Eugenie Bouchard

Biography

Eugenie Bouchard became a household name in 2014 when she became the first Canadian singles player, male or female, to be ranked in the top five in the world. She had started the year at number 32. It was the culmination of a breakout year that saw her reach two Grand Slam semifinals at the Australian Open and French Open before she became the first Canadian singles player to compete in a Grand Slam final, doing so at Wimbledon. She also earned her first WTA title at Nürnberg in May. Bouchard was named the WTA’s Most Improved Player after taking the WTA Newcomer of the Year award in 2013.

In both 2013 and 2014 she won the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as Canadian Female Athlete of the Year. Bouchard had previously made history in 2012 when she won the girls’ title at Wimbledon, forming half of a historic duo with fellow Canadian Filip Peliwo, who won the boys’ title. No Canadian had ever won a junior Grand Slam singles title before.

In 2015 Bouchard got back to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open before encountering some struggles. After winning her third round match at the US Open, she slipped and fell in the locker room, suffering a concussion that led to her playing just one more match for the rest of the year. When she first competed in 2016 it had been three months since her last match. Bouchard was Tennis Canada’s Female Player of the Year in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

In her Olympic debut at Rio 2016, Bouchard made it to the second round of the singles and doubles tournaments, playing with Gaby Dabrowski in the latter.

Getting to know…

Getting into the Sport: Started playing tennis at age 5… First indication of her talent came at age 9 when she won an event in Montreal to qualify for a 12-and-under tournament in France; it was there she realized she wanted to travel the world and play tennis as a career… Moved to Florida at age 12 to train with Nick Saviano… Returned to Montreal at age 15 to train at Tennis Canada’s national training centre… Odds and Ends: Favourite tennis player is Roger Federer who she first met at the 2012 Wimbledon Ball… Played in the 2016 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game in Toronto…