Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (/buːˈʃɑːrd/;[1][2] French: Eugénie Bouchard, pronounced [øʒeni buʃaʁ]; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian professional tennis player and model.[3] At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player representing Canada[a] to reach the final of a major singles tournament, finishing runner-up to Petra Kvitová.[4] Bouchard also reached the semifinals of the 2014 Australian Open[5] and 2014 French Open.[6] Having won the 2012 Wimbledon girls' title as a junior,[7] she was named WTA Newcomer of the Year at the end of the 2013 WTA Tour.[8][9] Bouchard received the WTA Most Improved Player award for the 2014 season and reached a career-high ranking of world No. 5, becoming the first Canadian tennis player to be ranked in the top 5 in singles.[10]
Bouchard has stated she plans to remain active on the tennis and pickleball professional tours.[11]
Eugenie Bouchard was born as one of twins to Michel Bouchard, an investment banker, and Julie Leclair in Montreal.[12]
Bouchard started playing tennis at the age of five and was a member of Tennis Canada's National Training Centre in Montreal. She grew up in Westmount, where she attended and graduated from The Study, a private girls’ school, and lived on the same street as former prime minister Brian Mulroney.[13] At age 12, she moved to Florida to train with coach Nick Saviano.
In 2005, Bouchard participated at the tournament Open Super 12 in Auray, France. She captured the ITF singles and doubles titles in Costa Rica and also the All Canadian ITF singles title in Burlington, Ontario in 2008. In 2009 and at only 15, she won the Canadian Under-18 Indoor Championship in Toronto. At this event, Bouchard overpowered fellow Quebecker Marianne Jodoin to become, at 15 years and a month, one of the youngest winners of the indoor event. Later that year, she won her first professional main-draw match at Caserta, Italy, defeating No. 798 Frederica Grazioso. Also in that year, she won the Pan American Closed ITF Championships.[14]
At the Australian Open, she lost in the semifinals of the singles junior event against fifth seed Monica Puig. A week later, she won her first professional title at the $25k Burnie International, where she defeated fellow 16-year-old qualifier Zheng Saisai in the final.[15][16]
She won her second professional title in April at the $10k in Šibenik, Croatia, where she defeated qualifier Jessica Ginier in the final. She missed the French Open due to an injury. At Wimbledon, Bouchard lost in the quarterfinals of the singles junior event to No. 3 seed Irina Khromacheva but won the doubles junior event with her partner Grace Min. She also reached a week later her first professional doubles final with Megan Moulton-Levy at the $50k tournament in Waterloo, where she lost. At the end of July, she beat the 114th ranked player Alison Riske at the Citi Open in College Park. It was her first WTA Tour main-draw win. With that win, she had the chance to meet No. 2 seed Nadia Petrova in the second round, but lost the match. Bouchard finished the season ranked No. 302 in the world.
Bouchard reached the semifinals of the junior Australian Open for the second straight year, but lost to Yulia Putintseva. Bouchard won her first professional doubles title at the $50k tournament in Dothan, Alabama with partner Jessica Pegula. She defeated fellow Canadians Sharon Fichman and Marie-Ève Pelletier in the final. In May, Bouchard won her third professional singles title at the $10k in Båstad with a win in the final over Katharina Lehnert. The following week, she won her second straight ITF title in Båstad, where she defeated Milana Špremo in the final. Bouchard won the junior singles title at Wimbledon defeating third seed Elina Svitolina. She became the first Canadian ever, junior or pro, to win a major in singles.[7] She also won the doubles title for the second straight year, this time with American Taylor Townsend, beating Belinda Bencic and Ana Konjuh in the final.[17]
At the end of July, Bouchard won her second $25k and fifth singles title of her career at the Challenger de Granby. She defeated fellow Canadian and defending champion, Stéphanie Dubois, in the final.[18] She played a week later at the Washington Open where she was awarded a wildcard for the main draw. Bouchard made it to the first WTA Tour quarterfinal of her career, but was defeated by Sloane Stephens. At the Rogers Cup, she upset former world No. 11, Shahar Pe'er, in the first round.[19] She then lost in the next round to 2011 French Open champion Li Na. Bouchard reached her first $50k final at the Saguenay Challenger, but lost to Madison Keys.[20] The following week, she won her first $50k title at the Toronto Challenger.[21] She reached the doubles final as well. At her last tournament of the season, Bouchard lost to Jacqueline Cako and Natalie Pluskota in the doubles final of the $75k Phoenix Classic.[22]
Bouchard finished the season ranked No. 144 in the world.
For the 2013 season, Bouchard enlisted Nathalie Tauziat to coach and travel with her part-time, and Bouchard transformed her defensive, retrieving tactics from junior level into a game of aggression.[23] Tauziat was let go after the season and Saviano committed to a more present role alongside Bouchard.
