Eugenie Bouchard says her emotions affected her play in a fourth-round loss to world No. 85 Lesia Tsurenko at Indian Wells. Bouchard was up 4-1 in the third set, having wept as she took the lead, but then dropped five straight games to give her opponent the match.
Currently ranked No. 7, the Canadian has not reached a tournament final since last year at Wimbledon. She reached the quarterfinals of this year’s Australian Open, but lost to Maria Sharapova in straight sets. She did not play Fed Cup and lost in the opening round of Antwerp to Mona Barthel.
The 21-year-old said that she needs to calm herself down in situations like the one she experienced. “I think I let emotions get the best of me,” she said of her loss to Tsurenko. “I don't usually do that. I usually pride myself on not doing that. It's been a while since I felt that emotional in a match and after. It's a tough one to learn from, but that's what I have to do.”
Bouchard said that she has handled her expectations off court, but on court things are different. “I wasn't feeling great and I really expected more from myself,” she said.
“I didn't feel good in terms of my tennis at all. I don't even kno” how many unforced errors I made, so please don't tell me,” she added with a smile. "Just frustrating, because I felt like it was a bit on my racquet…It's just kind of a learning experience. Next time if I feel that way, really try to change something, try and turn something around in the practice before the match. Try and get myself going in another way. I can't regret anything.”