Genie Bouchard: Emerging from the bottle in style

Eugenie Bouchard

One of the things that stood out in women’s tennis in 2013 was the message that the future was indeed bright. The year saw a host of self-assured, determined youngsters bubbling with zeal and vivacity and keeping pace with the established brigade at the very top of the rankings.

Sloane Stephens stunned the world with her intrepid performance at the Australian Open that derailed Serena Williams’s campaign, and after that she kept proving that the elite stage wasn’t something to be afraid of. Madison Keys with her explosive game is another American to look out for – a player who should thrive well on the faster courts. Laura Robson, one of the best young talents in the last few years, delighted the British crowd by making it to the fourth round of her home Slam.

But the sparkling jewel in the crown was surely Laura’s best buddy and Canadian No. 1 Eugenie Bouchard – a girl who made heads turn with her incredible improvisation, her eagerness to learn as well as her attitude on the court. If the ebullient Canadian wrapped up 2012 at 144 in the world rankings and ascended more than 100 places in 2013, it was a deserving reward for her patience, diligence, tenacity and her penchant for learning how to turn things around. And above all, it’s her unbridled passion for the game that has helped her make all the sacrifices and keep moving forward.

Shuttling between her native Montreal and her training base in Florida wasn’t always easy while growing up but Bouchard has her dreams and she knows her perseverance was only pushing her closer to her dreams. Did she ever want her school-going twin sister Beatrice’s life? “Sometimes I see her and I want her life, but not too often. The life I’m living is special, exceptional,’’ was the assured reply from the girl who is now the world’s top-ranked teenager at the end of her first full year on the WTA Tour.

It is this belief that saw her bursting into the spotlight with a win at the 2012 Wimbledon juniors that gratified all Canadians around the world as Canada got its first ever singles Grand Slam champion. For years they had searched for an icon amongst the professional players, a voice above the cacophony. Eugenie, adorably called ‘Genie’, was that voice – the icon that could lead the way and inspire a host of other youngsters around the globe.

For someone who had grown up admiring Maria Sharapova and Anna Kournikova, teenage success wasn’t an alien concept for her, and she knew she had to learn the tricks of the trade swiftly and plug the loopholes soon if she wanted to make any lasting impact on the WTA scene. Last year, Bouchard took the big plunge on to the senior circuit and made waves with a quarterfinal appearance at Washington; she the 2012 season at 144.

She didn’t want to sit relishing on her newfound status and immediately put in the hours in training to ready herself for an even more intense battle – her first full year on the WTA Tour. Making the transition and staying toe-to-toe with the stars requires a lot of guts and Genie was up for it.

She made the quarter-finals of the Premier-level Charleston event and earned her first top-10 victory over Samantha Stosur, albeit by retirement. She also made her mark in a battle of two exuberant teenagers where she edged past Robson. After surging into the semi-finals of Strasbourg she played her first Grand Slam at the French Open, where she emerged victorious in the first round.

It was a learning curve for the 19-year-old and it was great to see her unfazed by the big challenges. Anchored by her then coach Nathalie Tauziat, Genie, the avid learner that she was, began solidifying her game even further. Although her game was based more on baseline defense, the Canadian was audacious enough to try and start taking more chances by upping the aggression.

Now to the scene of her biggest triumph, the fabled lawns of Wimbledon. At SW19, she mesmerized the audience with her lucid shot-making as well as her gorgeous looks. The Centre Court of Wimbledon couldn’t daunt her and she played a brilliant game to oust Ana Ivanovic in the second round.

By the time the US hardcourt season arrived, Genie was not one to retreat on the court. She could create her own angles and finish the points early. She was not afraid to make inroads into the net and most importantly she looked comfortable even against the top stars. At Cincinnati that burgeoning self-confidence shone when she took a set off the impervious Serena Williams in the Round of 32.

It was the fall where Genie fully bloomed. The tougher the competition got, Genie prodded herself to climb even higher. As she revealed later, “Playing week in and week out against great players, and even great champions, is really tough, and it makes you mentally tough. I think that helped me improve, and gave me a lot of experience for the rest of the year, so those big matches helped me a lot.”

And her racquet obliged – she made the semi-finals at Quebec City and thrilled her growing army of fans with another quarter-final at Tokyo that saw her demolish Jelena Jankovic, earning her second top-10 win of the year. A riveting battle with Venus Williams ended in loss but not before underlining her status as one of the fastest rising players in the world. At Osaka she came within sniffing distance of her first ever WTA title before being overpowered by Samantha Stosur.

How much Genie has improved perhaps can be ascertained by the fact that she is now ranked 32nd in the world – a leap of 112 places from last year. She reached the quarter-finals or better as many as five times in 2013 that prompted even the legendary Martina Navratilova to say that she was a future Grand Slam champion.

A deserving recipient of the ‘WTA Newcomer of the Year ‘ award, Genie has now joined forces with her former coach Nick Saviano to embark on the journey towards fulfilling her lifetime ambition of winning Wimbledon. If she can keep her focus, commitment and hunger intact, the dream will definitely materialize into reality one day.