Bouchard demands millions for US Open slip

This Tuesday saw the start of jury selection for the trial for the legal action brought by Eugenie Bouchard against the United States Tennis Association (USTA), organisers of the US Open, for a concussion the player suffered in 2015 at the tournament.

Bouchard slipped in a training room

The player is seeking damages for the incident in 2015, when she fell in a training room at the tournament on 4 September and suffered a serious blow to the head, which forced her retirement from the tournament with concussion. Bouchard blames a cleaning product applied to the floor, with no warning signs being posted, in a dimly lit room.

Having been fifth in the world, and a finalist at Wimbledon in 2014, after the incident Bouchard only played one game in 2015, and since then her tennis career has struggled, which she blames on the fall. She's now number 116 in the rankings.

Bouchard to seek "millions and millions"

The trial is happening after the two sides failed to reach an agreement, 28 months after the original action was raised. The tennis star's lawyer, Benedict Morelli, will demand " millions and millions" of dollars in compensation, with Bouchard claiming damages for past and future physical and psychological suffering, medical expenses and lost earnings.

USTA claim no sign of continuous suffering

The US Open's lawyers however claim that the slip was caused by Bouchard's own negligence, stating she was in the room in question out of hours. Additionally, in a bid to show the player has not been affected by the incident, the tournament has asked for the court to consider Bouchard's social media activity which they claim shows she is not undergoing "continuous suffering". Specifically mentioned are Bouchard's date with a Twitter user at the Super Bowl and her participation in two editions of Sports Illustrated's swimwear magazine. The USTA said in the pretrial order that Bouchard’s claims of ongoing suffering were “inconsistent with Plaintiff’s own admissions in various forms of social media and public commentary.”

Bouchard's lawyer however argues that due to his client's high profile she necessarily has a number of sponsorship and other commitments, which include having a major social media presence. Additionally, as her income from tennis has fallen after the slip, she has been forced to seek other sources of income.