Montreal's Eugenie Bouchard in Australian Open Semifinals

[EagerBeaver]

To answer my own question, I found an interview with Eugenie Bouchard in English, and she totally sounds like an Anglo Canadian to my ears:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu3DfHH3UdE

 

[cloudsurf]

According to Quebec language laws she would not have been allowed to attend English school unless one or both her parents had gone to English school as kids.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Cloudsurf, she must have had an English parent because this girl clearly went to English schools and speaks the King's English. I would assume it must be her mother who married a French Canadian man named Bouchard.

I wonder if she will nevertheless be accepted by the Quebecoise as one of their own.

 

[The Snark]

Although it sounds like she has a French given name, she and her sister were named after the daughters of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson: Eugenie and Beatrice. Her mother (who is an anglophone of Irish descent) says that she prefers the English pronunciation of her name and likes for it to be spelled without an accent.

In the interview you linked to, her dad has the accent of a typical Anglo Montrealer--either he's completely bilingual or he speaks English better than French. He's owns a financial consulting firm in Westmount.

Eugenie, on the other hand, seems to have picked up a slight American accent, which would make sense since she's spent most of her life in Florida.

EB: Westmount High School has classes for students from grades 7 to 11 (Sécondaire 1-5, as we say here), so it's quite possible she only attended the school when she was a young teenager.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Snark, Eugenie sounds decidedly Anglo-Canadian in that interview. She also seems like an intelligent girl.

In an interesting development, the top 3 seeds in the women's draw are all out, with #2 Victoria Azarenka getting eliminated in the quarters. This means that if Eugenie can upset Li Na (a cagey veteran who has been in the Australian semis 4 o the last 5 years), she has a shot to win the Australian Open. She is bigger than Li Na and may be able to overpower her, but she has to keep unforced errors down, which is always a problem with younger players in big high pressure matches.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Poor Justin Bieiber....

Prior to her match last night, he texted Genie Bouchard to wish her good luck and htat he was cheering for her.

Then a few hours after the match, he was pulled over by cops and charged with DUI, street racing and resisting arrest. They just showed his bail hearing on CNN.

The poor kid sure took Genie's loss to Li Na very hard, it seems! Free Bieber!!

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/23/showbiz/justin-bieber-arrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

 

[EagerBeaver]

Either there is an issue with Eugenie's foot speed and court coverage, she was playing way too deep, or Li Na really had her crossed up, because Li hit cross court winner after cross court winner on which Eugenie was dead flat footed. The better pros can consistently hit deep shots accurately, and if you play behind the baseline like Eugenie did, you are dead meat. What Andre Agassi use to do is play up and take the shots early. If you do not have the ability to do that, you are vulnerable to deep cross court shots like what Li Na hit.

Eugenie is playing without a coach and this performance will change that. She should hire Andre Agassi.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Li Na was the 4th seeded while Bouchard was 30th or higher. People feel to realize that Li Na is one hell of a tennis player, and covers a lot of court & is a great volleyer.

Bouchard was coached to play the way she did last night. It was a strategy requested by her coach, Nick Saviano. The mistake may have been not to go to Na's forehand more. Na's double-handed backhand was a deadly weapon all match long, and it was surprising that Bouchard didn't seem to grasp this. Or maybe she did and couldn't help herself but to hit the ball constantly it seemed to Na's left side. But give Na credit: she's one hell of a tennis player.

 

[EagerBeaver]

She played too deep and was vulnerable to Li Na's volleys and did not even move on a few of them. I read that she was playing without a coach and when you keep getting beaten with winners on the same shots it is a sign that no adjustments are being made. It could be that she does not have the speed or reflexes needed to play closer to the net to cut off these volleys. But Li Na hit some deep volleys right on the corners and Bouchard looked like she was way out of position and had no shot and did not even make an effort to try and return the shots. Andre Agassi would play closer to the net and rifle returns down the line that would stun his opponent. She needs to be a little bit more like Agassi and best way to do that is hire him as coach.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I read that she was playing without a coach ......

Well you heard wrong. She's currently coached by tennis guru Nick Saviano, who was in Australia and at courtside with her. He rarely travels with his pupils, but told the media that she's such a special talent that he tries to follow her to the major events. Previously, she was coached by former tennis star Nathalie Tauziat from France.