Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard is suing the U.S. Tennis Association stemming from an incident at the 2015 US Open, and the trial date has been set.
The 23-year-old is suing the USTA after an alleged head injury at the 2015 US Open on Sept. 5, 2015. Bouchard allegedly slipped and fell in a physical therapy room and hit her head on a tile floor after a mixed doubles match. Bouchard later withdrew from the tournament, citing a concussion and other symptoms.
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Bouchard claims that the fall was caused by a “slippery, foreign and dangerous substance on the floor.” Her attorneys also claimed in May that the USTA erased security camera footage of the fall.
Bouchard has struggled since the injury, too. At the time of the accident, she was ranked No. 25 in the world. Bouchard is currently ranked No. 82.
"The problem that she's having is getting her confidence back, because she could be hitting the ball as well as ever and she can be moving on the court well, but you and I both know that she, in 2014 (when Bouchard reached a career-high ranking of No. 5) and again at the U.S. Open in 2015, was exhibiting a mental toughness that not many players, male or female, had exhibited at that time,” Bouchard’s lawyer, Benedict Morelli, told TSN in March. “So, getting back that form is difficult. Any seasoned player who has been or is on the tour will tell you, 'You just can't turn it on like a faucet. It doesn't work that way.’"
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Per TSN, the USTA has said that Bouchard “knew, or should have known, the physiotherapy room was closed at the time she attempted to enter," and released a statement in April saying that it followed its standard policies in dealing with the incident.
"The USTA is confident that it preserved all documents, footage and other materials requested by Mr. Morelli at the time he advised us of Ms. Bouchard's claim," the USTA said. "Other than that, the USTA followed its standard retention policies, which make it impossible to accommodate an additional request that came more than 14 months after the original notice."
Bouchard is scheduled to testify in her negligence lawsuit, which is scheduled to begin jury selection on Feb. 20, 2018, per documents filed in U.S. Federal Court in New York. The trial will last about 10 days, according to proposed pre-trial order filed by Bouchard’s lawyers and the USTA.