Exclusive: Genie Bouchard Interview at Transylvania Open 2022
Genie Bouchard has found some form after coming back from a shoulder surgery in the summer.
The 28 year old Canadian won 2 matches in Channai and 2 matches is Ostrava before eventually falling to Belinda Bencic in a close match, showing that her game is back at a high level.
This coming week, Genie is in Cluj-Napoca, Romania to take part in the Transylvania Open. She spoke with The Slice’s Elias Laradi for an exclusive interview:
Exclusive Interview with Genie Bouchard in Romania
Q: Genie how have the last two years been for you?
“ It was extremely tough I would say and the last year and a half has been the toughest of my career obviously I never had surgery before and to go through that is really hard mentally and it tested my patience a lot but it made me remember my love for tennis and confirm that I really love it.
I really didn’t want to stop despite going through rehab and PT and you have those thoughts of why am I doing this but it was never a real thought and I always knew I wanted to come back.”
Q: How was the road back and have you set any goals or expectations for the end of the season?
“Well my first goal was to not have pain on the court and that makes playing tennis so much more enjoyable and try to come back as soon as possible and it went longer than I would have hoped but I came back right on time for the US Open so now my goal is to play as much as possible and I feel my tennis is improving with each tournament that I am playing and set myself up to have a full normal year next year.”
Q: Are you pleased with your results so far and your performance in your come back on tour?
“I would say yes, I did not know what to expect in terms of my tennis. I came back quicker than expected and I feel good with my shots and my game but the first couple [of matches] I felt off because playing a match is so different from playing in practice and even though I was playing well in practice It was not translating in the matches, but now that I have played more matches I feel my game coming back and playing Belinda feeling I should have won was a disappointing result but it showed I can play with the best players in the world.”
Q: How did it feel not playing a match for a long period of time during your rehab?
“I am a very competitive person and to miss out on that adrenaline when you play tennis was weird even just having an even-keel life was weird because I am so used to the highs and lows of playing a crazy sport so doing things like broadcasting for Tennis Channel and Sportsnet in Canada as well doing broadcasting gave me that adrenaline as well and it replaced the one I have during a match so It gave me something to work towards and preparing for it as if I was playing a match gave me structure and goals to have obviously besides my rehab because I needed to give my brain some stuff because I was getting restless.”
Q: How has been the relationship with your new coach Tim Blenkiron?
“Tim has been great even during the period I did not play, we were on the phone every week and trying to plan the comeback, and even if it was hard for that amount of time because you did not know when to come back, we stayed in touch a lot and he was waiting for me to come back.
He is a great coach but he also has a great personality and he is easy to be around and when you travel one on one with someone for many weeks It is important to actually get along with them as well and we do and he is just really fun to be around with.”
Genie Bouchard also helped out with the main draw and she was able to pick herself last and she will face the number two seed Anhelina Kalinina from Ukraine.
Is Genie Bouchard Back?
On the latest episode of North of the Net, Brendan McCarthy and Stephen Boughton discuss Genie’s recent form as well as other Canadian tennis action:
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