Bouchard’s royal rise will only be crowned by Wimbledon glory

Sport360 staff 14:44 04/07/2014
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • New darling of tennis: Bouchard will face Kvitova in the Wimbledon final.

    Eugenie Bouchard insists she will only be satisfied with her meteoric rise if she is crowned queen of Wimbledon in Saturday's final against former champion Petra Kvitova.

    Bouchard's royalty-obsessed mother named the 20-year-old Canadian after the younger daughter of Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II's second son, while her sister is named after Beatrice, Andrew's elder daughter.

    Those regal connections have earned Bouchard plenty of intrigued enquires from the British media throughout her march to a first Grand Slam final and the 13th seed would dearly love a royal audience with the Duchess of Kent, who presents the Venus Rosewater dish awarded to the women's singles champion at the All England Club.

    And if she does lift the trophy, the ice-cool Bouchard may finally let her emotions pour out. After falling at the semi-final stage of both the Australian and French Opens this year, Bouchard could have been forgiven for embarking on a jubilant celebration following her 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 victory over world number three Simona Halep in Thursday's last four clash on Centre Court.

    But like the royals idolised by her mother, Bouchard carries herself with a serene disposition and when she finally clinched victory on her sixth match point, she only briefly raised her arms and gave a small fist pump.

    Bouchard, the junior Wimbledon champion only two years ago, holds herself to high standards and becoming the first Canadian to reach a Grand Slam final is nothing more than she expected, so she will save any real celebrations for if she wins the title this weekend.

    "I'm waiting for a big moment to go nuts," Bouchard said. "Of course, achieving a lifelong dream like winning a slam is very exciting to me. But I feel like my job is not done here.

    "There's no need for a huge celebration because I'm still working. I still have another match.

    "But it's not a surprise to me. I expect good results like this. So for me, I was like, 'Okay, good'. It's a step in the right direction." 

    Recommended