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| Posted: 06 August 2018 at 09:43 | IP Logged
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MONTREAL - It was an intense week at the Bouchard
household as daughter Eugenie worked her way to the
Australian Open semifinals. "We were yelling like
idiots," Mike Bouchard, the players father, said Thursday
of his daughters stirring win over Ana Ivanovic in the
quarter-finals, which made her the first Canadian to
reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament since
Carling Bassett-Seguso in 1984. It wasnt quite as
frenzied at their Westmount, Que., home two nights later,
when Bouchard bowed out with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to fourth-
seeded Li Na of China in the semis. "It was also
exciting, but in the first set Li Na came out strong and
Genie was a little nervous," he said. "I felt for her,
but she came back well in the second set. Overall, it was
an excellent tournament." Bouchard stole the show in
Melbourne, where a dozen or so local fans formed Genies
Army to cheer her on and toss her stuffed Australian
animals after her wins. Several commentators spoke of
Bouchard, the 2012 Wimbledon junior girls champion, being
the next big thing in womens tennis and a potential
future Grand Slam tournament winner. Already, her results
are expected to move her from 31st into the top 20 in
next weeks rankings. And it has stirred ticket sales for
her next appearance on home turf. She will play for
Canada against Serbia Feb. 8-9 in a Federation Cup tie at
the Claude Robillard Centre in Montreal. Eugene Lapierre
of Tennis Canada, tournament director for the Montreal
half of the Rogers Cup, said 500 to 600 tickets per day
have been sold since Bouchards win over Ivanovic. The
4,000-seat venue will likely be sold out. And ticket
sales have picked up for the womens Rogers Cup at Uniprix
Stadium next summer, which is rare in January. "It will
drag a lot of people out to come and watch her play,"
said Lapierre. "It will be interesting to see how she
makes the switch from a Grand Slam and playing in a
20,000 seat stadium to the Claude Robillard here with
4,000. But it will be a lot of fun." Canadian tennis has
been on a high lately with Milos Raonics rise into the
top 10 in the world on the mens side and Vasek Pospisil
also climbing in the rankings. Both made the Rogers Cup
semifinals in Montreal last summer and led the Davis Cup
team to a first-ever semifinal appearance. "Its
phenomenal what Eugenie has done," said Lapierre. "I
wouldnt say she opened the gates for Canada. The boys
started that last year. "But its a new era thats started
with the sport of tennis in Canada. Itll be tremendous
for the promotion of the game in Canada. Thats our goal
at Tennis Canada — to get more kids playing the game.
Everyones talking about Eugenie, and thats bound to be
good for the sport." Louis Borfiga, Tennis Canadas high
performance director, said Bouchard could have a similar
impact to Nadia Comaneci, the Romanian who drew slews of
girls to try gymnastics after her stunning performance at
the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Or the effect that Anna
Kournikova and Maria Sharapova had on womens tennis in
Russia. "It will enlarge the pool of players and that
will produce more very good players," said Borfiga.
"Thats the difference between Canada and countries like
France and Spain — their pool of players is larger."
Mike Bouchard, an investment banker, is fine with having
a daughter who may be seen as a role model for young
players. He doesnt even mind that she is quickly becoming
a celebrity. "Its good for her," he said. "Shes put in so
much work and effort. "If she can be an ambassador for
tennis and help tennis grow in Canada, thats fantastic.
If it becomes bigger than that — international stardom
— good for her. She has a strong head. Shes well
grounded, and I think shell be able to go through that
unscathed." Mike Bouchard knew he had a special daughter
when Eugenie was a young child. When she was 12, the
family the moved to Florida so she could learn at an
academy run by Nick Saviano, who remains her coach. She
spent more than three years in Florida before returning
to Montreal to work at the national tennis centre. "It
was difficult to find players at her own level to play
against, and we also wanted to expose her to
international coaching," said Mike Bouchard. "It takes a
lot of dedication. Everyone in the family chipped in."
Eugenie has a fraternal twin sister Beatrice, an 18-year-
old sister Charlotte and a 14-year-old brother William,
so the move was a big commitment for all of them. It paid
off when Bouchard became one of the worlds top junior
players and then made a rapid rise in WTA rankings. The
group cant go to every tournament and they elected not to
go to Australia, where Eugenie lost in the qualifying
tournament last year. But her father said he was tempted
to jump on a plane when she reached the semifinals. "We
never anticipated shed go this far in the first Grand
Slam of the year, so we gathered the kids and some
friends and we watched (on TV)," he said. "There was a
lot of emotions when she was hitting some winners. We
were screaming and laughing and encouraging her." He was
a little taken aback at a bizarre question put to Eugenie
by an on-court interviewer after the quarter-final. She
was asked who shed most like to date. To the apparent
displeasure of Genies Army, she named Canadian pop star
Justin Bieber. "Youve got to get used to that if youre
going to become a celebrity," Bouchard said. "I actually
thought she answered pretty well. She said Justin Bieber
with a question mark at the end. It was tongue in cheek."
It became a little awkward when Bieber was arrested in
Florida on Thursday for reportedly taking part in an
early morning drag race. "I actually dont follow anything
that goes on in his life," Bouchard said with a laugh.
"But I did hear about that."
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The striker headed Spurs into a 35th-minute lead and
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Texas designated McGuinness for assignment to clear room
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Topic: Rangers have acquired
