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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 15, 2019

Eugenie Bouchard

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

E. BOUCHARD/S. Peng

6-2, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How pleased are you about today?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I'm happy. I think I was very solid and consistent from beginning to end.

Q. How are you just kind of feeling as the season starts? Obviously pretty good stuff in Auckland and seems like things are kind of coming back and feeling confident on court again. So just kind of what's it like being on court again these days?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I'm really enjoying it on the court, and I feel like I have done some good improvements in the last couple months. I have been very solid in my matches last few tournaments. Just enjoying the training and enjoying the matches. That's the most important thing, because I have definitely had moments where I didn't enjoy it so much. So I have really loved being out there.

Q. Is that what you would say is the biggest difference between this beginning of 2019 and the past season?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah.

Q. Or is there also something else from a tactical point of view?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, I mean, I have had tough moments in the past year, for sure, tough injuries. When you lose early, it's less fun, of course, but when I feel like I'm improving and, you know, you feel like specific things that you're taking a step in the right direction, you can feel concrete improvements, I think that's really motivating.

I try to apply what I'm doing in practice in the matches. And I love my team, I love the people around me, so it makes the grind of the tour less tough and a little more enjoyable.

Q. Did you change your service motion a little bit?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, I did a little bit.

Q. Can you elaborate?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, what do you think I changed?

Q. I think your hand, the right hand kind of goes up a bit later and that you just hit the ball with the racquet that starts from a bit lower. Okay? Yes? No?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, one thing I worked on was having a lower toss, because my toss would throw off my timing, and of course in conditions like wind and stuff, it's definitely trickier. So that's something I have been working on since I started working with Mike.

Q. You talked about the grind of the tour. Like when you are struggling and have injuries and things like that, what's the toughest part of kind of turning it around?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, I mean, I had some low points in 2018, and, you know, it was tough. You just have to keep going.

I knew deep down that I still believed in myself and my game and still relatively young, so, you know, I know I still have a little bit of time to play tennis. I decided let's just give it everything right now and see what happens.

There were some very tough moments last year, for sure. But I'm proud that I stuck through them and turned my season around, which has enabled me to start well this year, as well.

Q. At what point did you become aware of who you might play in the second round?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: The moment the draw was done.

Q. How do you feel now that it's materialized?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, it was not something I was thinking about, of course, because we all know anything can happen in tennis. But, yeah, I mean, I'm super excited. This is why we play the big tournaments, to play the best players.

Q. When you look back at yourself as a competitor and how you have kind of changed over time, what have you found is, like, the best motivator for you? For some players it's anger. For some players it's pure ambition. I don't know. Like hunger. What, like, triggers for you your best tennis?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I mean, you know, before today I was so nervous, and I told my coach, and he was, like, That's good. It means you care. That's normal. You actually want to feel that, because if you didn't, then, you know, why would you be here?

For me, it's this never-achievable goal of perfection or trying to play as well as I can play. I just want to challenge myself to see how well I can play on the court. That helps me stay process-oriented and focus on, you know, tactically what I need to do in that match right there. It makes me enjoy it and challenge myself, Okay, how good can I play? That's kind of always the goal.

Q. Serena was just in here a while ago, and she said the thing she admires the most about you is that you never give up. Even if people write you off, you keep proving them wrong. I'm just wondering, what are some of the things that stand out the most to you when it comes to Serena? If there is anything that you do admire about, what would it be?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: If there is anything (smiling)?

Well, it's a long list. I mean, I think she's, you know, the greatest ever. So it's just so cool that I'll be able to share the court with her and an opportunity to see how I compare to one of the best players. I mean, her ranking is top 20 right now, but to me she's always basically No. 1.

I mean, I admire obviously the longevity of her career, her dominance over such a long amount of time, how she's come back so many times from injury, pregnancy, et cetera. I mean, I don't want to talk about it too much and put her on too much of a pedestal because I have to play her in two days, but I love her.

Q. Just going back to that competitive question and your ambition of wanting to see how good you can possibly be, do you see that connected at all to kind of how you have shown throughout your career the ability to, on any given day on a big stage against the best names in the game, that that seems to summon some of your best tennis? Do you feel like when you're standing there in the tunnel, I want to see if I can go toe to toe?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I think that's definitely part of my mindset, and it's what I train for. So those big moments in the past are what I have enjoyed so much in my career. I have been able to raise my level in those pressure situations and against top players. It's something I want to continue to try to do, try to do better.

But, yeah, this is what we train so hard for. These are the moments. So you actually really have to force yourself to enjoy it.

Q. I'm from Dutch press. Canada is playing Netherlands in Fed Cup in February. Just wondering if you're looking forward to that as much as some of the Dutch players are?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I haven't decided if I'm playing yet. My team and I are going to evaluate after the Australian Open.

Q. I think I saw recently someone online was trolling another player and then you went and said come to my page, something like that. I wonder, because you are active on social media, I'm sure you get so much of everything, positive and negative. How has your relationship with kind of your online following changed? How do you deal with the negative stuff?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, I mean, there's good and bad to social media. I think over the years I have learned to emotionally distance myself from it. I see it as fun, a place to joke around. I really try to not take anything too seriously, the good stuff and the bad stuff.

But, yeah, that comment, I mean, it was just so familiar to me. I was, like, This is what I see in all my comments. I don't think Caro needs to be told that. Can always be self-deprecating a little bit.

Q. Talking about the next match or even in general, given that it's Serena and today she played in the day session and there is a chance it could be a night match, are you more of a day person or more of a night person? Like, do you prefer a match that is kind of a big match to be at night where you have to go through the day, or just get it over with during the day?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, as a person, I'm definitely a night owl. I love to sleep in and stay up late. But in tennis, I mean, we can't really control and we're scheduled at all times of the day. I try to not, you know, care or like one thing too much.

Of course there is always something special about a night match, and it has that extra kind of excitement. But tennis is so unique compared to other sports where you have to be ready to play at literally any time of the day, so I try to stay focused on that.

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