As she gadded about Rod Laver Arena on Kids’ Day with fellow luminaries Roger Federer and Serena Williams before last year’s Australian Open, Eugenie Bouchard could reflect that she was in good company, after all she was No7 in the world and her stock – on and off the court – was high.

Fast forward to that same day this year: the 21-year-old was far removed from the spotlight, battling it out before an small crowd in the final of a WTA Tour event in Hobart, Tasmania. “Grinding. I went to Shenzhen. I went to Hobart. For me, it’s what I love to do. I love to grind, I love to go play those matches, I love to work hard,” Bouchard told the Guardian.

What she loves even more is the fact that she was there at all; there were times in the wake of the concussion Bouchard suffered in a locker-room mishap at the US Open in September that she wasn’t sure she would be here.

Saturday’s final in Hobart ­– a desultory, emotional 6-1, 6-2 loss to Alizé Cornet of France –wasn’t anything to write home about. The Canadian appeared to already have half her mind and much of her focus on the bigger task ahead as she headed to Melbourne to defend her quarter-final showing from a year ago.

“At the beginning, before playing my first match in 2016, I said I have no expectations for now. Even if I’ve had two good weeks, I say the same thing,” Bouchard said. “I still have no expectations. The first thing is to be healthy, and after that I’ll give everything I have, but I have no idea what will happen. I know it will take a long time for me to be back playing my best.”

After the 2014 season, Bouchard was promoted incessantly as the next big superstar in women’s tennis after she reached the Australian and French Open semi-finals and the Wimbledon final. Bouchard’s next season was, as sequels can often be, a pale shadow of the original.

The injuries – nothing major but one after another including an abdominal tear suffered just before Wimbledon – began to pile up and affect both match performance and practice time. The confidence that forms the basis of Bouchard’s aggressive game tumbled in direct proportion to the increase in pressure, and suddenly the “it” girl became the “what?” girl.

Her ardent supporters often were drowned out by those observers almost gleeful that the much-publicized player had suffered such a drastic drop in her fortunes. Then came New York. Bouchard put together three solid victories including a third-rounder against former Australian Open finalist and top-10 player Dominika Cibulkova, and prepared to face veteran Roberta Vinci in the fourth round of the singles. She was still alive in both women’s and mixed doubles as well, the latter with Nick Kyrgios.

She had to withdraw from all three events. The locker-room incident – Bouchard calls it “her injury” – remains an ongoing presence in Bouchard’s life because of the negligence lawsuit filed against the US Tennis Association last October. It’s a case that, if the two sides don’t reach some sort of settlement, could hang over her head all season. Bouchard tried to return during the WTA Tour’s Asian swing in late September and October. She withdrew from her first planned tournament then retired from her match against Germany’s Andrea Petkovic in Beijing after feeling the concussion symptoms return.

“I was trying not to think about it. Then I was playing a match and the symptoms came back. So I tried to do the same thing this time around. I feel like – I know I did the right things. I followed the protocol,” Bouchard said. “I did everything I could do, so then it was just see what happens and luckily this time around, it went well.”

Bouchard’s efforts in the two lower-level events the first two weeks of the season raised her ranking from No49 to No37, cushioning the potential fallout of an early exit in Melbourne. If the Canadian is upset in the first round on Monday by Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic, ranked No121, she would plummet in the ranking as last year’s result in Melbourne is erased. That would leave her just inside the top 70; without that result in Hobart, the potential fall would have been as many as 20 spots lower.

If she wins on Monday, she could face No4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. It could have been worse for Bouchard; unseeded at a major for the first time in more than two years, she might have drawn Serena Williams or any number of more challenging opponents right out of the starting blocks. “Ranking pressure is something I’m trying not to think about. A couple of months ago I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to play in Australia. So for me to just be in Australia, I’m really grateful to be back on court, to be back on Tour, to be doing my job – to be doing what I love,” she said.

In one sense, Bouchard is ahead of the game, at least compared to where she was a year ago. As she readied last year’s campaign, Bouchard was without a coach after parting ways with long-time mentor, the American Nick Saviano. This time around, she has the experienced Thomas Hogstedt by her side. Hogstedt, the Swede who has worked with Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki and Li Na among others, began with Bouchard during that ill-fated Asian swing and once she was healthy enough to begin practising again last fall, was in place to direct the comeback. “He has a lot of experience, has worked with players who have won grand slams, and he has a lot of energy,” Bouchard said.

Also on her side in Melbourne will be the Genie Army, the band of Aussie supporters who took up her cause during her first-round match, on outside Court No15, at that 2014 breakthrough event. “I hope they’ll be here in Melbourne, I think they will. I can’t wait to see what songs they’re going to sing. They always have some plans, so I can’t wait to see that,” Bouchard said.