Eugenie Bouchard returns to Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska during the 2016 Eastbourne International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, England, last week. The 22-year-old is ranked No. 48.Steve Paston/The Canadian Press
Two years ago, Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic were the toast of Wimbledon.
Both set Canadian records at Grand Slam events, with Bouchard losing the final to 2011 champion Petra Kvitova and Raonic reaching the men's semifinals before being beaten by seven-time winner Roger Federer.
The Canadians couldn't build on that success at last year's event. Bouchard was diminished by a grade-two abdominal tear and lost in the first round to No. 117-ranked Ying-Ying Duan of China while Raonic, six weeks after foot surgery for a nerve issue, was not completely fit and was beaten by Nick Kyrgios of Australia in the third round.
"I have bad memories from last year," Bouchard, from Montreal, said Saturday at Wimbledon. "I really don't want to think of them this year. I've done a much better preparation. I feel much better physically I've gotten in more matches on grass and feel like I'm on the right path with my coaching situation as well."
Reunited with long-time coach Nick Saviano since April, Bouchard is 24-14 in 2016 and 3-3 at grass-court tournaments heading into a first-round match Tuesday against No. 92-ranked Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.
Raonic has a better record. He is 31-8 and won four matches at the Queen's Club grass-court event in London two weeks ago before narrowly losing the final 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 to world No. 2 Andy Murray.
"It's a very different story this year," Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., said Saturday about his preparation. "I feel like I've done all the right things and put myself in position. Now is the opportunity to make it count."
Rated by London bookmakers as the fourth favourite behind Wimbledon champions Novak Djokovic, Murray and Federer, Raonic has legendary John McEnroe along as a consulting coach. The 57-year-old is still an active senior-tour player and often appears as anxious to hit balls and play as to advise Raonic during practice sessions.
"There's been a few times when there's hitting partners on the court," Raonic said with a smile about McEnroe, "and he's kind of powered them out of the practice and continued to play."
The No. 7-ranked Raonic's first-round opponent Monday is No. 45 Pablo Carreno Busta, a 24-year-old Spaniard who has never won a grass-court match. Looking longer term, he could face indisputable No. 1 Djokovic in a heavyweight quarter-final clash.
Ranked an unflattering No. 48, the 22-year-old Bouchard has a changed outlook from two years ago.
"I experienced things that normal 20-year-olds wouldn't," she said. "I feel more mature. I'm able to take a step back a bit more than in 2014. I've appreciated much more what I did than I did at the time. But I think that helped me because I was so much in a bubble and barely realizing what was going on – it kept me so focused. I got to the final and was like 'this is normal.' But now looking back, I realize what I did so consistently in the Grand Slams was very good."
The third Canadian in singles is No. 44-ranked Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver. A quarter-finalist last year but struggling with a 4-15 record in 2016, he plays clay-court specialist Albert Ramos-Vinolas, ranked No. 36, in his opening match Tuesday.
On Fathers Day, after Murray beat him at Queen's Club, the 25-year-Raonic gained new admirers with his postmatch speech suggesting Murray should attach more importance to being a new dad to his four-month-old daughter Sophia than to winning the tournament.
Told that many British fans were impressed by his remarks, Raonic replied, "I was not aware they reacted to that in a good way. My father has been a great inspiration to me and I was just hoping Andy has some of that in himself for his daughter."