By Mike McIntyre
Struggling Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard has split with her coach Sam Sumyk after roughly six months of working together. 'Roughly' would be the appropriate word to describe their time together as the former world No. 5 struggled mightily since uniting with the Frenchman in February of this year. Her record has been an abysmal 4-13 during that short period of time that has witnessed a collapse of Bouchard's on-court game and usually strong mental resolve.
Sumyk was no slouch as a tennis coach, having helmed the ascent of former top ten players Vera Zvonareva and more recently Victoria Azarenka whom he parted ways with earlier this year following the Australian Open. Unfortunately for Sumyk (and Bouchard), he was unable to recreate that type of success with the 21 year old Canadian.
While the coaching change comes as a shock to nobody, the timing of the news is somewhat mystifying. Revealed on Twitter by tennis reporter Matt Cronin, the story surfaces just days before Bouchard is set to take to the court in her country's biggest tennis tournament - the Rogers Cup. While it is possible that Bouchard simply could not see herself continuing any longer with Sumyk, it seems odd to make such a decision while on the cusp of having your national media shine a spotlight on you for the week. Rather than coming in with lower expectations and perhaps reduced attention from the press - as she had a year ago following her runner-up result at Wimbledon - Bouchard will now certainly face a barrage of questions related to the coaching move. Did somebody say distraction?
While Bouchard arrived in Toronto late Thursday night, she will be front and centre Friday afternoon at the Hilton Hotel downtown where she will be the WTA player representative present for the selection of the Rogers Cup singles draw. Previously it had been announced that Maria Sharapova would fulfill that role, but that was suddenly changed without explanation a day ago to Bouchard. One would think that initially Bouchard would have been the logical choice to be at the draw ceremony. Despite her struggles she is still at the moment Canada's best and only viable hope of winning the tournament. Regardless of these logistics, as it stands now it will be Bouchard on the hot seat Friday and hopefully she will be able to shed more details on this breaking situation.
Ultimately our judgment on the dismissal of Sumyk will have to be made at the end of the current season. While Bouchard still has pretty much all of the hardcourt swing ahead of her, it will not be as simple as flicking a switch to rediscover her form from 2014. Many questions still linger and the most important of those perhaps is the state of her health following this past week's withdrawal from the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. due to a lingering abdominal injury.
Check back with us later in the day for full coverage of the Rogers Cup draw ceremony along with reaction from Bouchard herself on what has finally prompted her to move in another coaching direction and why she felt compelled to make that decision now.
Comments