World No25 Eugenie Bouchard paid tribute to American legend Jimmy Connors who has helped her during her build-up for the US Open but is not her official coach.

Bouchard experienced an incredible collapse this season after a monster 2014 in which she made the Wimbledon final and Roland Garros semi-finals, rising to No5 in the world.

The 21-year-old entered the Open with a shocking 9-17 win-loss record in 2015 and with 10 opening round defeats, the last being a 6-1, 6-0 hammering by Roberta Vinci in New Haven last week.

But the young Canadian managed to win her first grand slam match since January with a 6-4, 6-3 battling victory over Alison Riske in the first round to set up a second round with Polona Hercog today.

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“I’m proud of myself for today. I just got to, you know, try to perform well in my next match,” said Bouchard after her first win.

“I think my loss last week was kind of a shock to me, a little bit of a wake-up call in a sense I had to get my act together a little bit.

"And then working this week with Jimmy, as well, has really given me a different side of things, like a different point of view. 

“He’s very energetic. He’s kind of lifted my spirits a little bit. He believes in me. He helped me kind of believe in myself more and regain that confidence.”