Genie Bouchard – A Beautiful Promise

When you think of the word “promise” these days, the first name that comes to most minds is Eugenie Bouchard. She won the 2012 Wimbledon Girls’ title and just 3 years later, Bouchard is ranked world No. 11 and there are heaps of articles being written about her chances in the next 2 weeks.

In these 3 years, she became the first ever Canadian to reach the finals of a Grand Slam in Singles (at last year’s Wimbledon). She’s also reached the semifinals at two other Grand Slams, and a quarterfinal at another.  She’s been named WTA newcomer of the year, as well as WTA Most Improved Player. Another more commonly used and more dramatic testament to her instant success is that she once requested Nike if she could wear Maria Sharapova’s collection (to which Sharapova agreed!). Then she lost to Sharapova in the 2nd Round of the 2013 Roland Garros. The next year at the 2014 Roland Garros, Bouchard lost to Sharapova again, but this time in the semifinal. Perfect story, isn’t it?

It’s only been ups and ups for Bouchard. And it doesn’t end here. Not only has Genie Bouchard garnered quick success on the court, but off the court as well she is a very popular name, what with that pretty face, beautiful smile, and an inexplicably pleasant aura about her, and of course all those #selfies on Twitter and Instagram! She’s already got her own cheering section, who call themselves ‘The Genie Army’, who’ve composed chants just for her. Bouchard is definitely the next Maria Sharapova for all we know. But for her, I just hope there’s no next Serena Williams coming along in a long time though. Named after Princess Eugenie of York, Bouchard has been nicknamed “The Chosen One” by her siblings, which is apt, given her instant success and stardom. I hope Genie’s future doesn’t turn out like “The Chosen One” of football.

Coming back to Tennis, another reason why Bouchard is so popular among the fans is because of her aggressive gameplay. In these 3 years, I’ve never seen her go into a defensive shell, ever. Bouchard plays a brave game and the crowd loves it. She is absolutely unpredictable with her shots.  After watching tennis for 15 years, you get a feel of how a player is going to respond to a ball and where they are going to try to place it, but not with Genie Bouchard. One moment she’s playing you cross court on the baseline and the other moment she’s playing a dropshot to your volley.

Bouchard may not be among the favorites to win at Wimbledon this year, but she is definitely one of those to keep an eye out for. But to be fair, in the Ladies’s game, at least for the last 5-6 years, there’s only been one favorite to win any event, Serena Williams. Everyone else is more or less among the ones to ”keep an eye out for”.