Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard CRASHES OUT in the first round of qualifying

Eugenie Bouchard headed a parade of past – and probably future – Grand Slam finalists at a blustery Wimbledon qualifying event in Roehampton yesterday, where dreams were extinguished and ignited.

The 29 year-old Canadian reached the final in 2014, but two years of injuries to the shoulder and knee have laid her low at 218 in the world, forcing her into the first round of the preliminary event.

She had one of the toughest draws and it did not end well, beaten 6-4 7-5 by Belgium’s Greet Mineen. A far cry from her glory days, she was left looking to the example of Andy Murray in terms of hopes for a career revival.

‘Andy’s playing challengers and he’s winning them, which is great,’ she said. ‘It makes you miss those big moments. Every year that goes by puts the results that I’ve achieved in the past into more perspective because I see how hard it was.

‘My knee has been hurting me since last year, but I’m trying to just take it as a part of my job. I had a couple of years really recently where I wasn’t able to play due to shoulder surgery. There’s moments in rehab when the end goal is so far away that it feels hard to keep going. Of course, you have tough moments.’

Eugenie Bouchard exited Wimbledon qualifying in the first round after defeat to Greet Minnen

The Canadian star reached the Wimbledon final back in 2014, before losing to Petra Kvitova

Since then she has struggled with injury and form and has dropped down to world No 218

By the time the Wimbledon main draw begins she will be back training in Florida, but was unsure how much notice she will take: ‘It’s like a love-hate situation. It’s hard to watch a tournament once you’ve already lost, but it depends on my mood about that.’

Bouchard was impressed with the more elaborate infrastructure at Roehampton that Wimbledon has invested in. Plans to eventually stage it adjacent to the main site on the former Wimbledon Park golf course are in limbo, and have not even been heard by the local council yet. There will not be any move until the 2030s.

Vera Zvonareva, finalist in 2010, was a first round winner yesterday and so was 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, down to 126 in the world.

Of the future stars in action there was a victory for 15 year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva, who would have got a main draw wildcard but for her nationality.

Hannah Klugman, a 14 year-old from Wimbledon itself, went down 6-1 7-6 to Hungary’s Reka Luca Jani, 17 years her senior. With more experience there will be a great deal more heard of her in the future.

Bouchard (pictured after the 2014 final) was seen as one of the hottest prospects in Women’s tennis after she also reached the semi-finals of the Australian and French Open that year