US Open organisers face huge bill for Eugenie Bouchard's 2015 fall
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) is facing a large compensation pay-out after a New York court ruled it bears most of the blame for Eugenie Bouchard's fall at the 2015 US Open.
The Canadian star sued the organisers of the grand slam tournament after she slipped on a recently cleaned tiled floor in the trainers' room.
Having reached the tournament's fourth round, the 23-year-old was forced to withdraw with a concussion and then missed the rest of the 2015 season.
Bouchard was ranked 25th in the world at the time - down from a high of sixth during her breakthrough season in 2014 when she was the runner-up at Wimbledon - but has struggled ever since and is now outside the top 100.
Her lawyer Benedict Morelli told Press Association Sport: "We are very pleased but not surprised that the jury went in our favour.
"The USTA refused to take responsibility for causing Genie's injury for almost two and a half years."
The jury's actual verdict was that the USTA bears 75% of the blame and Bouchard 25% . This means the governing body will only have to pay three quarters of the sum the court decides it owes Bouchard in damages.
That phase of the trial starts on Friday, with Bouchard's legal team set to ask for millions of dollars in lost earnings, both on and off the court.
