Welcome to Tennis Elbow, the column that looks back on the week that was in the world of tennis. This week, Charles Blouin-Gascon looks at Eugenie Bouchard’s decision to skip the Fed Cup.
The truth is, Eugenie Bouchard may not have even changed anything because it lost so thoroughly.
When Canada had the privilege of hosting Czech Republic earlier this month, captain Sylvain Bruneau had no other choice but to roll out a very, very, very green line-up consisting of No. 150-ranked Sharon Fichman, No. 183-ranked Gabriela Dabrowski, No. 250-ranked (and 17-year-old Françoise Abanda) and No. 791-ranked (and 15-year-old) Charlotte Robillard-Millette.
Bouchard had forced Bruneau’s hand by declining the invitation to help Canada against the Fed Cup defending champion and one of the bigger and better tennis superpowers. Canada, which is “barely getting on the map as a nation” according to the tennis director of Mayfair Tennis Clubs Michael Emmett, and which is in the World Group for the very first time, stood little chance without its very best player.
“It’s a big mistake on her part and she’s going to regret it,” Emmett says. “She wants to be known as a good person.”
Certainly. Though Bouchard had been instrumental in getting Canada to the World Group in the first place, “she hasn’t made (the Fed Cup) a priority.”
It’s the latest in a series of “questionable decisions,” Emmett calls them. From the ongoing beef with the Hong Kong Tennis Association representatives to her recent decision to withdraw from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, not to mention the coaching saga that was finally resolved this month, Bouchard “is starting to get a bit of a bad rap.”
Indeed, so why skip the Fed Cup? Emmett calls is a selfish decision and contrasts it with Maria Sharapova’s decision to help Russia against Poland and the two Radwanska sisters. If Sharapova can be there, why can’t Bouchard? (That’s a question that keeps coming back during our discussion with Emmett.)
It’s certainly her right, and Emmett understands that. He says that, “I totally get why she’s doing it, but it’s a selfish decision.”
But selfish doesn’t have to be bad. In fact, this decision is probably the best one she can make for Bouchard the tennis player, if not for Canada the country. If she indeed has played too much tennis recently and she indeed does want to win Grand Slams above anything else, then this is the right decision for Eugenie Bouchard. Furthermore, in a twisted logic, a Bouchard win at, say, Wimbledon would galvanize and help Canada emerge and progress even more than a Fed Cup likely could/would. There’s no doubt about that in Emmett’s mind.
But that doesn’t mean that a Fed Cup win wouldn’t help, because it would. Emmett recalls Canada’s run to the semfinals of the 2013 Davis Cup, admittedly a bigger and more recognizable event than its counterpart for women.
“Hockey players represent their players (at the Olympics), why can’t Bouchard?” asks Emmett. One may counter by saying that in this comparison, the Fed Cup is more like the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships than the Olympics, and that the Sidney Crosbys of the world ideally don’t play in these World Championships because they’re battling for a Stanley Cup.
And yet, the comparison still holds. Should better players play in the Fed Cup every year, then the prestige of the year-long tournament would rise and so would the merit of winning it all for any one country—especially Canada.
In 2013, as Milos Raonic, Vasek Pospisil and co. battled against the big, bad boys of Serbia, Emmett was a guest on CBC News. He believes the same would happen for the Fed Cup. But alas, Canada was decimated 4-0 and will have to beat Romania April 18 and 19 to remain in the World Group in 2016. Bouchard hasn’t said whether she will play in that tie.
Our best bet is probably on Roland Garros and the other majors. Just like Bouchard would want it.
Follow Charles Blouin-Gascon on Twitter @RealCBG
This is a sorry excuse even for an Internet article. Do Canadians even understand tennis? Who is this Emmett guy? Why is he given press time? Was he the closest mouthpiece by location the “writer” of this article could walk to or call on the phone for sound bites?
