PARIS – It has been three days since Genie Bouchard crashed out of the French Open in the first round and yet the plight of the Canadian 21-year-old remains a hot topic at Roland Garros.

Following her third-round win on Friday, Maria Sharapova was asked about the challenges faced by a young player who wins early in their career, but then struggles to back up those results. Bouchard's name was used specifically as an example.

"To be in a position where you have done extremely well and you've gotten really good results, you know, you've proven you belong to the top, sometimes it takes a little while. I had a very, you know, a tough experience winning - I mean, of course I won when I was 17 years old, and all of a sudden, I thought I should be able to win every single match. It took me a while to realize that that's just not the reality of things," Sharapova said at her news conference.

Following her loss to Kristina Mladenovic on Tuesday, Bouchard was downcast. She has now lost eight of nine matches and said she wasn't sure how to pull out of the tailspin.

Sharapova continued to talk about her early years on tour.

"For me, the most important thing was nothing to do with tennis, because I know that I was still developing my game, but it was rather to do with the people I surrounded myself with that were able to make smart decisions for me," Sharapova said. "Because at that age it's tough. You know, you have so many opportunities and they are so fun, especially at a young age, to be part of great events and meet stars and, you know, to be part of, you know, a Vogue photo shoot, those are really cool things for a young girl, and I did enjoy them.

"But I think at the end of it all, the things that got me to that position was winning tennis matches, and that's what I still love to do and I know that without that I wouldn't get opportunities to be on the cover of magazines," Sharapova explained. "So that was always my dream and my goal, and I had the right people around me to, I guess, you know, make sure that I kept my goals straight."

Bouchard has experienced great change this season switching her coach, agent and other support staff. Meanwhile, the pressure to perform on the court only grew as more off-court opportunities presented themselves.