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Post by Admin on Jul 8, 2014 23:49:06 GMT
The Wimbledon crowd have been rooting for Canadian Eugenie Bouchard all fortnight, but one British player unlikely to be cheering her on in Saturday’s final is Laura Robson. The pair were close friends for several years after meeting when they were young girls, and went on to put together a home-made Gangnam Style video which became an internet sensation in 2012. Their relationship has since cooled as Bouchard progressed to reach her first grand-slam final. Asked during a press conference if the pair, both 20, were “still pretty good mates”, Bouchard said: “No, I don’t think so.” She added: “I’m sure you guys can figure out that one.” One potential issue between the pair is that the Canadian dominates the attention of the veteran American coach Nick Saviano, who also works with Robson, the British No2. Saviano accompanies Bouchard to the major tournaments, leaving Robson to rely on the advice of the 31-year-old Jesse Witten. When asked about how the situation would work at this year’s Australian Open, Robson said: “I don’t know how it’s going to go here. Primarily he’s going to be with her. I’ll chat to him over dinner and stuff.” Their friendship has deteriorated further during the past year as Bouchard accelerated ahead of her former friend. She has climbed into the tennis top ranks, while Robson peaked when she reached the fourth round of last year’s Wimbledon, then missed this year’s championships with a wrist injury. She now languishes at 91 in the world rankings. Tennis insiders say the girls no longer speak, let alone post pictures of themselves together on social networking sites as they once did so regularly. Before the French Open, Bouchard said she didn’t have a best friend: ‘I don’t think the tennis tour is the place to have friends. For me it’s all competition.’ When she was 12, Eugenie had the chance to move to Florida to train with coach Nick Saviano at his academy. The whole family relocated to Florida from Montreal — and moved back a few years later, after Tennis Canada agreed to pay for an exclusive trainer for her in Montreal. She continues to train with Saviano in Florida for part of the year, and spends the rest of it on the tour, going home to Montreal for visits when she can. Mike Bouchard — like the parents of champs Andre Agassi and Steffi Graff — has taken a hands-on approach to building his daughter’s sporting career, sometimes with excessive zeal. Bouchard tried to claim thousands that he personally spent on his daughter’s dream in 2004, 2005 and 2006 as business losses against tax — but Canada’s tax service disallowed it.
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Post by Admin on Jul 9, 2014 23:47:58 GMT
Eugenie Bouchard's run to the Wimbledon women's final has propelled her to No. 7 in the world, making her the highest-ranked Canadian in WTA history. Despite her lopsided loss to Petra Kvitova of Czechoslovakia over the weekend, the 20-year-old Bouchard jumped six spots from No. 13, moving into the top 10 for the first time in her career in the new rankings released Monday. The Montreal native is the first player to reach a Grand Slam singles final while competing as a Canadian, and she surpassed Carling Bassett-Seguso for the highest Canadian ranking ever in the WTA. Kvitova's second Wimbledon title allowed her to improve two places to No. 4. The top three places did not change, with Serena Williams at No. 1, Li Na at No. 2 and Simona Halep at No. 3. The 20-year-old took to Twitter yesterday to show her appreciation for her time at Wimbledon after her straight-sets loss in the women's final to Petra Kvitova. She posted a photo of herself holding her runner's up trophy with the caption: 'Not the trophy I wanted, but thank you @wimbledon for a wonderful 2 weeks.' Determined Bouchard, though, won't be giving up her dream of winning her first Grand Slam title just yet. 'I will never be satisfied,' she said. 'I want to play in many more Grand Slam finals.' Bouchard, is returning to her motherland to spend some time with her tight-knit family - who are all named after the royal family - after the disappointing defeat. Raw: Eugenie arrives at Montreal airport Tennis star Eugenie Bouchard arrived at Montreal-Trudeau airport after her historic tour at Wimbledon.
