Eugenie Bouchard Files Lawsuit Against USTA over Locker Room Fall at US Open

Tennis player Eugenie Bouchard was forced to withdraw from the U.S. Open after falling in the locker room and hitting her head, and she reportedly filed a lawsuit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, as a result.

According to an ESPN.com report, Bouchard filed the lawsuit against the United States Tennis Association and claimed the fall that resulted in her hitting the back of her head was caused by a “slippery, foreign and dangerous substance” that was on the floor.

Stephanie Myles of Yahoo Sports said the USTA and the USTA National Tennis Center Inc. were both named as defendants. Myles added more context to the allegations:    

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Among the other factual allegations brought forth by the filing:

18. The Defendants "failed to provide any warnings whatsoever about the substance.

19. Bouchard sustained a "severe injury to her head including, but not limited to, a concussion."

22. As a result of Bouchard withdrawing from the US Open and subsequent tournaments, her world ranking has dropped 13 spots, and is likely to continue to drop.

The defendants are being charged with two counts of negligence (one against the USTA, the other against the USTA National Tennis Center Inc.).

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Bouchard fell after her third-round victory over Dominika Cibulkova. In addition to the U.S. Open, she also withdrew from later tournaments in Tokyo and Wuhan, China, and recently retired from her first match at the China Open because of dizziness. It was her first tournament since the fall and concussion. 

The ESPN.com report said the suit seeks unspecified damages, although Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times provided some financial details:

Bouchard was a fast-rising star in 2014, when she made the Wimbledon final and the semifinals of the Australian Open and French Open. However, 2015 has been a difficult year, and she finds herself ranked No. 38 after previously being as high as No. 5.