Don't look now, but Eugenie Bouchard suddenly has a chance to put her nightmarish 2015 behind her in the next three weeks.
The star-crossed Canadian, who entered 2016 ranked No. 49 after entering 2015 at No. 7, had won five matches in a row before her straight-set loss to Timea Babos on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Shenzhen Open.
Eugenie Bouchard Hires Maria Sharapova's Ex Coach
Yes, she is playing lower-level competition in her Australian Open tuneups, but she appears to be approaching the year's first major in much better shape than the world's top four players.
Serena Williams finally gave up on playing in the Hopman Cup, withdrawing from the event for good on Wednesday. No. 2 Simona Halep and No. 4 Maria Sharapova both withdrew from the Brisbane International earlier this week, each citing injury, according to The Guardian. And No. 3 Garbiñe Muguruza retired from a match at Brisbane because of a foot injury.
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Bouchard had been inactive since suffering a concussion before her fourth-round match against Roberta Vinci at the U.S. Open in September. She tried playing at the China Open in early October but suffered lingering effects from the concussion in her match against Andrea Petkovic. Bouchard had won just five of her previous 23 matches entering the U.S. Open.
She has filed a lawsuit against the USTA and the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center over her fall in a physiotherapy room at the U.S. Open that caused the concussion. Bouchard said she has not suffered any recent issues with the concussion.
"So, as of right now, no symptoms, but I am constantly being monitored, and I will see how I feel tonight and then tomorrow," Bouchard told ESPN.com via phone Tuesday, a day before defeating Nicole Gibbs 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the quarters. "I just take it day by day, kind of week by week now. It's my comeback, so I'm just taking it very slowly, and I'm just so happy to be back in tour. That's the most important thing."
What a turnaround it would be for Bouchard if she were to make a deep run in the Australian Open later this month.
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