Next coach for Genie Bouchard: Now ex-Sharapova coach Michael Joyce tries to bring the Canadian back to old spheres. The beginning is already made.
Ex-Wimbledon finalist Bouchard leaves no stone unturned to get her tennis back on track – even though the list of her coaches and temporary staff is getting longer and longer.
At the beginning of the year the former number 5 (October 2014) had tried Harold Solomon, over the summer she got help from the legendary Robert Lansdorp, who was 79 years old but only a temporary, but quite successful solution: While Bouchard was still ranked 193 in the world in June, she made it back into the Top 150 under Lansdorp. Martin Sinner, former number 42 in the world, was then on tour with her – the German had already coached Bouchard as a junior.
Now the 24-year-old seems to try it with an old hand of the women’s tour: Michael Joyce and Bouchard will compete at the WTA tournament in Luxembourg – and the duo started successfully. Bouchard fought her way through qualifying, then on Tuesday she won her first round match against Timea Babos 6:4, 6:2. Next opponent on Wednesday afternoon: the three seeded Carla Suarez Navarro. If Bouchard wins, she will be back in the top 100 from Monday and could secure her main field place at the Australian Open by playing in the 125k tournaments of the WTA.
Michael Joyce gained his fame mainly from his coaching time with Maria Sharapova, which he coached from 2004 to 2011 and won three Grand Slam tournaments and became number one in the world rankings, as well as from a tennis essay by US writer David Foster Wallace, who accompanied Joyce during his active years and gave him a great insight into the tennis world in the mid-1990s.
Most recently he coached US hopeful Jessica Pegula as well as Victoria Azarenka, this year with Johanna Konta. The two separated a few weeks ago. Whether the collaboration with Bouchard is for the long term or just for the rest of the season seems open.
The single draw from Luxembourg