London: 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 enquiries 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, ‘OK, good’. It’s a step in the right direction.”
Shadow of Sharapova
Bouchard’s breakthrough performance has recalled memories of Maria Sharapova, who rocked the tennis world by defeating Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final aged just 17 in 2004.
A decade later, the effervescent blonde seems set to inherit Sharapova’s mantle as the most marketable player of her generation.
Bouchard is happy to accept flattering comparisons with the five-time Grand Slam champion, but would prefer to be seen as more than a clone of the glamorous Russian.
“I see it as a compliment to be compared to someone like Sharapova who has won five slams,” Bouchard said.
“She’s a great champion so I see it in a positive light.
“But I’m also my own person, I don’t want to be the next someone else. I want to be the first of me.
“I want to be my own individual person. I’ll try to make my own history.”
She has been swamped by marriage proposals — around 100 via Twitter at the last count — and has her own fanatical fan club, the Genie Army who merrily lob Teddy Bears onto the court when she wins, although not at Wimbledon where such joy is frowned upon.
She has a fondness for Canadian badboy Justin Bieber and has formed a close friendship with US actor Jim Parsons who plays science nerd and social misfit Dr Sheldon Cooper in hit TV comedy, The Big Bang Theory.
But despite her media-friendly profile, Bouchard also possesses a sharp edge to her character.
At a Fed Cup tie this year, she refused to shake hands with an opponent at the tournament draw, a gesture which led to her being labelled a “brat” by a host of users of social media.
She admits she does occasionally behave like a diva off the court but if she was to be portrayed in a negative light, she’d rather be regarded as a nerd.
“The Big Bang Theory is my favourite TV show. Jim Parsons’ character Sheldon is my favourite. He’s so nerdy. He’s so smart and set in his ways,” she explained.
“I do have a little bit of the nerd in me. When I was in school, my favourite class was math class. I was very determined to try to get 100 per cent on all my math tests. I think that kind of self-discipline translates to tennis.”
Bouchard, who started playing tennis at the age of five, is based at coach Nick Saviano’s academy in Florida and won her first WTA title this year in Nuremburg.
Voted 2013 Newcomer of the Year, she justified that confidence by being the only player to reach the semi-finals of all three majors in 2014 adding more than $1 million (Dh3.67 million) to her bank account in the process.
Standing in Bouchard’s way is the formidable figure of sixth seed Kvitova, who is back to her best after a barren period and dismissed her close friend and compatriot Lucie Safarova 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 in the semi-finals.
The 24-year-old struggled to cope with the burden of expectation after winning her maiden Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2011.
Unable to make it back to a Grand Slam final until now, Kvitova credits sports psychologist Michal Safar for helping her come to terms with her champion status.
“When I won here in 2011 I needed to change myself both on and off the court a little bit,” Kvitova said.
“I had to get used to the pressure. I won here quite young, and it was difficult for me to handle it.
“I’m still working on the mental side, that’s something I really need.
“With my sports psychologist, it’s nice to talk with someone who knows how I’m feeling before my match.”
Introduced to tennis by her father Jiri, Kvitova grew to idolise Czech legend Martina Navratilova while watching television footage of her heroics at Wimbledon and eventually followed in her footsteps onto the WTA Tour in 2008.
She made an immediate impact, reaching the fourth round of her first Grand Slam at the French Open.
Her first title arrived in Hobart in 2009 and she broke into the world’s top 30 after reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals a year later.
Kvitova’s star was in the ascendant and in 2011 the rest of the world got to see it as well as she won Wimbledon.
It was a fitting stage for Kvitova as she was the first left-handed female player to win the Wimbledon singles title since Navratilova in 1990.
She was also the first Grand Slam winner of either gender to be born in the 1990s.
But that was the moment everything changed for Kvitova.
She crashed out of the US Open first round and struggled in her next 10 Grand Slam appearances.
“It’s difficult to still be with the pressure every time you step on the court against some opponents,” Kvitova said.
“You are most of the time favourite of the match and it’s really not easy. It needs some time to get used to.”
But as she matured, Kvitova has gradually been able to find a way to cope with those expectations.
Now 24, she has grown slightly more comfortable with the trappings of success, swapping the humble Skoda she drove when she won Wimbledon for a more sleek BMW and moving to the millionaire’s playground of Monaco.
And back on her favourite grass courts at Wimbledon, her form has finally returned over the last two weeks.
Even a semi-final meeting with her compatriot and close friend Lucie Safarova couldn’t distract Kvitova from her mission to reach a second Grand Slam final.
And if she does lift the Venus Rosewater dish again, Wimbledon will be the perfect location to show she has grown up at last.
“It’s Wimbledon. It’s the best tournament in the world for me. This is what makes tennis special,” she said.
