Is Eugenie Bouchard Playing French Open 2021?

Former World No.5 Eugenie Bouchard was last seen on the tennis court in Mexico in mid-March 2021. Since then, the Canadian has not played a match. Her ranking has again plummeted, and now, after the release of the French Open 2021 qualifying draw, Bouchard’s name is missing, indicating the player’s absence at the Grand Slam.

Eugenie Bouchard in 2021

She started her 2021 by playing the qualifiers of the Australian Open. In Melbourne, she met with disappointment yet again, as for the second year in a row she was ousted in the qualifying stage. She then played WTA Lyon Open but saw a first-round exit.

There was an upturn in form as she reached the finals of WTA Guadalajara. And then later, at Monterrey, she was ousted in the first round again. That has been Bouchard‘s 2021 season so far. She was going to play Miami Open qualifiers but went on a vacation to California, USA, instead.

Eugenie Bouchard’s absence from the wildcard list and qualifying draw of French Open 2021

Bouchard’s ranking of 117 doesn’t give her a direct main draw entry into the French Open; she would have had to play the qualifiers or get a wildcard. But given her non-involvement in tennis for a few months, it is quite obvious that she won’t play French Open.

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The wildcard list of the French Open didn’t feature Bouchard. The Canadian had received a wildcard last year where she lost in the third round to the eventual champion, Iga Swiatek. Later, the qualifying draw of Roland Garros also didn’t have Genie Bouchard, hence confirming her non-participation in Paris.

Eugenie Bouchard hasn’t practiced on clay

There were signs that Bouchard wouldn’t play in the clay season. Firstly, she has not practiced on clay since her vacation. Moreover, the clay-court season, that began in the first week of April and will end with the conclusion of Roland Garros, has not seen Genie play a single match.

Eugenie Bouchard’s absence from other WTA clay-court events prior to French Open 2021

Bouchard was on the qualifying draw of WTA Belgrade, which concluded two weeks prior to the French Open, but she withdrew from that. Moreover, given her ranking, she was only making it through to the qualifying draws of most WTA 250 tournaments.

Hence, she could have played WTA 125k series events. However, Bouchard has been absent from there as well. Also then there were ITF events that she could have been a part of, but she didn’t play there either.

Bouchard might have decided to skip the clay-court season entirely and wait for the grass-court season. She is yet to sign up for a grass event and it will be interesting if Bouchard plays Wimbledon.

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