Bouchard falls at US Open but legal battle continues

Arthur Ashe Stadium is seen after sunset during the first round of the US Open tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 29, 2016, in NY.

The Canadian was wearing a fluorescent green Nike tennis dress — and if anyone can look good in that ugly colour it’s Bouchard. In a match she said she didn’t “play well”, lost in three sets to Siniakova, 3-6 6-3 2-6.

It wasn’t pretty in green. The native of Westmount, Que., was broken three times by Siniakova in the final set.

““I feel like I didnt really play well”, Bouchard said afterwards in the interview room.

“If I sit down and think about it, yeah, it’s definitely a unusual situation”. I tried my best, I fought my hardest, so I have no regrets in that sense. The Czech player won the next four games, breaking Bouchard for the victory and setting up a second-round match with France’s Caroline Garcia. Bouchard hit 22 winners, eight less than Siniakova.

Harrison certainly was helped by his opponent’s problems on a muggy day with the temperature in the mid-80s. Thankfully for fans — and media members — there were sections with shade, but the players were left to bake like a Happy Birthday Barbie Cake.

In her lawsuit against the US Tennis Association, Bouchard claimed the floor where she fell had been treated by cleaners with a “slippery, foreign and unsafe substance” that led to her mishap.

Bouchard, now ranked 39th in the world, said her return from the concussion was “very difficult”.

Meanwhile, third-seeded Stan Wawrinka advanced to the second round with a straight-sets win.

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic caught a big break Wednesday when his second-round opponent, Jiri Vesely, withdrew from their match because of inflammation in his forearm.

Where does Eugenie Bouchard go from here? 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. Not surprisingly, Siniakova broke Bouchard yet again in the next game and it was over. Bouchard missed most of the rest of the season. Can you say mediocre?

“Obviously, coming back here, I had mixed emotions”. I have people … lawyers working on that side of it, so it’s really not something I think about much at all. “I tried to focus on every point because I know she’s a great player”. “She’s getting stronger and stronger, just a disappointment today”. The No. 1 player in the world has been trying to overcome injuries to his left wrist and right shoulder and wasn’t himself Monday when he needed four sets to beat Jerzy Janowicz, a former top-15 player who is now ranked No. 247. “Maybe once a month when they call me”.

“I thought she showed a lot of character, worked hard”, the coach added. But it will take a ton of work on her game, both physically and mentally. But Siniakova looked a whole lot better when she walked off it at the end.

A Wimbledon finalist just last month, and seeded No. 5 at the U.S. Open, Raonic double-faulted 15 times and was stunned in the second round at Flushing Meadows 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday by Ryan Harrison, a qualifier from the United States ranked only 120th.

Thankfully, fans are allowed to bring their own plastic water bottles into the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Venus Williams wipes sweat from her brow between serves to Kateryna Kozlova, of the Ukraine, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016, in NY.