Tennis-Bouchard's woeful run continues with early exit

(Writes through with quotes) By Julien Pretot PARIS, May 26 (Reuters) - Eugenie Bouchard's miserable run of form continued with a French Open first-round exit on Tuesday but the Canadian golden girl believes she just needs to start trusting herself to get back in the groove. The sixth seed, dubbed the next big thing of women's tennis last year, arrived in Paris having lost six out of seven matches and there was no improvement on Court Suzanne Lenglen as she lost 6-4 6-4 to Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic. Wimbledon runner-up Bouchard, who reached the last four at Roland Garros last year, resisted well in the opening set but was outplayed in the second. Mladenovic, ranked 44th in the world, struggled to handle the pressure after opening a 5-0 lead in the second set but a strong first serve on match point ensured a second-round meeting with Czech Klara Koukalova or Montenegro's Danka Kovinic. "I expected a good season, better than last year," Bouchard told a news conference. "I have learned a lot recently. Moreover I have to be patient. "The results won't come immediately. I know I can go through difficult times. "When I'm playing my best tennis is when I'm being more instinctive. I think that's something I need to get back... trusting myself because I know I can play well." Bouchard has failed to win more than two matches in a row since reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals at the start of the year. Last term she reached the last four in three of the Grand Slams. The 21-year-old Bouchard now plans to compete in a couple of warm-up tournaments before heading back to Wimbledon. (Editing by Tony Jimenez)