Eugenie Bouchard is keeping a positive spirit as she has vowed to turn around her 2023 season after food poisoning in Auckland and an early Australian Open exit. Bouchard started her 2023 season in New Zealand, where she participated at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
In New Zealand, Bouchard won her Auckland qualifying first-round match but then unfortunately suffered food poisoning and withdrew from her qualifying final-round match. This week, Bouchard returned to action by participating in the Australian Open qualifying event.
Unfortunately for Bouchard, she didn’t manage to make the main draw after suffering a 6-3 1-6 6-4 defeat to Ashlyn Krueger in the qualifying first-round. Bouchard, 28, was playing at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2020.
“Australia! So nice to be back after 3 years, and staying at my fav place @crownmelbourne. Sad to be leaving early this year, but we will turn 2023 around!” Bouchard wrote on Instagram.
Bouchard yet to rediscover her best game
After being out for 18 months, Bouchard returned from shoulder surgery in August.
In a recent interview with the WTA website, Bouchard revealed how it felt playing tennis again in 18 months. “My first, first match, I felt like the ball was coming at me so fast. I was playing a girl ranked 200, and obviously no disrespect to her, but I literally thought I was playing Serena.
Her ball was coming so fast at me, I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ And that’s the thing you lose the most, that reaction speed and quickness. So that’s why I tried to play so many tournaments in a row because I was like, I just need matches right now,” Bouchard said.
For Bouchard, it was definitely unfortunate to suffer food poisoning in Auckland. Because of the food poisoning, Bouchard didn’t even get a chance to play her qualifying final round match and she also needed a few days to recover. It remains to be seen how will the rest of the season look for Bouchard.
