Eugenie Bouchard working with noted coach Thomas Hogstedt in Asia

When we reported just before the US Open that experienced coach Thomas Hogstedt was in the mix for a tryout with top Canadian Genie Bouchard, we were told that while he was keen and ready to come on board, Bouchard and her team had reservations.

Those reservations seemed to have abated and Hogstedt is indeed by Bouchard's side, as she (hopefully) prepares for a return Monday in Beijing, China against Andrea Petkovic.

Here they are on the practice court Sunday (photos courtesy of Tatiana Kulickova).

Clearly this is a short-term experiment, as Bouchard wraps up her star-crossed season. The 21-year-old Canadian went the "coach who has taken players to the top of the game" route already this year, with Sam Sumyk. And no doubt she learned that the coach might have an illustrious resumé, but that doesn't mean that the chemistry will be there or the fit is right.

A 52-year-old Swede, Hogstedt was a great junior (the 1981 junior US Open champion) and a serviceable pro.

But he has made his mark coaching a succession of top players on the WTA Tour, in addition to Germany's Tommy Haas (who played his best tennis, and reached his career-high ranking of No. 2, with Hogstedt).

Then, it was on to Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, relatively early in her career.

Hogstedt was the Chinese federation's national women's coach when Li Na, freed from the constraints of her national federation, took him on. Then, late in 2010, he left Li to work with Maria Sharapova after she parted ways with longtime hitting partner, then coach, Michael Joyce.

The way the story went at the time, Hogstedt let Li know he was leaving via e-mail, and she said she heard about his move to the Sharapova camp on the news.

That one ended in 2013 (just before Sharapova's ill-fated Jimmy Connors experiment), after Sharapova lost in the second round at Wimbledon to Michelle Larcher de Brito.

Hogstedt began working with some kids in South Africa. A few months later, he was hired by Caroline Wozniacki, a player he had worked with when she was a junior. After three months, Hogstedt went the way of many coaches before him not named Piotr Wozniacki, and was sacked.

Then, Hogstedt worked with Sloane Stephens. But that also didn't last long. Stephens, of course, is now working with countryman Nick Saviano, who left Bouchard's employ at the end of the 2014 season.

Here's an interview with Hogstedt during his Sharapova years.

At the beginning of this season, Simona Halep hired Hogstedt as a "consultant" for the early-season swing in China and Australia after she fired coach Wim Fissette (who now works with Victoria Azarenka, after her longtime coach Sumyk left her for Bouchard) and installed Victor Ionitas as her main coach. Which didn't work out very well.

So it goes in the big, incestuous family that is tennis. The very least you can say is that Hogstedt knows a whole lot about several of Bouchard's on-court rivals.

As well, he has the Sharapova stamp of approval, in a sense – which is no small thing in the Bouchard camp. We're told that before she began working full-time with Saviano to begin the 2014 season, Team Bouchard had approached Joyce, who also had passed the Sharapova test and worked with her a long time, first as a hitting partner when her father Yuri was her coach, then as coach when Yuri stepped aside.

The thing was that Joyce had a good deal with young player Jessica Pegula, who was going through knee surgery and recovery and was out of the game for an extended period. Understandably, he wasn't going to give that up (Pegula's family owns the Buffalo Bills and Sabres, so you can imagine he was well taken care of ) without some sort of guarantee. And that guarantee wasn't forthcoming.

Given Bouchard, if she plays them both, has just two tournaments left this season, it's a small sample size by which to judge the budding relationship – not to mention her physical condition, and lack of match play, may result in early exits.

But unlike last year, the Canadian definitely needs to have a full-time coach in place for off-season, so that she can take that time to make the changes in her game that a new coach brings without the pressure of match play, and so that she doesn't have to spend time early in 2016 trying to figure out a solution. We saw how well that worked out this year.

As well, there are far more coaching candidates available during the off-season.

Bouchard practiced with Timea Bacsinszky Friday, had a pair of one-hour practice sessions on Saturday (one with Anna Schmiedlova of Slovakia); she two more on Sunday.

The fact that she has practiced several days in a row can only be a good omen for her scheduled match on Monday against Petkovic, the No. 13 seed at the China Open but a player who has been struggling in the second half of 2015.

Petkovic leads the head-to-head 3-1; the last time they played was in the third round at Wimbledon a year ago, with Bouchard winning 6-3, 6-4. Their other notable encounter was on the Har-Tru courts in Charleston in 2013, when it appeared Bouchard might be on her way to winning her first career WTA Tour title (she did end up getting it at Nürnberg in the spring of 2014).

The match is scheduled for the main stadium court in Beijing, not before 2:30 p.m. (2:30 a.m. EDT).

Bouchard won the first set 6-1, but ran out of gas as Petkovic won 7-5 in the third set, and went on to win the tournament.