Eugenie Bouchard seemed to be improving her tennis recently as she had slammed her way into the fourth round at the 2015 U.S. Open. However, the Canadian player had a freak accident that has left her having to pull out of the last Grand Slam event of the year. According to Yahoo Sports, she suffered a bad concussion after falling and hitting her head in the locker room after her winning match on Friday.
The 21-year-old tennis pro was seen walking into the stadium on Sunday and she didn’t look too good. She was wearing a purple hoodie, dark sunglasses, and was walking quite slowly with her head down. That seemed like a sure sign that she was not ready to take on Italian Roberta Vinci in the next round.
Bouchard was on her way to get checked out on Sunday afternoon, and to meet with tournament officials to determine if she was fit enough to play tennis. Unfortunately, she decided to pull out of the U.S. Open this year.
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard withdraws from the #USOpen due to a concussion: http://t.co/Y311BaHQw1 pic.twitter.com/VvE4DXhGZS
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) September 6, 2015
It has got to be so disappointing for Eugenie Bouchard at this point. Before this accident, she was hitting better and seemed to have improved since her upsetting previous year. Tennis vet Jimmy Connors had taken the young Canadian on and had been helping to train with Eugenie, which could have been one of the reasons behind her improvement on court.
Jimmy Connors is helping Eugenie Bouchard at the #usopen — just don’t call him ‘coach.’ http://t.co/beBFRz79Jy
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 29, 2015
Apparently, Bouchard attempted to take an ice bath after her late Friday night mixed doubles match that she played with Nick Kyrgios, but instead ended up falling on the way there. It was supposedly very dark and she was said to be trying to find the light switch in the pitch blackness of the training room. The floor was wet when she slipped, and hit her head hard when she fell. She has since been suffering from migraines and sensitivity to the light, hence the sunglasses. Her decision to withdraw herself from the Grand Slam was her choice to make with the advice of the medical staff and the people close to her.
According to ESPN, officials usually only make recommendations as to whether the player should continue on after an injury like this. In rare occasions, they can intervene if the injury is really serious. Bouchard ultimately chose to withdraw under the recommendation from the medical staff. Eugenie must have weighed her option and then made her decision, especially as unstable as she seemed to be while walking into the tennis center.
Eugenie Bouchard had fans hopeful that she would make her comeback at this year’s U.S. Open, but this unfortunate accident has sealed her fate for the time being. She is scheduled for a few more tennis tournaments in Asia in the next month, but she will certainly need some time to recover before that.
[Photo courtesy of Al Bello/Getty Images ]
