Bouchard's bid for Australian Open spot ends in qualifying

It was in shows of main show courts at Melbourne Park, days before first Grand Slam tournament of season is set to begin in earnest, and Eugenie Bouchard's stay at Australian Open was over in last round of qualifying. 2014 Wimbledon runner-up, once as high as . 5 in rankings, has h a long slide down to . 211. She's h to get used to playing away from packed stium courts. But a constant echo around arena on Friday presented something new.

25-year-old Canian survived nearly three hours against China's You Xiaodi in heavy smoke and haze in first round of qualifying and vanced through a second-rounder against Mdison Inglis in 65 minutes. With a spot in main draw on line, though, Bouchard lost 6-4, 6-3 to Martina Trevisan, a 26-year-old Italian who w will make her debut at a Grand Slam tournament.

“Super tough,” Bouchard said of loss. “It’s last round of qualities. I felt like I was close.”

Bouchard lost seven straight games from 4-4 in first set before she rallied and got back to 5-3 in second, getting plenty of encourment from a small but supportive crowd. Trevisan held her composure, though, and closed with an ace.

Bouchard said changing wind and left-handed Trevisan's different spin were tricky. But one distraction, she said, was just odd.

Every hit of ball, every ise players me, could be heard again a half-beat later.

After third game, Bouchard went to chair umpire Carlos Bernardes to talk about ise.

“I said, ‘I don’t kw if it’s a speaker, or a TV or what, but I can hear our match, like, half a second after. In point, I hear us grunting during point,'" she said. "It was weird."

echo — from a giant TV somewhere behind arena — continued until match point.

“That’s, like, never happened to me before,” Bouchard said.

Still, re's plenty she's experiencing w as she tries to work her way back. She's prepared to deal with it.

“Well, life is t a straight line urd,” she said. “I just take good with b. Sometimes you’ve just got to put your he down and grind, so that’s what I’m trying to do.”

In 2014, Bouchard reached a career-high . 5 ranking after making semifinals at Australian Open and French Open and losing Wimbledon final to Petra Kvitova.

She me it to quarterfinals in Australia in 2015 and was into fourth round at U.S. Open that September, but h to withdraw because of a concussion she sustained after slipping and falling on wet locker room floor.

She reached a settlement with United States Tennis Association in 2018 but her ranking has continued to fall.

Her health and fitness, she said, are improving.

“Generally I feel good. Today ... I felt slow and I didn’t feel that great on court,” Bouchard said. “One of those days when I feel like things weren’t working. I didn’t feel like my usual self on court. But overall, I feel good."

smoke that blew over Melbourne earlier in week caused some of worst air quality measured in world on Tuesday, sparking complaints and health concerns from players.

Bouchard h a medical timeout during her win that day but didn't think it caused any issues beyond that match.

“t at all. That match and after that match, I felt b," she said. “But next day, I recovered and felt fine."

Her short-term aim is just to keep trying to win matches back-to-back, following a drought last year when she h 13 straight losses, including first-round exits at French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open. She h two wins in Melbourne in qualifying and last week in Auckland, New Zealand, when she beat Caroline Garcia and Kirsten Flipkens before a loss to Amanda Anisimova.

That's a step in right direction. w her focus is on an upcoming tournament on lower-tier Challenger circuit.

Or qualifiers joining Trevisan in women's main draw include Americans Ann Li and Shelby Rogers, Liudmila Samsova of Russia and Monica Niculescu of Romania.

Ernests Gulbis was among men who me it out of qualifying, which continues Saturday at Melbourne Park.