Game, set and match for Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard.
It took jurors less than an hour Thursday to conclude the United States Tennis Association was mostly to blame for Bouchard’s 2015 slip inside a U.S. Open training room.
A Brooklyn federal jury said the organization was 75% liable for what happened — but Bouchard also shared 25% of the blame for venturing into the darkened training room around 11 p.m. after a late-night doubles match.
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Tennis player Eugenie Bouchard through her career
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Tennis – Australian Open – Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne, Australia, January 18, 2018. Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard waves after losing her match against Romania’s Simona Halep. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard hits a return to Slovenia’s Polona Hercog during their Fed Cup World Group tennis match in Koper April 16, 2011. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic (SLOVENIA – Tags: SPORT SOCCER TENNIS)
Eugenie Bouchard of Canada holds her trophy after defeating Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in their girls’ final tennis match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London July 7, 2012. REUTERS/Toby Melville (BRITAIN – Tags: SPORT TENNIS)
Tennis – Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, Wimbledon, England – 7/7/12
Girls’s Singles – Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard in action during the Final
Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Andrew Couldridge
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Eugenie Bouchard of Canada celebrates her win against Shahar Peer of Israel at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament in Montreal, August 8, 2012. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi (CANADA – Tags: SPORT TENNIS)
Eugenie Bouchard of Canada reacts during her match against Shahar Peer of Israel at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament in Montreal, August 8, 2012. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi(CANADA – Tags: SPORT TENNIS)
Eugenie Bouchard of Canada serves to Alisa Kleybanova of Russia during their women’s tennis match at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament in Toronto, August 6, 2013. REUTERS/Mark Blinch (CANADA – Tags: SPORT TENNIS)
Angelique Kerber of Germany hits a return against Eugenie Bouchard of Canada at the U.S. Open tennis championships in New York August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Adam Hunger (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT TENNIS)
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Australia – 19/1/14
Women’s Singles – Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard serves during her fourth round match
Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Jason O’Brien
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Eugenie Bouchard of Canada reacts after winning her women’s quarter-final match against Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain at the French Open Tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris June 3, 2014. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler (FRANCE – Tags: SPORT TENNIS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
Maria Sharapova of Russia reacts after winning her women’s semi-final match against Eugenie Bouchard of Canada at the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris June 5, 2014. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes (FRANCE – Tags: SPORT TENNIS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
Tennis – Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, Wimbledon, England – 30/6/14
Women’s Singles – Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard takes a picture of herself on her phone after winning her fourth round match
Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Tony O’Brien
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Eugenie Bouchard of Canada complains about a distraction on match point during her women’s singles semi-final tennis match against Simona Halep of Romania at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London July 3, 2014. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett (BRITAIN – Tags: SPORT TENNIS)
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard cools off during a break in play during her match against Olga Govortsova of Belarus at the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, August 26, 2014. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT TENNIS)
Eugenie Bouchard of Canada celebrates by hitting balls into the crowd after defeating Sorana Cirstea of Romania during their women’s singles match at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, August 28, 2014. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT TENNIS)
Eugenie Bouchard of Canada returns a shot to Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic in their women’s singles match at the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York August 30, 2014. REUTERS/Adam Hunger (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT TENNIS)
Eugenie Bouchard of Canada serves to Serena Williams of the U.S. during their WTA Finals singles tennis match at the Singapore Indoor Stadium October 23, 2014. REUTERS/Edgar Su (SINGAPORE – Tags: SPORT TENNIS)
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Australia – 23/1/15
Women’s Singles – Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard during the third round
Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Jason O’Brien
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Eugenie Bouchard of Canada blows a kiss to the crowd after defeating Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania to win their women’s singles fourth round match at the Australian Open 2015 tennis tournament in Melbourne January 25, 2015. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha (AUSTRALIA – Tags: SPORT TENNIS)
Tennis – Aegon International – Devonshire Park, Eastbourne – 23/6/15
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard during a press conference after victory in the second round
Action Images via Reuters / Henry Browne
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Tennis – French Open – Roland Garros – Eugenie Bouchard of Canada vs Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland – Paris, France – 26/05/16. Eugenie Bouchard serves the ball. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
Britain Tennis – Aegon International – Devonshire Park, Eastbourne – 21/6/16
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard during the second round
Action Images via Reuters / Peter Cziborra
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Jul 27, 2016; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Eugenie Bouchard of Canada hits a ball into the crowd after defeating Domimika Cibulkova of Slovakia (not pictured) on day three of the Rogers Cup tennis tournament at Uniprix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – 18/1/17 Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard serves during her Women’s singles second round match against China’s Peng Shuai. REUTERS/Issei Kato
Tennis player and 2017 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue model Eugenie Bouchard poses for photographers at a launch event for the Swimsuit Issue in New York City, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Segar
Tennis – Wimbledon – London, Britain – July 3, 2017 Canada?s Eugenie Bouchard in action during her first round match against Spain?s Carla Suarez Navarro REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne, Australia, January 16, 2018. Eugenie Bouchard of Canada rests with iced towels around her shoulders during a break in her match against Oceane Dodin of France. REUTERS/Edgar Su
Tennis pro Eugenie Bouchard leaves Brooklyn Federal Court. She is suing the US Tennis Association for a slip and fall in a training room. Brooklyn, New York, Tuesday, February 20, 2018. (Photo by Jesse Ward/NY Daily News via Getty Images)
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Bouchard had sued the USTA for unspecified damages after suffering a concussion that took her out of contention for the U.S. Open.
She slipped on a wet locker room floor that was covered in a cleaning solution.
The 23-year-old pro has plummeted in rank since her fall — and its impact on her career will likely become an issue in the next round of court hearings, when damages are hashed out.
Bouchard declined to comment outside court, but her lawyer, Benedict Morelli, said he’d be “very disappointed if we don’t get multi-millions.”
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