Months ago in New York City when the heat rose to a sweltering 30 C, Eugenie Bouchard called for a medical timeout in her 4th round US Open match against Ekaterina Makarova. Despite looking distressed as the medical staff took her blood pressure and rubbed ice bags on her legs, the tenacious Canadian went on to play but lost in straight sets. In her post-match interview, Bouchard emphasized that she would never retire from matches. But it wasn't the case at the Aegon International Eastbourne when the 21-year-old decided to pull out of her match against Belinda Bencic due to abdominal pain.

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Bouchard was down a set and trailing 0-3 when she decided to call for a trainer. Soon after, she approached the net to shake hands with Bencic.

"I don't know at this point but I was feeling it during the match," Bouchard told the Guardian after her 6-4, 3-0 loss. "It just wasn't smart for me to take a risk and, you know, potentially be out for a long time. It's something I want to kind of take care of right away."

It wasn't long ago when Bouchard was poised for glory having reached the semifinals of 2 grand slams including an extraordinary run to the finals of Wimbledon. But the Westmont, Quebec native seemed to have hit a wrong turn this year. Her first round victory against Alison Riske at Eastbourne was only her second win in her last 12 matches and she has yet to reach the semifinals of any tournament.

Tennis.com writes that Bouchard's fall is not that unusual as players in the past have suffered the same setback after an impressive breakthrough. There was Vince Spadea who entered the Top 20 in 1999 but lost 21 matches in a row a year later. Another American hopeful named Donald Young also suffered a 17 match losing streak in 2012. And let's not forget former no. 1 Jelena Jankovic who once thought of quitting the game after a period of disappointments.

Though it's difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for her lackluster performance, Bouchard's love for the game remains and she is not considering a no-show at the world's oldest tournament.

Bouchard commented, "I'm going to play no matter what, even if I'm on one leg. I will take a few days off from serving and give it a little break and see how it goes."

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