Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

With Eugenie Bouchard ending her WTA season early due to after-effects from the concussion she suffered in a locker-room slip at the US Open, the fate of her the experimental pairing with Swedish coach Thomas Hogstedt remains up in the air.

The former mentor to Maria Sharapova was taken by the Bouchard camp in an attempt to stop the rot in a 21-year-old who broke through at the 2014 Wimbledon final and rose to fifth in the world.

But Bouchard hit the slippery slope in 2015, with abrupt coaching changes, a fixation by her handlers on fashion shoots and other off-court activities and a general decline in her game all contributing to a dismal match record.

Hitting her head on a slick floor in New York did not help matters, with the photogenic blonde unable to continue this week in her Beijing return against Andrea Petkovic after playing one losing set.

The mating chance between Team Bouchard and Hogstedt was said to have been complex, with doubts on both sides of the equation. Bouchard has dispatched several coaches over the last years, including her longtime Florida mentor Nick Saviano, Frenchman Sam Sumyk and most lately, Jimmy Connors after a few days of informal collaboration.

Hogstedt, 52, has a long and varied curriculum, with past clients including not only Sharapova, but a brief spell with No. 2 Simona Halep, German Tommy Haas and Daniela Hantuchova. He also worked for the Chinese federation during the rise of Li Na, leaving that job to work with Sharapova. He also had a three-month run with Caroline Wozniacki.

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.