Tennis glamour girl Eugenie Bouchard has revealed she has been struggling with the heat in London ahead of her debut as a Wimbledon pundit for the BBC.
Bouchard, who finished as the women’s singles runner-up at SW19 back in 2014, is one of the BBC’s main signings to their punditry team for this year’s tournament.
Despite being based in Miami, Bouchard has admitted to struggling with the heatwave in the UK since touching down in London.
The Canadian told fans on social media that she felt like she was on ‘an episode of Survivor’ as she called for theories as to why the heat in the capital was more challenging than back home.
‘I know there’s been a lot of US/Europe AC discourse recently and some think we’ve probably talked about it enough,’ Bouchard wrote.
‘But I am here to tell you that we have NOT been in the UK less than 24 hours and I feel like I’m on an episode of Survivor.
Eugenie Bouchard has revealed her struggles with heat in the UK after arriving during the heatwave
The former Wimbledon finalist, who is a new addition to the BBC’s punditry team, admitted her struggle with the temperature is due to a lack of air conditioning
‘I brushed my teeth last night while sweating profusely, slept without any blankets and I normally run cold!
‘Genuinely curious as to what the reason for this is. Who can enlighten me?’
The majority of replies to the former tennis star highlighted a lack of air conditioning, while others suggested houses in the UK are designed to retain heat compared to those in North America.
Several players have also cited the need to secure accommodation with air conditioning in the UK, after admitting to struggles with the temperature.
American star Tommy Paul, who is based in Florida, told Bounces that he has rented air conditioning units for the duration of the tournament.
‘I think the heat during the match is an advantage to me because I just came from Florida two weeks ago,’ Paul said during his run to the final at Queens.
‘But the heat during the night was an advantage to all the Brits, because I guess they’re used to sleeping with no AC, and I am not’.
Jessica Pegula, the No 4 seed in the women’s draw, added that securing air conditioning was her ‘No 1 priority’.
‘A lot of times I’ve gotten a house in Wimbledon Village and I will tell the company, like “Can I please get an AC unit, a separate plug-in, fan – whatever”.
‘It can get hot in those flats; when you’re sometimes staying on the second or third floor, it gets even hotter the higher you are.
‘So yeah, it’s probably the No.1 priority, honestly.’
