Don’t be fooled by the rocks that I got, I’m still Genie from the block

August 5, 2016

Twenty-two-year-old Eugenie Bouchard is the most successful tennis player from Canada and there’s still a lot of time ahead of her to build on her already great achievements that include a Wimbledon final and a career-high ranking of No.5. The blond 22-year-old has the looks now and when she was a little Montreal girl aspiring to become a tennis ace she was beyond adorable. Little Tennis Stars is my favorite section at Women’s Tennis Blog and now I’m glad to add these two childhood photos of Genie.

There’s a really interesting story about Genie’s tennis beginnings. Parents took a five-year-old Genie and her twin sister Beatrice to a children’s tennis group. The classes always started with entertaining games with balloons and hoola hoops and even though all the kids loved the light introduction, Genie found the warm-up boring and wanted to play tennis right away.

Genie recalls:

All of the kids, including my sister, loved the games, except me. I hated them, because I just wanted to hit more balls and actually play tennis. My parents were like, ‘Oh, she really wants to play tennis!’ So eventually, I started playing three times a week, then took private lessons and played my first tournament when I was 8. I loved it right away.

Although her tennis talent was obvious early on, Genie was also excellent in mathematics and science and considered becoming a doctor. Genie’s mother Julie says that her daughter was always a fighter and self-disciplined, even in her childhood:

Genie had this competitive streak and was never satisfied, she just always wanted to hit more balls. She has always been extremely disciplined in everything she did from a really young age. She’d come home from school, and I’d still be closing the front door and she would be already in her room doing her homework.

MORE CUTE CHILDHOOD PHOTOS OF GENIE BOUCHARD:

(quotes via The Globe and Mail, photos via Genie’s Twitter)