Former hockey player Wayne Gretzky, left, and his wife Janet Jones, top centre, watch Eugenie Bouchard play Timea Bacsinszky at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament on March 14, 2016, in Indian Wells, Calif.Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press
The Gretzky family – Wayne, Janet and daughter Emma – were courtside again Monday, cheering on Canada's Eugenie Bouchard during her third-round match against Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky at the BNP Paribas Open.
The Gretzkys have forged a friendship with Bouchard, the former Wimbledon finalist, and on the weekend, Bouchard hit practice balls with Emma, 12, the youngest of the five Gretzky children and a promising junior player.
After a difficult 2015 season, which saw her ranking plunge, Bouchard has been showing signs of progress of late. She made it to the final of a tournament in Malaysia last weekend, and won her first two matches here, including a second-round upset of American Sloane Stephens, who at No. 22, was the highest-ranked player Bouchard has defeated since September, 2014, according to the WTA. Bouchard has also won more matches this year (13) than she did all of last year (12).
Alas, the run didn't continue, as she lost in three sets to Bacsinszky, the No. 12 seed.
Now working with coach Thomas Hogstedt, Bouchard believes she's taken steps in the right direction, but freely admits: "It's a very long road back to the top, especially after being out a couple months from injuries.
"I mean, in all honesty, when I started the year I didn't expect to win a match till April. I had no idea what to expect. I'm doing better than I expected. Just gotta keep improving and keep going."
Bouchard was the No. 5 player in the world back in October, 2014, but ended last year at No. 48. She is up to No. 42 now, heading into her next tour stop in Miami.
"I'm over-analyzing all the horrible things that happened last year," she said. "I'm just looking forward to really taking it one week at a time, especially, since I started the year, I really had no expectations. I could not look forward to really anything."
As a hockey player, Gretzky's greatest ability was to think the game several steps ahead of his opponent. Has Bouchard tried to tap into his knowledge to help her deal with the mental side of tennis?
"Yeah," she answered. "I hit with his daughter yesterday a little bit and we were talking about tennis and hockey and everything. It's interesting to hear his words. I kind of just try to absorb every word he says and take it like it's coming from God almost, because in our country, that's what he is."