Glamour girl Eugenie Bouchard will attempt to get her career back on track at the WTA Hobart International, she said Wednesday, after a head injury scuppered the end of her 2015 season.
The 21-year-old, named one of the most marketable athletes in the world this year, showed her huge potential by making her first grand slam semi-final at the Australian Open in 2014.
She followed up that year by reaching the French Open semi-final and Wimbledon final, reaching a career-high world ranking of five in October 2014.
But she suffered a big setback at the US Open in September when she sustained a head injury after slipping in the locker room.
She was forced to pull out of her fourth-round match at Flushing Meadows with concussion and remained troubled as she later withdrew from an event in Wuhan, China, and retired midway through a first-round match in Beijing with dizziness.
The Canadian did not contest another tour event this year and has slipped to No 49 in the world. She has filed a lawsuit against the United States Tennis Association claiming negligence.
“I want to start my 2016 season strongly and am hoping to get high quality matches in Hobart,” she said in a statement ahead of the tournament starting on January 10, a lead-up event to the Australian Open in Melbourne the following week.
“The tournament is played on the same surface as the Australian Open and will help me prepare for Melbourne. I’ve had great success in Australia in the past and can’t wait to experience a new city.”
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