First of all, for this “director” of a tennis club to compare Sharapova’s decision to play for Russia this month to that of Bouchard’s to not play for Canada is at best willful ignorance and at worst, distortion. Sharapova, who will be 28 in April and has been a pro tennis player for more than a decade, has an overall career Fed Cup record of 5 and 1. Yes, 5 and 1. Look it up. By contrast, Bouchard, who is seven years younger, has a career Fed Cup record of 11 and 2. That’s right, 11 and 2. Sharapova was playing Fed Cup to qualify for a spot on the Russian Olympics team for the Rio Games. She has been living in the USA since about age 7 but still claims her Russian nationality. Tennis players’ personal decisions are just that, their own. They are self-employed athletes. They have to do what is best for themselves because no one, especially this Emmett person who clouds the debate in phony nationalism, will care if they get hurt or their careers shortened by injuries. Bouchard has probably given Canada a better international image than anyone has in years.
For those Canadians who drape themselves in flags over fake national pride, they should learn more about tennis and see the Fed Cup and Davis Cup as what they are – job security for tennis federation officials world-wide. That is one of the reasons why playing these events are tied to Olympics qualification – arm-twisting players who want to be Olympians as well.
And it is dishonesty on the part of Tennis Canada and its Fed Cup captain to let Bouchard take all the heat for their failure to produce anything but a farm team at best, and tried to push the team off against major-league tennis powerhouses such as the Czech Republic, which only sent its B-Team for the recent tie. Instead of blaming Bouchard for not playing every tie in every year, Canadians should ask Tennis Canada why with all the resources and money thrown at players development, that this is the best they can produce for the buck.
Tennis in Canada is still in its infancy. People need to get a grip and chill. Bouchard alone cannot win the Fed Cup for Canada. Roger Federer may be the G.O.A.T., but he could not have won the Davis Cup alone without Stan Wawrinka, or another top player. Canada may have a better chance at making deep runs in the Davis Cup competition with three world-class players in Raonic, Pospisil, and Nestor. Until there is more depth in the Fed Cup team, World Group 2 is where Canada belongs realistically.
If Canadians want national glory, they have to stand behind their players through thick and thin. They need to know that tennis players represent their countries every time they step on a tennis court in any competition.
This is a garbage blog, plain and simple. It was due to Bouchard’s last several wins that even got Canada to world group one in the first place and no one involved in Tennis Canada questions her patriotism.
First, with respect to Maria Sharapova playing for Russia, she has played in less Fed Cups in her entire career than Genie has up to this point, so she is hardly an example to use.
Secondly, Genie played the last Fed Cup injured and still won her matches. Those nagging injuries from that Fed Cup persisted through that latter part of last season and resulted in less than stellar results in the last half of 2014. Why would Genie risk injury again at the start of the 2015 season, when not only her, but our second and 3rd best Canadian female player also out of Fed Cup? Canada stood very little chance to win this round to begin with, and everyone involved knew that.
Finally, this is not like Hockey and if a player gets injured, they don’t go on some team’s IR list while rehabbing with a team doctor, collecting a paycheck all the while. If they go down, they don’t play, they lose money, they lose ranking.
Cherry picking information for blogs and news articles, while still can show a side of a story, just does not do a situation justice. A little journalistic integrity is always something for writers to side with.
This is a garbage blog article, plain and simple. It was due to Bouchard’s last several wins that even got Canada to world group one in the first place and no one involved in Tennis Canada questions her patriotism.
First, with respect to Maria Sharapova playing for Russia, she has played in less Fed Cups in her entire career than Genie has up to this point, so she is hardly an example to use.
Secondly, Genie played the last Fed Cup injured and still won her matches. Those nagging injuries from that Fed Cup persisted through that latter part of last season and resulted in less than stellar results in the last half of 2014. Why would Genie risk injury again at the start of the 2015 season, when not only her, but our second and 3rd best Canadian female player were also out of Fed Cup? Canada stood very little chance to win this round to begin with, and everyone involved knew that.
Finally, this is not like Hockey and if a player gets injured, they don’t go on some team’s IR list while rehabbing with a team doctor, collecting a paycheck all the while. If they go down, they don’t play, they lose money, they lose ranking.
Cherry picking information for blogs and news articles, while still can show a side of a story, just does not do a situation justice. A little journalistic integrity is always something for writers to side with.
I have some news that Bouchard will missed against Romania.