Bouchard splits with coach

Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard will face Belinda Bencic on Tuesday in the first round of the Rogers Cup, and will do so working with temporary coach Marko Dragic.

After parting with longtime coach Nick Saviano, Bouchard added Victoria Azarenka’s old coach Sumyk to the team at the end of past year.

Bouchard has struggled this season and has seen her world ranking slip from No. 7 to No. 26. I believe and I know that my talent didn’t just suddenly go away.

Bouchard should be back in action despite withdrawing from last week’s Citi Open in Washington with an abdominal injury, with the 21-year-old Canadian claiming she has been “healing well” and is keen to get “back to competition”.

However, Bouchard will not be hiring a permanent coach as she bids to rebuild her shattered confidence.

“I am looking for someone that will make me improve on all aspects 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”. She said she’s feeling good now. She had previously lost in the first round at the 2015 French Open.

It’s tough to say one way or the other at this point. The biggest challenge will be to get Bouchard focused on tennis again.

She seems to have forgotten that tennis brought her fame, not vice versa. She is scheduled next to play the WTA Premier tournament in Toronto, her home country before the U.S. Open starts at the end of the month. Not now. Not this time. “I’ve just come to that decision”. “The expectations really aren’t there, and who knows, maybe that’s a good thing for her”.

The learning could continue this week as Bouchard faces a hard draw. This year must feel like she’s gone back to school. I have lost the confidence and aggressiveness to my game.