay patient and continue working.”

No. 1 also through on Wednesday

Next up is a tall order in No. 1 seed Simona Halep.

The Romanian struggled through the first set Tuesday against Destanee Aiava. The Aussie wild card played significantly better than she did when she won just two games against Bouchard in an exhibition match last week.

But Halep also rolled her ankle a little in the process. So that might be a factor on Thursday.

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