By Mark Lamport-Stokes
INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) - After a stellar 2014 campaign that ended with her at seventh in the world rankings, Eugenie Bouchard has already piled up plenty of career highlights but would prefer now to carve out new ones.
Having celebrated her 21st birthday last month, the self-assured Canadian with a lethal forehand dreams of rising to top spot in the global pecking order and winning her first grand slam singles crown.
"I'm (ranked) seven right now, so it takes steps to get there. I also want to be more consistent this year," the Montreal native said after crushing American CoCo Vandeweghe 6-3 6-2 in the third round of the BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) Open on Monday.
"I want to go to every tournament well prepared, go to every tournament believing that I can win, being prepared to win, expecting to win, and having that kind of mindset."
Last year, Bouchard reached the semis at the Australian Open and French Open as well as the Wimbledon final and, though there is very little she wants to change in her overall game, she is excited to be working with a new coach.
Bouchard, who became Canada's first grand slam singles finalist at Wimbledon last year, readily accepts that lofty expectations have been heaped upon her.
"I have definitely felt a change in the past year or so, a lot more outside attention, pressure and expectations," she said.
"But I really try to not focus on it and focus on the pressure I put on myself, because that's more than enough already. Just focus on my goals."
Bouchard, who was hammered 6-3 6-0 by Czech left-hander Petra Kvitova in last year's Wimbledon final, linked up with a new coach, Sam Sumyk, earlier this season and is already excited about their prospects.
"I like what he thinks about my game and the vision he has going forward, but we are keeping my same aggressive game and just trying to improve on that," she said.
"I can improve a bunch of aspects of it, but I'm not looking to change anything big."