Eugenie Bouchard Needs to Forget About Marketability and Work on Her Game

Eugenie Bouchard, it's time to hit the reset button. It's time to rethink, reconnect, reconsider and reexamine your career. Forget about marketability and work on your game. 

A finalist at Wimbledon last year, look at you now, losing 6-7(3), 4-6 to Ying-Ying Duan, a qualifier who until today had never beaten a player in the top 50.  

Genie, what the heck happened? It's clear you're suffering from something deeper than a sophomore slump or a Grade 2 abdominal tear.

You've lost 13 of your last 16 matches. You've won just nine sets since the Australian Open. In comparison, Simona Halep, who also lost today and is struggling a bit, has won 51 sets since then. 

Your ranking will take a hit. Yep, you'll be out of the top 20 for sure. You think life on the WTA Tour is tough now, wait until you start to draw Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova in the third round. Just ask two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka. 

Whatever is going on, there's plenty of time to recover. That's if you reset now. 

The good news, Genie, is that this is the perfect time to retool. You performed so poorly post-Wimbledon last year that you have few points to defend. The pressure is off. You can afford to take a step back and evaluate your motivation, preparation and even your coaching change. 

Time to rethink the Canadian cover girl marketing plan. Nothing wrong with chasing fame and dollars, especially when the media and Madison Avenue crown you the "it girl." 

However, accelerated celebrity slowed you down. Genie, last year you were the quick-strike queen. These days you appear detached from your game. The same woman who confidently strikes a pose in a backless, bra-less evening gown struggles to deliver a comeback, against a qualifier. C'mon, Genie. 

Tune out the nonsense about being the most marketable athlete in the world. In assessing your abysmal season, Ahmed Rizvi of UAE publication the National wrote that, "The bigger problem could be that all this 'marketing' has gone to her head." 

Genie, it's time to reconnect with tennis. Check out Belinda Bencic, a lovely teenager who failed to make that most marketable list. Instead of building a brand, Bencic is constructing a better game. She beat you and Agnieszka Radwanska to win the Aegon International at Eastbourne, her first WTA title. 

Monday, Bencic fell behind a set to former Wimbledon semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova before taking the last two sets, 6-1, 6-3. Remember when you used to play like that, Genie?  

Perhaps it's time to focus on the mental aspects of your game. After retiring from Eastbourne, a reporter asked you if you had considered seeing a sports psychologist. You told him it's crossed your mind. 

"

I have spoken with my team around me and, you know, we have talked about a lot of different things.  I feel like I have begun to learn things on my own, which I think is a good thing, as well. I'm not saying I wouldn't ever use that in the future.  I totally can.  I feel like in the past month or so I have found kind of answers within, and, you know, I know how good I can play.  I know what to do on a tennis court.  It's just about bringing it out.

"

Reconsider that, Genie. No matter how poorly you've played this season, the talent that reached three Slam semifinals and the finals at Wimbledon last year is no fluke. Much of this has to be in your head. It needs your full attention.

Reexamine your goals, Genie. There's nothing wrong with trying to be the new face of tennis. But tennis is your career. It's more than a launchpad to become a spokesmodel. Besides, winning is marketable. 

Anna Kournikova's endorsements dwarfed Steffi Graf's. Yet years after they have retired, who are people talking about?

Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images

Genie, it's time to regroup. This may mean shrinking the entourage or going on an extended holiday. Right now, what you are doing isn't working. Get back to basics. Even you know you're overthinking things. You said so in your post-match press conference after losing in the first round of the French Open. 

"I think it's hard to not try to think about what's going on when it's not going well. I think, but I do think when I'm playing my best tennis is when I'm being more instinctive. I think that's something I need to get back, just, you know, trusting myself, because I know I can play well."

As bad as your career looks, it's more than salvageable. Defending that many semifinal points is difficult. No need to panic. Hit the reset button, Genie. Search your soul to find the drive that propelled you to the top 10. Take time off if you have to. Then, reemerge, anew.