Eugenie Bouchard back on the tournament trail in Madrid, the start of her French Open preparation

The trip home to play Fed Cup wasn't the launching pad Genie Bouchard had hoped for to turn around a tough 2015.

On the positive side, the 21-year-old was able to spend some time with friends and family, including boyfriend Jordan Caron of the Colorado Avalanche, and get some practice on on the Har-Tru courts at Uniprix Stadium in relative anonymity.

Now in Madrid, the current world No. 6 will launch the second part of her season in Madrid, a top-level tournament (a joint event with the ATP Tour) featuring all of the top players in the world, in a full 64-player draw that features no byes, and a slate of first-round matches that are top class.

To give you an idea, No. 16 seed Venus Williams's first opponent will be former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka. And her third-round opponent could be sister Serena, the top seed. No. 3 Maria Sharapova will play Timea Bascinszky of Switzerland, ranked No. 21, in the first round. No. 12 Angelique Kerber of Germany, who just won the big Stuttgart event last week, will meet former U.S. Open champion and French Open finalist Samantha Stosur, ranked No. 24.

A tough, tough field.

All things considered, Bouchard's draw could have been worse. Her first-round opponent on the weekend will be the crafty Barbora Strycova, at 29-year-old playing some of the best tennis of her career and currently ranked No. 22 in the world.

Strycova won't give Bouchard the regular pace she thrives on, choosing to mix up the play and often attack the net.

On the plus side, despite having grown up on the red clay back in the Czech Republic, Strycova has had little success in Madrid. She lost in the first round, to lower-ranked players, in each of her four previous appearances and this is only her second time straight into the main draw. In fact, Strycova has had little success in the big clay-court events, period. She has played Rome (which takes place next week) just once. And the only time she has gone beyond the first round of the French Open in her career was the first time she played it – all the way back in 2004.

Conversely, Bouchard has positive clay-court memories to fall back on – even if they seem eons ago. Her last match on the red clay was at last year's French Open, where she gave Maria Sharapova a tough time before falling in the semi-finals. The week before that, she won her first career WTA Tour event in Nürnberg, Germany on the red dirt.

Even better, Bouchard has a 3-0 record against Strycova, although their two meetings on hard courts (including at last year's U.S. Open) were dogfights. But in the first round in Nürnberg last year, Bouchard handled her 6-0, 6-3.

Without looking too far ahead – Bouchard and her fans can't afford to these days – the 21-year-old would face American Varvara Lepchenko or a qualifier in the second round, and perhaps No. 11 Andrea Petkovic in the third round. The other top seed in her quarter is No. 4, Petra Kvitova.

A year ago, Bouchard lost in straight sets in the first round of Madrid to Agnieszka Radwanska (then ranked No. 3) and then, the next week, to veteran Francesca Schiavone in the first round of the equally-prestigious tournament in Rome.

The Canadian has lost her last five matches, six of the eight she has played since the Australian Open in January.