The 20-year-old, blonde-haired, blue-eyed Eugenie Bouchard seemed comfortable fielding questions following her dominant 6-2, 6-1 win over Olga Govortsova in her first round matchup at the U.S. Open on Tuesday, which took all of 59 minutes.
And with the way she has played in majors this year, she probably will have a few more light-hearted victorious news conferences, perhaps even hoisting the trophy in two weeks.
“Of course, that’s a dream of mine, to win a Grand Slam,” Bouchard said. “But, you know, I’ll think of something crazy [to do if I win one].”
Bouchard, the only woman to make the semifinals in each Grand Slam this year, lost to Petra Kvitova in the Wimbledon final in July and has skyrocketed as high as No. 7 in the women’s rankings. She currently is eighth.
“I learned a lot. It was an experience I’ll never forget,” Bouchard said about Wimbledon, where she lost to Kvitova, 6-3, 6-0. “I have happy memories from that day, as well, even though I lost. It was a very special moment and occasion. I felt I could have done a few things better. But again, my opponent definitely outplayed me.”
She already became the first Canadian man or woman to make a Grand Slam final and is a good bet to be the first to win one.
“I never had any Canadian influences,” she said. “I looked up to the best: Steffi Graf, Maria Sharapova. Any great champions, I looked up to.”
That makes sense, since no champion tennis players were ever Canadian, let alone “great” champions. With the attention she has been gaining, her popularity has been soaring.
As if she needed any more fans — Bouchard has more than 314,000 Twitter followers — she said if she had the power, she would make the Open more fan friendly.
“I would allow fans to [walk to their seats] in between [changeovers] every game and allow them to be louder and more into it,” she said. “I think it would be more fun for them, and I think tennis is a sport where maybe the fans are kind of told to be the most quiet and obey the rules.
“So I think it be would just be more fun and appealing to fans if they could get into it if they want to, and if they could kind of come in as soon as they want to without waiting for so long. I remember being a fan and having to wait two games. It’s tough.”
Bouchard will face Sorana Cirstea of Romania in the second round. It will be a tough road for her to advance to the semis as she could face Kvitoa in the semis and Serena Williams in the final.
“I was talking with my coach, and if I have a chance to be in another final, at least I know what it feels like,” she said. “I kind of have that little bit experience. You know, I would maybe take my time a little bit more, try not to be rushed by the occasion, you know, try anything to kind of stay in the match.”