Regal Bouchard sets up duel with Halep
1st Wimbledon semi for 20-year-old Canadian
Eugenie Bouchard moved a step closer to being crowned the queen of Wimbledon as the Canadian glamor girl booked a semifinal showdown with Simona Halep on Wednesday.
Bouchard’s royalty-obsessed mother named the 20-year-old 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 enquires from the British media over the last fortnight and the 13th seed looks in the mood for a royal audience with the Duchess of Kent, who traditionally presents the Venus Rosewater dish awarded to the women’s singles champion at the All England Club.
Bouchard reached her first semifinal at the grass-court Grand Slam and ensured a move into the world top 10 by beating German ninth seed Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4.
Victory also meant that Bouchard has reached the last four of all three Grand Slams year to date.
The blonde Canadian was rarely threatened on Court One where Kerber, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2012, was still feeling the effects of her marathon fourth round win over Maria Sharapova 24 hours earlier.
Bouchard, who will rise to No.8 in the world next week to equal the record high ranking achieved by a Canadian, said, “It was definitely a tough battle, I’ve played her a few times and it’s always been tough, so I knew it wasn’t over.
“I tried to keep fighting and thankfully I did it in the end.
“I’ve been working hard to stay mentally in the moment. I made a few bad errors but I came up with enough winners at the right time.”
Bouchard has played Halep just once – losing in three sets at Indian Wells earlier this year.
“I’m definitely excited to be in the semifinals and I want to go one step further,” she said.
But Bouchard, beaten in the last four at both the Australian Open and French Open, must find a solution to her semifinal failures against a daunting opponent in world No.3 Halep.
Halep swept into her first Wimbledon semi- final with a crushing 6-4, 6-0 victory over 2013 finalist Sabine Lisicki.
Halep recorded her 250th career win in memorable fashion as the world No.3 dismissed German 19th seed Lisicki, beaten by Marion Bartoli in the final last year, in 57 minutes.
The 22-year-old reached her maiden Grand Slam final at the French Open last month and, after winning 11 consecutive games to sink Lisicki, she is on the verge of another Major final.
Since losing in the Wimbledon second round last year, Halep has enjoyed a rapid rise up the rankings from 32nd 12 months ago to her current lofty position of third and now she stands on the verge of breaking new ground back.
In the men’s event, defending champion Andy Murray of Britain was stunned by Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov with a sensational 6-1, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.
Murray had hoped to become the first British man to successfully defend the Wimbledon title since Fred Perry in 1936, but the Scot was completely outclassed in a two-hour masterclass from 11th seed Dimitrov on Centre Court.