"Unless you're Serena Williams, Federer, Djokovic or Nadal, nothing's a given": Eugenie Bouchard on 'pressure & expectation' after Wimbledon 2014 run

Eugenie Bouchard spoke up on the burden of expectations that she had to contend with following her remarkable run to the final of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships.

Bouchard went into the 2014 Wimbledon as the No. 13 seed in the women's singles draw. The Canadian easily brushed aside the likes of Daniela Hantuchova, Silvia Soler Espinosa, Andrea Petkovic, Alize Cornet, Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep to set up a final showdown against sixth seed Petra Kvitova.

Up until that point, Bouchard had miraculously not dropped a single set at the prestigious grass court Major. She also became the first Canadian-born representing Canada to feature in a singles final at a Grand Slam.

However, Bouchard was thoroughly outclassed by Kvitova, with the Czech demolishing the Canadian 6-3, 6-0 to wrap up the contest in only 55 minutes and win her second Wimbledon title. Despite Bouchard's loss, her reputation burgeoned and subsequently, great things were expected from her.

Unfortunately, Bouchard never really managed to hit the heights that she did in 2014. Today, the former WTA World No. 5 is ranked at a lowly World No. 466, and at 30 years old now, it seems unlikely that she will rediscover the form that propelled her to the top of women's tennis.

Bouchard was recently interviewed in an episode of The Mental Game by Brandon Saho podcast. The Canadian was asked about the weight of expectations she experienced after her 2014 Wimbledon run.

The 30-year-old said that the high expectations, for the most part, were unrealistic because only the likes of Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal could turn them into reality.

"I just felt so much pressure and expectation from the outside world like "oh you got to the finals of a Slam and you should win one next year and win two the year after", and it's like unless you're Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic or Rafa, nothing's a guarantee, nothing's a given," Eugenie Bouchard said.

The Canadian proceeded to reflect on how she was made fun of due to her drastic dip in form and rankings and how things would have been different had she never become a World No. 5 in the first place.

"Even to achieve anything like what I did is obviously great in the sport, but I got made fun of or like, I felt bad because I got to (World No.) 5 and then I went down to 50, and so that was terrible. But if I had never gotten to 5 and if I did a slow, work my way up to 50, that would be amazing," Eugenie Bouchard added.

"I totally got dominated on the court" - Eugenie Bouchard on 2014 Wimbledon final defeat

Eugenie Bouchard with the runner-up trophy after the conclusion of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships women's singles final

During the same podcast episode, Bouchard looked back on her tame display against the fierce Kvitova in the 2014 Wimbledon final. The Canadian admitted that the final was a stark contrast to how the rest of the tournament had gone for her, which proved "tough" to accept.

"That was really tough for me, especially because to get to the final I actually hadn't lost a set, so I was really winning all my matches quite, in a straightforward way. And then I got my butt kicked in a straightforward way in the final," Eugenie Bouchard said.

However, Bouchard confessed that despite having "tears" following the chastening experience, her performance did not merit a win.

"It was tough, and I didn't feel like I deserved to win at all because I totally got dominated on the court, but yeah, a lot of tears after that one."

Eugenie Bouchard- is currently competing at an ITF event in Florida and is set to face Lithuania's Justina Mikulskyte in the first round.-