Eugenie Bouchard sues USTA over fall, concussion at US Open

Eugenie Bouchard filed a lawsuit against the USTA, alleging negligence by the association led her to slip and fall, thus suffering a concussion, in a locker room during the US Open last month.

Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the United States Tennis Association (USTA), alleging negligence by the sport’s national governing body led her to slip and fall, thus suffering a concussion, in a locker room during the US Open last month.

Eugenie Bouchard, center, talks to medical staff before retiring from her match against Andrea Petkovic at the China Open in Beijing, on October 5, 2015. Bouchard retired after experiencing symptoms of the concussion suffered during the US Open. (AP Photo)

Bouchard, last year’s Wimbledon runner-up, has suffered severe pain and economic loss after the September 4 incident, she said in the federal lawsuit filed in a US District Court in Brooklyn that seeks unspecified monetary damages.

The 21-year-old Bouchard had just played in a mixed doubles match with Australia’s Nick Kyrgios after earlier defeating Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova in the singles, when she returned to the locker room at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center shortly after 10pm. Minutes later, she slipped and fell on the tiled floor of a physiotherapy room that is inside the locker room, slamming her head against the ground.

The fall left Bouchard with a concussion and ‘serious head injury’. She later withdrew from the US Open and tournaments in China and Japan. “Ms. Bouchard entered the physiotherapy room of the women’s locker room when she was caused to slip and fall by a slippery, foreign and dangerous substance on the floor,” the suit says. The substance was not identified in court papers.

The Canadian player, who was once ranked No. 5, contends her injuries “were caused solely by the reason of carelessness, negligence, wanton and wilful disregard on the part of defendant USTA.” She claims the organisation didn’t keep the locker room in a ‘safe and suitable condition’ because the organisation failed to maintain, clean and repair the floor, which led to her fall.

Bouchard said her world ranking has dropped at least 13 spots since the incident last month and believes it is likely to continue to decline.

Chris Widmaier, a spokesman for the USTA, declined to comment, saying the organisation had a longstanding policy of not discussing ongoing litigation.