At the start of the season, Bouchard attempted to qualify for the main draw at the Sydney International, but lost to Storm Sanders in the first round of the qualifiers.[24] She played the qualifiers for the Australian Open and was eliminated by Daria Gavrilova in the second round.[25] Bouchard played in the main draw of the Copa Bionaire in Colombia. She beat Laura Thorpe in the opening round but lost to Alexandra Panova in the next round.[26] At the Copa Colsanitas, she had to play the qualifying rounds again. She beat Richèl Hogenkamp in the opening round but the lost to Arantxa Parra Santonja.[27] Bouchard played in the main draw of the Mexican Open in Acapulco where she beat Eva Birnerová in the first round, before she was defeated by defending champion and top seed, Sara Errani.[28] She received a wildcard entry to the Miami Open and beat Shahar Pe'er in her opening match and was defeated in the second round by world No. 2, Maria Sharapova.[29]
At the Family Circle Cup, she successfully qualified for the main draw, and drew fellow qualifier Nastassja Burnett which she won in straight sets. She also defeated world No. 42, Laura Robson, in three sets in the second round, her first top-50 win. Bouchard won her third-round clash against former US Open champion Samantha Stosur (the Australian retired), booking a spot in the quarterfinals of the Premier tournament. It was the first top-10 victory of her young career. Although she lost to Jelena Janković, the quarterfinal appearance assured her a spot in the top-100 for the first time.[30] Bouchard went on to play a French Open warm-up tournament, the Internationaux de Strasbourg, where she had one of her most impressive runs on the WTA Tour to date. She made it to the semifinals by defeating Sílvia Soler Espinosa, Camila Giorgi and Anna Tatishvili all in straight sets, but lost to Alizé Cornet.[31] Bouchard made her first major main-draw appearance at the French Open, where she defeated Tsvetana Pironkova in straight sets. Her next opponent was the defending champion Maria Sharapova, who defeated her.[32]
At Wimbledon, Bouchard beat qualifier Galina Voskoboeva in her opening match in three tough sets. In the second round, she had one of the biggest wins of her career when she beat world No. 12 and former No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, on Centre Court in straight sets. But she was eliminated in the third round by Carla Suárez Navarro.[33] At the beginning of August, Bouchard reached the doubles final at the tournament in Washington, D.C. which was the first WTA final of her career. She was defeated, with partner Taylor Townsend, by Shuko Aoyama and Vera Dushevina in the final.[34] The next week, she made it to the second round for the second straight year at the Rogers Cup and was ultimately defeated by defending champion, Petra Kvitová.[35] At the last Premier-5-event before the US Open, Bouchard reached the second round of the Western & Southern Open as a qualifier, but lost in three sets to world No. 1, Serena Williams.[36] At the US Open, she was stopped by world No. 9, Angelique Kerber, in the second round.[37] Bouchard made it to the second WTA semifinal of her career at the Challenge Bell in mid-September, but was eliminated by Lucie Šafářová.[38]
At the Premier 5 Pan Pacific Open, Bouchard had a remarkable run. She defeated Monica Puig in the first round and the No. 9 seed, Sloane Stephens, in three tight sets in the second. In the third round, she beat the former world No. 1 and sixth seed, Jelena Janković, her second win over a member of the top 10, in straight sets to reach her first WTA Premier-5 quarterfinal and fourth WTA quarterfinal of her career. She was defeated by Venus Williams in the next round in over three hours of play.[39] The next week, Bouchard lost to Sloane Stephens in the second round of the WTA Premier Mandatory China Open.[40] At Osaka, she made it to the first WTA singles final of her career and became the first Canadian to reach a WTA singles final since Rebecca Marino in 2011 in Memphis.[41] She ultimately lost to Sam Stosur in the final.[42] At the Luxembourg Open, the last tournament of her season, Bouchard was defeated by Andrea Petkovic in the first round.[43] Bouchard was named the Newcomer of the Year after her breakthrough season, the first Canadian since Carling Bassett-Seguso in 1983 to win the WTA award.[8][9]
Bouchard finished the season ranked No. 32 in the world. During the 2013 off-season she appeared on CTV Montreal as a guest weather anchor.[44]
Bouchard started the new season at the Hopman Cup, where she represented Canada with Milos Raonic, followed by a first-round exit at Sydney to Bethanie Mattek-Sands.[45] The next week, Bouchard won her opening match at the Australian Open over wildcard Tang Haochen,[46] followed by wins over Virginie Razzano,[47] Lauren Davis,[48] and Casey Dellacqua to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Bouchard defeated Ana Ivanovic. She was eliminated in the semifinals by world No. 4, Li Na, but guaranteed herself a spot in the world's top 20 for the first time.[49] Two weeks later, she won both of her singles matches in the Fed Cup World Group II first round against Serbia, helping Canada reach the World Group playoffs for the first time since 2004.[50]
At the Indian Wells Open, Bouchard defeated Peng Shuai in the second round and scored her third win over a member of the top 10 with a victory over Sara Errani in the third round.[51] Her run was stopped by world No. 7, Simona Halep, in the fourth round.