Eugenie Bouchard has become Canada’s biggest women’s tennis star

In less than a year Westmount, Que., native Eugenie Bouchard has gone from being a relatively unknown talent – especially outside Canada – to one of the top young stars in women’s tennis.

The 19-year-old recently wrapped up her first full season on the WTA circuit and though she didn’t come away with any tournament titles, she was able to climb 115 spots in the world rankings to no. 32, where she currently sits.

Her meteoric rise up the tennis ranks is a story that should seem somewhat familiar to Canadian tennis fans.

It was less than three years ago that Milos Raonic received plenty of attention for his unexpected run at the Australian Open. Raonic, ranked 152nd at the time, won three qualifying matches to get into the main draw and advanced all the way to the round of 16 before being knocked off by David Ferrer. That performance catapulted him 60 spots in the ATP rankings and by the end of 2011 he’d become the 31st ranked men's player in the world.

Bouchard hasn’t put together that type of run in a Grand Slam yet, but she found success in some of the smaller WTA tournaments in order to give herself a boost in the rankings. She advanced to a final in Japan where she lost to Samantha Stosur and played in semifinals in both Quebec City and France.

She’s proud of how far her game has come in such as short time, but isn’t satisfied with being a fringe top-30 player.

“I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished this year, but I’ve always believed in my skill and I think it was just a matter of time for me to get to this level,” Bouchard said on a recent media conference call. “But then again I don’t want to stay here; I want to work hard in the off-season and get ready for 2014 and try to improve as fast as I can for next year.”

A large part of her success can be attributed to the mental side of her game, something she spent a lot of time focusing on over the course of the season. As a player coming fresh out of the junior circuit, Bouchard admits there was plenty to learn in terms of mental preparation and what it takes to compete on the biggest stages in tennis, against some of the best players in the world.

Experience has proved to be the best teacher for Bouchard on that front.

She was quick to recall her second-round match against Ana Ivanovic, the world no. 15 ranked player, at Wimbledon in July. While Bouchard was familiar with the All England Club, she’d won a junior title there a year earlier, fifteen minutes before her match with Ivanovic was set to begin she was informed she’d be playing on Centre Court, a first for the Canadian teen, in front of Kate Middleton’s parents nonetheless.

“You can’t play on a bigger stage than that in tennis,” Bouchard said. “It was a really special moment. I was nervous, but I was also calm and able to play really well.”

She eliminated Ivanovic in straight sets (6-3, 6-3) and refers to that victory as ‘my best match of the year.’

And Ivanovic isn’t the only top 15-ranked player that Bouchard met on the court this year. The Canadian was defeated twice by Maria Sharapova – at the French Open and Sony Open – and also lost to Serena Williams at the Western & Southern Open, though she was the first player in 10 matches to take a set from the world no. 1 ranked women’s player.

“I love playing against the big players and trying to see where my game is compared to the number one player in the world like Serena or trying to challenge Sharapova at the French Open,” she said. “It’s what I’ve dreamed of doing – playing the top players in big situations – and it’s hard. I just want to try to be able to beat them in those situations.”

Bouchard will spend most of this off-season training with her coach Nick Saviano in Florida and she says her main focus will be on continuing to improve her serve as well as her groundstrokes.

Next season will undoubtedly be about taking the next step in her career.

That’s where Raonic seemed to struggle after his sudden rise up the ATP rankings a few years ago. He spent close to a year and a half hovering in and around the top 25-30 in world before cracking the top 20 for the first time in August 2012 and the top 15 soon after.

The good news for Bouchard is time is on her side; she’s currently the youngest women’s player ranked in the top 35.

“I think there’s a lot to work on,” she said. “I think I can improve every part of my game. I just want to try and do really well every week and with that if I perform well, the rankings will come and the points will come.”