After an extended hiatus resultant on the pandemic, the tennis world is against surrounded with buzz as the season gets underway. Recent tournaments have included the U.S. Open, one that saw many top players opting out over concerns for their health.

More recently, the French Open got underway yesterday and that saw fans of the sport celebrating after it was announced that Eugenie Bouchard has bee awarded a wildcard for the French Open. The announcement, which follows an earlier announcement last month awarding wild cards to Tsvetana Pironkova and Andy Murray, was made by organizers of the tournament on Tuesday.

Bouchard, who grew up in Canada but resides in Miami, last made it to the finals at the French Open in 2014. The nod in her direction was a reward for her attention spent playing on clay courts in hopes of earning one of the wildcard spots.

The Canadian has been working on returning to her former level of tennis, one that saw her ranked fifth in the world. At last months Istanbul Open, she advanced to the final before losing in third set tie-breaker, yet it was seen as an achievement as it was her first final since 2016

Her last appearance in the French Open finals saw her facing Maria Sharapova, and later in the year, Bouchard went to the Wimbledon finals as well. At 26, her years following the two final appearances saw her struggling to remain consistent.

The good news for Canadian fans and Bouchard, is getting to the finals in Istanbul saw her rank improve from 167, n substantial increase considering prior she was ranked 272nd. Speaking to the media afterwards, Bouchard stated, “I’m honestly shocked,”. Of course, fans of the Canadian are pleased to once again see her in a Grand Slam competition.

Bouchard working on comeback

Bouchards journey in tennis has been anything but sweet. She is one of the players criticized the most in the sport, both with fans of the game and those that troll her social media accounts. The combination saw her struggle to improve and maintain the same level of play.

The criticism and trolling became such an issue that Bouchard stopped posting images of her in a bikini due to the constant harassment. Speaking on the subject, Bouchard said, “I just don’t value the opinions of people who are out there just judging what I put out there.”

Hot off her performance in Istanbul, fans of the Canadian are hoping to see her have a solid performance in the coming days and hopeful advance beyond the group of 16.