Eugenie Bouchard sparkles as Canada’s leading lady
Let’s take the positive Canadian approach on this one and say that Westmount, Quebec’s Eugenie Bouchard had a darn good week. In fact, so good that she is our Athlete of the Week.
Canada’s current highest ranked female tennis player moved her way up to a career best 32nd after reaching her first WTA singles final at the Japan Open this past weekend. She was even up a set, taking the first 6-3 over Samantha Stosur before the 29-year-old Australian resurged to win the second and third sets 7-5, 6-2.
Ok, so Bouchard lost but let’s keep the positivity going. At number 32 in the WTA rankings, she’s in pretty good position to be seeded at the 2014 Australian Open. That would be particularly significant because she didn’t even make it out of qualifying this past January.
And if we’re busy talking about years, in 2013 alone ‘Genie’ has moved up 113 spots to where she currently sits. Yes, one hundred and thirteen places. That’s some magic lamp-style improvement. (Yeah, we threw that reference down).
But honestly, the 19-year-old doesn’t seem to be just wishing for success. She’s the top-ranked teenager on the WTA tour and looked seriously comfortable in a final against a woman who now has five career titles.
It’s fair to say on the men’s and women’s side Tennis Canada has some athletes to get excited about. This was the third straight week that a Canadian has been in a main tour tournament final, following Milos Raonic in Bangkok and Tokyo.
Next up for Bouchard is the BGL BNP Paribas Open in Luxembourg this week.
