QUEBEC CITY — In his heart of hearts, Sylvain Bruneau knew this day was coming. He just didn’t expect it to be now.
Canada’s Fed Cup captain had just returned from Melbourne, and felt he had good conversations with Eugenie Bouchard at the Australian Open. The defending champion Czech Republic team was coming to Quebec City for Canada’s maiden voyage into World Group I. And with Petra Kvitova and Lucie Safarova sitting this one out, the Canadians sensed this was the opportunity to continue the momentum after a historic 2014.
Bruneau isn’t naive. At some point, Bouchard would pick career over country. He knew it. Everyone knows it. But perhaps now wasn’t the time. Perhaps this chance to help propel Canada to the final four of tennis nations would be enough to sway her to play.
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Then on Sunday, through her agency, the World No. 7 informed Tennis Canada that she would sit out this weekend’s event on home soil. Two days later, Bouchard sat in a suite at the Canadiens-Sabres game in Montreal. The next morning Bruneau twisted around in a chair trying to play politician.
“Disappointment, of course. A little bit of a surprise,” he admitted, when learning of Bouchard’s decision. “You know, I had a feeling she would play.”
But she’s not, and instead Canada will send out Sharon Fichman, Gabriela Dabrowski and on-the-rise prospect Francoise Abanda, who just turned 18 this week, to face the perennial favourite Czech program.
Said Dabrowski: ”I just assumed she would want to be here. No matter what anybody else was telling her.”
Look, Bouchard’s world has changed remarkably the last 13 months. Two grand slam semis to open 2014, then a trip to the Wimbledon final followed. She’s changed agencies, signing with powerhouse IMG and adding a modelling component to the business side of her branding. At the age of 20, she has a million fans on Facebook, has a rabid following in almost every tour stop with some version of a ‘Genie Army’ and is quickly becoming one of the most marketable stars in pro sports.
There are many people in her ear.
It’s all happened, and it’s all happened fast, and it’s all happened at a time where the WTA and the International Tennis Federation are at a stalemate over open dates on an already packed calendar. While on the men’s side, the ATP has a dark week for tournaments during Davis Cup, there is no such agreement with the women. So Bouchard has chosen to play an event in Belgium next week, with prize money and tour points, over Fed Cup this weekend.
“I get it,” Bruneau said. “I really do.”
Quietly, though, those close to the situation thought Bouchard would have chosen to do both. When she was bounced in the quarter-finals in Australia, it gave her decent travel and rest time before returning to the weekly circuit. There was a feeling in the Canadian camp, from indications given in Melbourne, that she’d play. That she saw this as not only a chance to send Canada to the Fed Cup semis, but to help send a statement internationally.
Tennis Canada still provides Bouchard with funding. It helps the governing body to be able to showcase her grand rise as a success story from its development program, and to grow the sport. For now, they publicly remain in her corner.
“Tennis Canada is fully supportive of Genie as she strives towards her goals,” CEO Kelly Murumets said.
Bouchard was blunt about the situation last April, here in Quebec, after she helped Canada reach World Group I for the first time ever.
“Well look, I definitely want to play if I can,” she told me then, in an on-court interview after clinching. “The scheduling is a tough thing with Fed Cup. My priorities are of course WTA Tour and Grand Slams, but if it works out I’ll be so excited to play for my country.”
And that’s the last we’ve heard from Bouchard on the matter. She hasn’t tweeted about it and wouldn’t provide a quote for a press release on her decision. Her spokesperson from IMG replied to a request from comment on Wednesday saying “will come back to you asap,” and then has not responded to follow-up inquiries since.
Bruneau has not heard from her, nor have her teammates. Fichman, a 10-year vet of these Fed Cup ties, says she respects Bouchard’s decision. Dabrowski genuinely believed this competition meant enough to Bouchard to be here.
“I mean it’s Fed Cup. It’s something a little bit different than regular tournaments,” she said. “Like if I had made it, and I was making so much money, I would still want to play Fed Cup because it’s a special opportunity to represent your country, rather than it being more of an individual thing.”
Bouchard will play Fed Cup again before next spring. It’s required she compete for Canada at least once more to fulfill the eligibility criteria needed to wear the Maple Leaf at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Beyond that, in his heart of hearts, Bruneau knows the commitment from Canada’s best tennis player to play Fed Cup will only be when it’s convenient for her and her schedule.
Two Czech players, in the same ranking-vicinity as Bouchard had in 2013, withdrew from the WTA stop in Thailand to represent their country here this week. With her rise to stardom, those days are long gone with Bouchard for Canada, and it’s happened faster than anyone thought it would.