“People Think I Was Concerned About My Body Image” – Eugenie Bouchard

In the year 2014, the Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard made her breakthrough on the WTA circuit. At  Nürnberger Versicherungscup she went on to pull off her first WTA singles title by defeating Karolina Pliskova.

That year, she defeated former World Number one Ana Ivanovic and then advanced to the semifinals of Australian Open. A few months later, with victories over Angelique Kerber and  Carla Suárez Navarro, Bouchard advanced to the last-four round of French Open 2014.

Her thriving run on the tour did not stop in Paris. At Wimbledon, she proceeded to book a place for herself in the finals. Leading to her achievements in 2014, Bouchard had a tough time dealing with pressure in the following year. Her success had a negative impact on her appetite, which eventually affected her health.

“I definitely had trouble eating” – Eugenie Bouchard

“Yeah, it’s definitely a struggle I had in 2015. I felt a lot of pressure and kind of this expectation if you win a match it’s normal and if you lose it’s a disaster,” she said during Roland Garros 2016.

“Before matches, I was very nervous and definitely had trouble eating. I just felt like it would come right back up. It’s is a difficulty I went through. And not just before matches, but happened to me at other meals as well.”

In 2014, all her achievements drove her into the top-five rankings on the WTA roster. She qualified for the WTA Finals and concluded the year as World Number seven. Moreover, was also named the WTA Most Improved Player.

However, all her success had adversely affected her body. “So people think I was concerned about my body image and things like that and I was losing weight on purpose. That was really not the case. I was just so stressed I was burning calories even more than I normally would. So it was hard to kind of intake enough to keep my weight up or even gain weight, which was the goal, to become stronger,” she added.

In 2015, Bouchard was out of form, and consequently, she dropped to World Number 48. At US Open, she withdrew from the tournament with a concussion. She slipped in the locker-room following a mixed doubles match with Nick Kyrgios and suffered the injury.