Last year, little-known Canadian Eugenie Bouchard announced herself on the big stage, reaching a pair of semi-finals at the Australian and French Opens, and the final at Wimbledon.
After achieving so much at such a young age, she seemed destined to become a top-10 mainstay for many years to come.
Sadly however the pressures of being not only a top 10 player, but also a very popular one, appear to be getting the better of her.
The 21-year-old’s season-long form slump continued on Wednesday morning (AEST), when she crashed out of the French Open in the first round, losing to local favourite Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets.
It marked her eighth defeat in her last nine matches, dating back to mid-March, and it also marked the first time that she has lost in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament since debuting at Roland Garros two years ago.
It comes 12 months after she pushed Maria Sharapova to three sets in the semi-finals at Roland Garros, and the loss could also see her drop out of the WTA’s top 10 when the rankings are updated at the end of the tournament.
Germany’s Angelique Kerber and the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova are both furiously snapping at the Canadian’s heels, ranked 11th and 12th in the world respectively.
The latter, along with former champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Francesca Schiavone, who both meet in a second round match on Thursday, stand to become the biggest beneficiaries of Bouchard’s early exit, as any of them would have been projected to play the struggling Canadian in the fourth round.
Now, one of these three has a huge chance to reach the quarter-finals, with 2009 champion Kuznetsova strongly favoured to get this far, having done so in three of her last four appearances at Roland Garros.
For Mladenovic, it marked her third top-10 victory of her career, with all coming in her home country. She defeated then-reigning Australian Open champion Li Na in the first round of the French Open last year, and also upset Simona Halep at the Open GDF Suez earlier the same year.
Bouchard’s fall from grace may not be over just yet – she must defend 1300 points at Wimbledon, where she reached the final last July, and an early loss there could see her slip further down the rankings.
Her breakthrough 2014, in which she rose from just outside the top 30 at the start of the season to seventh (and a berth at the WTA Finals in Singapore) by the end of it, saw her become one of the most popular players on the WTA Tour.
Her ongoing struggles are reminiscent of Ana Ivanovic seven years ago.
Following her French Open victory in 2008, Ivanovic became the world number one and she had the world at her feet, such was the popularity she attracted as a result of her looks and rapid surge up the rankings.
Sadly, the Serb found the pressure too much and 50 months later her world ranking had dropped to 65th. She has only been able to reach two Grand Slam quarter-finals since – although one instance came at last year’s Australian Open, when she shocked world number one and hot tournament favourite Serena Williams.
Though Ivanovic would ultimately lose to Bouchard at the tournament, defeating Williams, who was coming off a phenomenal 2013 season, set the tone for her own impressive season, as she won four titles en route to reaching the WTA Finals and finishing fifth in the world at the end of the 2014 season.
Furthermore, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have had their own struggles with injuries, poor form and self doubt, with the former enduring three separate periods of prolonged injury in 2003-04, 2006 and 2010-11.
Thus, all hope is not lost for Bouchard.
But with so many points to defend at Wimbledon, where she was heavily beaten by Petra Kvitova in the final last year, Bouchard faces a huge battle just to stay in the top 20.
It remains to be seen whether the Canadian can arrest her season-long form slump at the All England Club, or whether she will continue to fall further down the rankings and thus pay the price for overachieving.
Let’s hope, for the fans’ sake, that she can turn her season around.
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