Eugenie Bouchard Talks About the Downside of Social Media

Eugenie Bouchard believes that tennis players get too much attention when it comes to their off-court life. The Canadian is very famous on social media and is followed by more than one million people on Instagram.

In an interview to the Radio Breakfast she said: “It’s definitely crazy. We are scrutinised on a whole other level. Fans have access to us; they can essentially write to us their unfiltered thoughts. Social media is a very tough world out there so I think it is important to not get too wrapped up in it.

I love using it to show my fans what I do; I think it adds another dimension to me as a tennis player [and] I get to do all of these other crazy things because of my life. But I do keep a distance in terms of reading what is online and all that stuff because that will literally make you go crazy.” Bouchard also commented on how it felt to play the ASB Classic in Auckland for the first time in five seasons: “I played Auckland my first season as a professional — back in 2013 — and I really enjoyed it.

The people were so nice and it was a really welcoming place. It was a nice way to ease into the year. So when the opportunity came up this year, I was like for sure, I want to go back and see everyone over there because it’s been a while.”

She recently played at the Auckland Open but only got as far as the quarterfinal, losing to Julia Goerges. However, in the doubles, she and teammate Sofia Kenin have reached the final. She will face either Paige Hourigan and Taylor Townsend or Johanna Larsson and Kirsten Flipkens in the final. The match against Goerges was quite an epic showdown as the Canadian won the opening set 6-3. But the German answered back with a 6-3 second set win, sending the final set into a tiebreak. Finally, Goerges won the tiebreak to seal the match.

Bouchard was often criticised for not taking tennis seriously and focusing on her social media image. But now, she is eager to prove her mettle