It wasn’t exactly a cakewalk the first time.
Up 4-3 in the second set and facing game point, Li Na was seeking to take a stranglehold on an early-round match with a local teen qualifier at the 2012 Rogers Cup.
The qualifier patiently transferred her weight, bouncing purposefully from one foot to another while waiting for Li’s serve. On the return, she fired a forehand crosscourt to Li. Controlling the rally, the teen maneuvered Li along the baseline with her groundstrokes, eventually forcing the 2011 French Open champ into a shot on the run that found the net, tying the set at 4-4.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, that local qualifier was Eugenie Bouchard, and though she ultimately lost the hard-fought match 4-6, 4-6, it was under those lights of Uniprix Stadium in Montreal two years ago that she first put Canadian tennis fans on notice and showed us a glimpse into the future.
Tonight, just hours away from her first rematch with Li since, it’s safe to say this time will feel different for Bouchard.
If you thought Monday night’s thrilling quarterfinals at the Australian Open was a high-pressure situation for the 19-year-old from Westmount, Que., just wait says the last Canadian to reach a Grand Slam semi-final.
“When you do so well at such a young age everybody comes at you left, right and centre,” Carling Bassett-Seguso, who reached the U.S. semis in 1984 at the age of 16, told Sportsnet 590 the Fan Wednesday. “The exposure can be overwhelming.”
It seems that regardless of what happens during tonight’s semi-final, Bouchard’s world is about to change.
Sitting just one win away from reaching a Grand Slam final—something no tennis player from this country has ever achieved—Bouchard has a chance to build even further on what has already been a career-defining tournament, albeit in just her second full year on the pro tour.
“If you look at her career coming up from the juniors,” says Bassett-Seguso, who resides in South Florida where Bouchard has trained full-time since age 12, “she’s steadily come up and has been solid. She’s used to the big moment, especially recently.”
But tonight’s match won’t be easy, as Bouchard faces by far her toughest opponent since a three-set loss to Serena Williams at the Cincinnati Open last August.
Like Ana Ivanovic in Monday’s quarters, Li–the highest seed remaining in the women’s draw–enters tonight’s match with a perfect record in 2014 (10-0).
And while Bouchard’s Aussie Open run has been far from a fluke, the burden lies on Li to win as a heavy favourite heading into the match.
But Bassett-Seguso says don’t expect Bouchard to pay any mind to the pressures and the pedigree of her opponent.
“I don’t think she’s going out there thinking like that,” Bassett-Seguso explained. “When you’re in the moment you’re just focusing on the ball.”
It’s a sentiment Bouchard’s coach, Nick Saviano, was preaching in the moments immediately after the Ivanovic match, saying that Bouchard’s focus needs to be on playing her best tennis and letting the rest take care of itself.
As Bassett-Seguso put it: “She knows exactly what she needs to be doing. It’s her moment and she knows that.”
In getting this far, Bouchard has already won, securing a Top 20 ranking and staking her claim as a WTA threat going forward. But like any great athlete, for Bouchard that’s not enough. Not with a berth in the final so close. It might take the match of her life to continue this roll, but tonight Bouchard has the opportunity to serve her way into Canadian tennis history.
Bassett-Seguso summed it up nicely: “It’s going to be a fascinating match. I can’t wait to watch.”