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Her lawyers said her fall had been caused by a cleaning
substance, with the resulting injury forcing her out of the 2015
U.S. Open and subsequent tournaments.
Her attorney Benedict Morelli said the USTA erased the footage
even after being told to preserve it and asked a federal court
judge in Brooklyn to instruct the jury that the tape would have
reflected badly on the USTA.
"The USTA intentionally destroyed security camera footage in an
effort to deprive plaintiff of evidence relevant to her claims
in this case," Bouchard's attorneys said in a motion to the
court.
"This egregious infraction is the culmination of a pattern and
practice by defendants throughout the discovery process during
which they have consistently played fast and loose with
retaining and divulging critical information," he said.
A lawyer for the USTA did not immediately return a call for
comment.
Bouchard, 23, has been playing outstanding tennis lately,
beating rival Maria Sharapova in a thrilling second-round match
at the Madrid Open earlier this month.
She followed that up by dispatching top-seeded Angelique Kerber
two days later before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the
quarter-finals.
(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
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