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Post by Admin on Jul 11, 2014 23:01:55 GMT
Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard dropped by the Westminster pool in Dollard-des-Ormeaux on Wednesday, July 9. Less than a week after her appearance at the Wimbledon women’s final, the Westmount native was in Dollard to watch a swim meet against Cote St-Luc. Although she lost the Wimbledon final to Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic on July 5, Bouchard’s performance propelled her to the No. 7 spot in the world tennis rankings, making her the highest-ranked Canadian in Women’s Tennis Association history. The 20-year-old jumped six spots, up from the No. 13 spot. Glenn Wildenmann, a Kirkland resident who attended the meet at Westminister pool, said Bouchard was gracious and generous with her time, posing for photos with fans. geniebouchard:Being the spectator for once. #stressful
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Post by Admin on Jul 19, 2014 22:58:45 GMT
After impressing at Wimbledon, Eugenie Bouchard is primed to take over her hometown of Montreal. The Rogers Cup, known as the premier tune-up for the U.S. Open, rolls through Montreal from Aug. 1-10, and Bouchard was at a local cake shop on Friday to promote the event and to sample the official cupcake of the tourney. Bouchard had a chance to decorate a few cupcakes, noting that red velvet is her favourite. “If I win I’ll have to have one as a reward,” Bouchard said with a chuckle. Bouchard told reporters that she’s excited to play in front of a hometown crowd. “I always feel the support from my country and my city, so to be able to play in front of them will be very exciting.” The Montreal native is currently ranked seventh in the world, the highest ever placement for a Canadian female. She recently signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Coca Cola, to go along with several others including Rogers, Babolat, and Nike. “My goal is not to (just) be seventh in the world,” Bouchard said. “I have big dreams.” When the Genie Army made a splash at the Australian Open with their support for Eugenie Bouchard, Tennis Canada got in touch with them through Twitter. They got the army to do two videos, one of them for a special promotion on Rogers Cup tickets in conjunction with Bouchard’s 20th birthday in February. “We said, hey wouldn’t it be great to have those people here in Montreal so that the people can meet the famous Genie Army,” said Louis-Philippe Dorais, the director of communications and marketing at Tennis Canada. The six members of the army that are travelling to Montreal for the Rogers Cup are paying for their own air travel. Tennis Canada is just paying for their lodging, Dorais said, putting them up in apartments near the stadium that they sometimes use for athletes. When asked about that expense, Dorais said only a small percentage of Tennis Canada’s funding is from government — probably just under 10 per cent — “but we finance our own operation. We’re a not-for-profit and all the money that we get from the Rogers Cup goes straight into tennis development. So it’s not like we’re a fully publicly funded company here.” “I think it’s great promotional material for us in marketing where we’re trying to create some hype around Eugenie Bouchard, which is going pretty well and trying to make this very special around our Canadian players and Genie being one of our top Canadian players. To us, it was a great creative way to get her some attention.” “They’re scheduled all the through the week to sign autographs, take pictures with the fans,” Dorais said of the Genie Army. “So there’s all kinds of activities for the public ...to take pictures and get to know the Genie Army.”
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Post by Admin on Jul 23, 2014 22:37:38 GMT
Eugenie Bouchard has been so “busy” that keeping a boyfriend, including Alex Galchenyuk, around has been a challenge! The darling of 2014 Wimbledon just signed a Coca Cola endorsement contract and glammed up for the cover of ELLE Quebec. On top of that, she has been preparing for the Canada's largest tournament, Rogers Cup starting on August 2. Rising star Genie Bouchard is not contented with her current ranking on the WTA Tour. The Canadian darling wants the top of the world and she understands that she needs to beat Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and the other elite netters in achieving her 'big dream.' "My goal is not to (just) be seventh in the world. I have big dreams," Bouchard in an interview with Montreal Gazette. Bouchard, who reached at least the semifinal round at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon Open this year, is excited to play in front of her countryman at the upcoming big tournament in Montreal. The 20-year-old will be back in action in her hometown of Montreal where she will participate alongside all the other members of the top-10 in the Premier-5 Rogers Cup, scheduled to begin from the 2nd of August. She said that she was delighted to be back in Quebec: “It makes it more exciting for me. And I have more family and friends who can come visit as well. You know, I always feel the support from my country and my city. So to be able to play in front of them will be very exciting.”
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