The new face of tennis?

After years grinding on the junior circuit, 20-year-old Canadian Eugenie Bouchard is poised to be one of the sport’s next big stars. Now she just needs that breakthrough win

The sun was just starting to fade on the evening of August 5 when Eugenie Bouchard, the eighth-ranked women’s tennis player in the world, walked onto centre court at the Rogers Cup tournament in Montreal.

Immediately, the audience rose to its feet and roared. Bouchard, who grew up five miles from the stadium, approached her chair, eyes trained on the ground. As she put down her tennis bag and took out her racket, the crowd continued clapping, cheering and whistling. She arranged a towel across the seat of her chair and another across its back, and still the ovation went on. Finally, when it became clear that Bouchard did not intend to acknowledge the frenzy with so much as a wave, the crowd sat, reducing its din to the usual pre-match hum.