Tennis star Bouchard testifies about US Open locker room fall
Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard took to witness stand in her negligence lawsuit against the US Tennis Association (USTA). Recalling how she slipped and fell on a wet locker room floor at the 2015 US Open, the 23-year-old former world no. 5 said, "I screamed, "Oh my God, it burns!" Bouchard is demanding unspecified damages from the USTA. Here's more on this.
Eugenie Bouchard: Player bio
Eugenie Bouchard rose to prominence in 2014 when she reached two Grand Slam semi-finals, the Australian Open and French Open, before becoming the first Canadian singles player to compete at a Grand Slam final, the Wimbledon. That year she broke into the top 5 rankings.
Slip-and-fall incident at the 2015 US Open
At the 2015 US Open, Bouchard slipped on a locker room floor hurting her head in the fall. She suffered a concussion forcing her to pull out of the tournament. The tennis player then went on to sue the USTA which operates the US Open, in October 2015, alleging that the fall was caused by a "slippery, foreign and dangerous substance on the floor."
USTA's counter argument
It is USTA's argument that Bouchard, who had played a late night mixed doubles match, should have known that the locker room would be cleaned at 11 pm, when the incident occurred. The lawyer representing the USTA further stated that the cleaning spray in locker room was only applied after the management thought all the players had left for the day.
"The fall affected Bouchard's career"
Bouchard's lawyers argued that the fall and subsequent injury have hindered her career, with the player unable to replicate her early success. Countering the time limitation argument from USTA, the player during her testimony told the jurors that nothing in the 2015 US Open handbook stated limits on the training room or that the player needs to be accompanied by a trainer.
