Eugenie Bouchard continues to struggle, exits China Open early

TORONTO, ON - AUGUST 8: Eugenie Bouchard of Canada plays a shot against Donna Vekic of Croatia during Day 4 of the Rogers Cup at Aviva Centre on August 8, 2017 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - AUGUST 8: Eugenie Bouchard of Canada plays a shot against Donna Vekic of Croatia during Day 4 of the Rogers Cup at Aviva Centre on August 8, 2017 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /
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Eugenie Bouchard is out of the 2017 China Open in the opening round. The Canadian tennis star continues to struggle this year on tour.

Eugenie Bouchard has added a coach and attempted to revive her game this year.

It appears as though the young Canadian tennis star is still searching for that x-factor that once brought her the world No. 5 ranking. She exits the 2017 China Open in the first round.

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Bouchard drops her match against Magdaléna Rybáriková of Slovakia. The Slovakian tennis player takes the meeting in straight sets, winning 6-4, 6-3. Rybáriková would go on to lose her second round meeting with second seed Simona Halep.

Eugenie Bouchard is the current world No. 79 on the WTA Tour with a singles record of 13-18 on the year.

It hasn’t all been disappointment this year for Bouchard. Earlier this year, she defeated the likes of Alize Cornet, Maria Sharapova, and Angelique Kerber in Madrid.

The quarterfinals appearance displayed some of her best tennis and featured a highly anticipated matchup with the recently returned Sharapova. Bouchard backed up her comments regarding Sharapova’s return with a huge three-set victory.

Now, Eugenie Bouchard must look ahead to the 2018 WTA Tour. There’s enough time to end the year on a high note before heading into the offseason with the right mindset.

Next: Genie Bouchard: Top 5 Career Moments

The 2017 WTA Tour has featured some new stars in women’s singles. Players such as Bouchard are being joined by the likes of Jelena Ostapenko, Caroline Garcia, Garbine Muguruza, and Elina Svitolina to name a few. With Bouchard just 23-years-old, she has plenty of time regain control of her game and become a top player yet again.

Similar to Eugenie Bouchard, former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber has seen ups and downs this year. Now the current world No. 12, the German tennis star has faded in recent months. While there are flashes of last year’s Kerber, she too has struggled to compete with the rising generation of women’s singles stars. The good news for Genie and others is that you are always just one or two deep tournament runs away from redemption. Even if she must wait until 2018 for a full revamp, Eugenie Bouchard can rebound and end the year with some momentum going into January. Stay tuned to see how action in Beijing unfolds.