EUGENIE BOUCHARD FACES idol Maria Sharapova in the French Open semi-finals with the Canadian admitting she still has a photo of her as an eight-year-old with the Russian star.
“I have a picture with her when I was I think seven or eight years old. I guess that would be the first time. I think it was in Miami,” said the bilingual Montreal resident about the photo which has been circulating on social media.
The photo shows a shy Bouchard, in a blue T-shirt and shorts, being dwarfed by a 15-year-old Sharapova who is dressed in a prim white tennis dress.
“Yeah, I mean, you know, I looked up to her for sure,” said Bouchard, the first Canadian woman to reach the French Open semi-finals.
“At first I noticed like her cute dresses and things like that when I was young. She was No. 1 in the world and she’s won several Grand Slams, so it’s going to be a great experience for me.
“Yeah, of course as a child I looked up to her and I remember watching her in the finals of Wimbledon and, you know, thought what she was doing was so cool and I wanted to do the same thing.”
Bouchard defeated Spanish 14th seed Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 7-5 to book her semi-final place against the four-time Grand Slam winner.
