
‘I felt like the old Genie’: Bouchard extends career with first-round win at NBO
Global News
Bouchard, who also earned her 300th singles win, announced on July 16 that she would hang up her racket at the end of her hometown event.
Eugenie Bouchard’s retirement will have to wait.
The former world No. 5 — and first Canadian woman to contest a Grand Slam final in the open era — upset Colombia’s Emiliana Arango 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in the first round Monday night at the National Bank Open, extending her tennis career for at least one match.
“I told my family that if I won the tournament, I would come out of retirement,” she said from centre court. “I felt like the old Genie out there.”
Bouchard, who also earned her 300th singles win, announced on July 16 that she would hang up her racket at the end of her hometown event.
The 31-year-old from Westmount, Que., rose to prominence with a sensational season in 2014. At only 20, she reached the Wimbledon final, played in the Australian Open and French Open semifinals and won her only WTA title.
Bouchard never returned to that level in a short-lived run among the best in tennis, but for one night at least, she resembled her old self — striking the ball with flair and painting the lines with forehand winners.
“I woke up this morning just telling myself, look I can’t control the result, I just want to have a good attitude, have good fight and try to feel good with my shots, feel good with my game,” she said. “No matter what happens, I wanted to walk off the court having enjoyed that gritty battle.
“I enjoyed every second of it.”













