Eugenie Bouchard receives main draw wildcard into upcoming WTA 1000 tournament

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Eugenie Bouchard has been handed a main draw wildcard into next week's WTA 1000 event in Guadalajara, the tournament announced. Bouchard, the 2014 Wimbledon runner-up, is now ranked at No 218 in the world and that's not good enough for the Canadian to be directly making the main draw cuts for WTA 1000 tournaments.

But in Mexico, 29-year-old Bouchard is quite popular and she is always a fan favorite whenever she plays there. With that being said, it shouldn't be really surprising that the Guadalajara organizers decided to give former world No 5 Bouchard a main draw wildcard for next week's WTA 1000 event.

Hey @geniebouchard 🇨🇦, we've swapped our magic lamps hoping for a tennis star and voilà!

Welcome to Guadalajara! 🎾🌮#GDLOpenAKRONxSanntander | @WTA pic.twitter.com/Z5wDshHngx — GDL OPEN AKRON WTA1000 (@WTAGuadalajara) September 14, 2023

Bouchard set to play in Guadalajara again

In 2021, Bouchard enjoyed an impressive Guadalajara debut.

That year, Guadalajara was staging a WTA 250 tournament and Bouchard made the final before Sara Sorribes Tormo handed her a 6-2 7-5 loss. Last year, Guadalajara staged a WTA 1000 tournament in October and Bouchard was competing in the tournament.

Unfortunately for Bouchard, she didn't manage to make another deep Guadalajara run. Last year, Bouchard defeated Kayla Day in her Guadalajara opener before losing to Jelena Ostapenko in her next match. This year, Bouchard is returning to Guadalajara and the Canadian will certainly be hoping to do well.

After the 2021 final - which Bouchard lost - Sorribes Tormo praised the Canadian and her "strong hitting." "From the first point, from the first game with my serve, I just tried to stay there at the beginning, because she was hitting so strong.

I just tried to hold my serve, to make her think, and I think I made it good. I’m really, really happy with the way I played, and happy to win. I’m proud of everything. I’m proud of the way I managed the emotions; it’s not easy to play a first final.

I’m happy with the way I managed to compete here with the altitude and with everything. I'm really happy with my attitude," Sorribes Tormo said after beating Bouchard in the 2021 Guadalajara final.