Looking back now, Bouchard says she felt “I always have to live up to what I’ve done” and it is no doubt a feeling that would resonate with Emma Raducanu who triumphed at the 2021 US Open aged just 18. The comparisons are obvious.
“Tennis is interesting because you can peak so early,” Bouchard says, having dashed straight from Heathrow Airport to appear at a New Balance event in west London. “Some of my best years were honestly like [when I was] 19, 20, 21, which is crazy to think about with hindsight because I feel like I was young and dumb two years ago so imagine 10 years ago.
“Having it [success] at the beginning of my career rather than the tail-end, made me feel this constant pressure every year all the time of, ‘Will she ever win a slam?’, ‘Will she ever do what she did before?’ and it’s really hard to get far in a grand slam. Lots of players never do that in their careers, and the ones who do it consistently are the greats like Serena [Williams] or Novak [Djokovic].”
It is why she can relate to the scrutiny Raducanu has experienced since lifting the trophy at Flushing Meadows in 2021, but not going beyond the fourth round of another grand slam. “Exactly,” the 32-year-old says when asked about similarities with her career and the Briton’s. “[People think], ‘When are you going to win another one? Now you’re going to win one a year for the next 10 years’. And it just doesn’t work like that.”