‘My Cheeks Hurt’ – Eugenie Bouchard Overjoyed Following a Smashing Victory Over Sofia Kenin in Her Return to Tennis

Eugenie Bouchard recently appeared for the first time on the court since her first-round loss at the 2021 Monterrey Open. However, not on the professional circuit. The Canadian beat American player Sofia Kenin at the Champions Series Tennis, a competitive tennis circuit started by Jim Courier’s venture InsideOut. Winning her first match in 12 months, Bouchard said, “I feel like I’ve just been smiling all afternoon, like my cheeks hurt,”

Bouchard suffered torn subscapularis in her right shoulder in March last year, forcing her to undergo surgery for the same. The recovery from the injury further forced her to stay out of the remaining 2021 season. In October, she gave an injury update saying that she’s on the right track towards recovery and hopes to be back on the court in the next five months (i.e. March 2022).

Bouchard is back on the court

Even though Bouchard hasn’t made a professional circuit comeback met, keeping her words, she has surely made a court comeback. Also, a roaring one. Playing in the first event of the Champions Series Tennis, Bouchard outplayed Sofia Kenin 6-1.

The win turned out to be even more impressive seeing the exorbitant weather conditions. Winning the match, Bouchard said, “I played better than I expected.”

“We had really tough conditions. We’re both very cold out here and it’s hard to serve sometimes with the wind. But I just tried to hit the shots I’ve been doing in practice since I’ve been training for my comeback,” she added.

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Galvanized by her performance, a smiling Sofia Kenin went up to the net to congratulate Bouchard for the win. Capturing the moment, the tournament put up a tweet on their Twitter handle saying, “Sofia Kenin offers her congrats to Genie Bouchard (and they vent about the cold barely above-50-degree temperatures!) after Bouchard beat her 6-1 in women’s singles in our new mixed team event in Thousand Oaks, California.”

The women’s singles wasn’t the only category in which the 28th-year-old Canadian shined. Pairing with Tommy Haas, Eugenie also showed her magic in the mixed doubles game, beating the all-American pair of Sofia Kenin and Sam Querrey 6-3. Winning both the matches, Eugenie leads the rankings with 400 points.

Eugenie Bouchard in 2021

Struggling to get back in form since a long time, Eugenie Bouchard started her 2021 season with a qualifying round loss at the Australian Open. Recovering from her loss disappointment, Bouchard next entered the WTA 250 Open 6ème Sens Métropole de Lyon, also known as the Lyon Open. However, failing to raise her game, she faced a first-round loss to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Not losing hope, she tried her luck at the WTA 250 Abierto Zapopan 2021, also known as the Guadalajara Open. Having all the stars aligned, Bouchard cruised through the initial rounds, reaching the finals. However, in the finals, she was beaten by 4th seeded Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo. 

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The happiness of getting back in form was short-lived for Eugenie as she again faced a first-round exit at the WTA Monterrey Open. Since then, Bouchard has been out of the tour citing her shoulder injury. The former World No. 5 is currently ranked 1461 in the world.