After a 17-month layoff recovering from right shoulder surgery, the Westmount, Que., native is back playing tennis at the Odlum Brown VanOpen. “The goal of the surgery and coming back is to be able to play exactly the way I want and the way I played before,” the 28-year-old former world No. 5 said on Monday. “That’s what we do as athletes. It’s not about practicing all the time, it’s about playing.” Bouchard opened the tournament on Sunday night, teaming with Canada’s Kayla Cross to defeat Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti and Elisabetta Cocciaretto in a doubles match. “I was exhausted,” Bouchard said with a smile. “I started to tighten up in my body, my muscles hurt. “It’s just that mental focus. Playing in a match is different from practice. It’s all about these repetitions over and over again. I’ll get the stamina from it and I’ll be able to go back to racing completely normally, but it’s a baby step.” Bouchard plays her first match on Tuesday against Ariane Hartoro of the Netherlands, a player she knows nothing about. Bouchard knows there may be bumps along the way and accepts being an underdog. “The expectations are very low, the expectations are on the floor,” said the two-time Canadian Press Athlete of the Year. “My actions and my personal standards are high, but in terms of results, we don’t know what to expect. “I’ve never had to come back from surgery before, I’ve never had an injury this big. For me, it’s really zero.” The Odlum Brown VanOpen ends on Sunday. The tournament, which returns after a two-year layoff due to COVID-19, has drawn 135 players to Hollyburn Country Club battling for a combined purse of more than US$274,360. The men’s tournament, which has a top prize of $21,600, has been an ATP Challenger Tour event for several years. For the first time this year the women’s competition is a WTA 125 tournament with a top prize of $15,000. The story continues Bouchard, who received a wildcard entry into the tournament, last played in March 2021 at the Monterey Open where she injured her shoulder in a first-round match against Zhu Lin. Bouchard became the first Canadian to reach a Grand Slam singles final in 2014 when she lost in the Wimbledon final to Petra Kvitova. He also reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and the French Open that year. Since then, Bouchard has battled multiple injuries, including a concussion after falling in the dressing room at the US Open. Dealing with injuries and time away from the game has been a learning experience. “I’ve learned a lot in life and I’ve had some really tough times,” he said. “It’s really tested my patience to have to be out for so long. It’s not like when you retire and you’re at peace with the stoppage. It’s like a forced step. It’s hard to accept mentally. “It made me realize how much I love tennis. There are so many other great things in life besides tennis, but it’s what I want to do now and for years to come.” Vancouver resident Rebecca Marino, who is also playing in this year’s tournament, understands the challenges Bouchard faces. Marino broke out on the WTA Tour and reached a career high of No. 38 in 2011 before retiring from the sport in 2013 due to depression. She returned to tennis in 2017 and missed another 18 months due to injury. “Coming back, not having competed in a race, it’s really hard to replicate that race feeling from training to competition,” he said. “There are a lot of nerves in your first event, there are a lot of challenges.” Bouchard played in the Odlum Brown event as a junior in 2012, the same summer she won the Wimbledon junior girls title. Other tennis stars who played in the event include Marino, Milos Raonic, Maria Sharapova, Andy Murray, Leylah Fernandez, Johanna Konta, Kevin Anderson, Vasek Pospisil, Marion Bartoli, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Bianca Andreescu, Taylor Fritz and Naomi Osaka Karolina . Pliskova. Bouchard knows he’s at the beginning of a new journey, but he’s not sure where it will end. “The goal of the operation and the return is to be able to play exactly the way I want and the way I played before,” he said. “The first race) went well and everything is great. Now the goal is just to pick up races and hopefully everything will be fine with my shoulder. “The journey is as long as it takes. I love playing tennis. I’m here to do my best.” BASE: Two seeds in the women’s singles draw were uprooted on Monday. Britain’s Heather Watson saw off eighth seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, while Andorra’s Victoria Jimenez Casincheva beat seventh seed Misaki Doi of Japan 6-3, 6-2 . … Rebecca Marino of Vancouver will play American Emma Navarro on Tuesday in her first singles match at Hollyburn Country Club. … Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo is the first Canadian men’s player to advance to the second round of singles after eliminating Belgium’s Zizou Bergs 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5). Diallo is ranked 553rd in the world. … Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver will play his first singles match Tuesday against Felipe Meligeni Alves of Brazil. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 15, 2022. Jim Morris, The Canadian Press
