It wasn't Eugenie Bouchard's first rodeo at the U.S. Open; she knows how the tournament works and her concussion was the result of her own negligence.
That is the gist of the response the USTA submitted in Bouchard's lawsuit against the tennis body and the Billie Jean National Tennis Center, holding them responsible for the concussion she suffered from slipping on the floor of a physiotherapy room that had a cleaning surface on it and was not illuminated.
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The concussion forced Bouchard to withdraw from the tournament, where she had reached the fourth round. She had won three straight matches at the U.S. Open, marking her first three-match winning streak since the Australian Open in January.
Her lawyer said the lawsuit could reach millions of dollars in damages.
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The USTA contends that Bouchard basically is lying -- about the conditions of the physiotherapy room and about her concussed condition.
"Plaintiff [Bouchard] was experienced and well-versed in the procedures and protocols of the women's tour, both in the United States and internationally, and knew or should have known the procedures and protocols as they related to the operation of the physiotherapy room adjacent to the women's locker room at the National Tennis Center and the attended rooms," the USTA said in a 16-page response to the lawsuit, according to SI.com.
The defendants also argue that the physiotherapy room "is never dark; even when the lights are turned off 'twilight' lighting remains and partially illuminates the room" and that the conditions alleged by Bouchard were "open and obvious."
The USTA apparently also has been snooping around Bouchard's social media pages for evidence that she is not as injured as she suggests, SI.com added. The USTA is arguing that Bouchard's claims of "on-going and permanent physical injuries and sequelae to date" are inconsistent with her "own admissions in various forms of social media and public commentary."
The only thing both sides agree on is they both want a jury trial.
The National Post favored the USTA's stance, suggesting that Bouchard should have thought twice about filing the lawsuit.
"In short, if the Bouchard lawsuit was intended to elicit a quick settlement and perhaps an apology from the USTA, the response was the end of that plan," the National Post reported. "A settlement is still possible, but so is a civil trial. At which point it becomes increasingly hard to see why the Bouchard camp thought this was a good idea in the first place."
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