Simona Halep of Romania celebrates a point over Danielle Rose Collins of the U.S. during their match at the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, August 25, 2014.
Simona Halep of Romania celebrates a point over Danielle Rose Collins of the U.S. during their match at the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, August 25, 2014. REUTERS

Tennis star and World No. 3 Simona Halep has no doubt that Eugenie Bouchard, once dubbed the next big thing in women’s tennis, will soon be able to get back on track and start winning tournaments again. Bouchard has struggled on court this season following a remarkable breakthrough 2014 campaign, which left everybody wondering if the Quebec native will be able to find her game back.

“I think Eugenie Bouchard will come back to the top soon,” Halep said during an interview with WTA’s All-Access in Montreal, reported Tennis World USA . “She was on top, so we know she has the game to be there.”

Halep said that critics are expected to speak their mind, and that there will always be people who will comment about your game, whether or not you win or lose in tournaments. Players will always go through a certain slump in their career and according to Halep, it will take time and energy before they can regain their top winning performance

Like Bouchard, Halep had a breakthrough year in 2014. She made her first grand slam final appearance at the Roland Garros, ando reached the Australian Open quarterfinal and the Wimbledon semifinal. This season, the Romanian suffered a string of losses in grand slam tournaments. After making her second quarterfinal in Melbourne this year, she was eliminated in the early rounds of the Roland Garros and French Open. However, she made the final of WTA tournaments in Shenzhen and Dubai as well as claimed the trophy in Indian Wells..

Halep is currently competing at the 2015 Rogers Cup in Montreal. After receiving a first-round bye, second-seeded Halep dispatched unseeded Serbian player Jelena Jankovic in straight sets 6-3 6-4. Halep will play No. 13 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany in the third round. Kerber managed to avoid the casualties list by beating qualifier Monica Puig also in straight sets 6-2 6-3. Halep leads their series 2-0. The Romanian had only dropped a set against the German player in their previous meetings. Their last encounter took place in Doha in 2014.

Meanwhile, Bouchard, who had a meteoric rise to No. 5 last season, has now dropped to No. 26 in the world rankings. The 21-year-old Quebec native is also competing at the 2015 Rogers Cup, but bid an early farewell to the tournament after losing to Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic 6-0 5-7 6-2 in the first round. Last year, Bouchard also had an early exit in Montreal when she lost to qualifier Shelby Rogers in the second round 6-0 2-6 6-0.

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.

RELATED STORIES