Quebec's Eugenie Bouchard set to play final tournament at National Bank Open
Quebec's Eugenie Bouchard is set to play her final tournament at the National Bank Open on Monday, as the premier Montreal tennis tournament begins.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
3 hours ago
- Global News
‘I felt like the old Genie': Bouchard extends career with first-round win at NBO
Eugenie Bouchard's retirement will have to wait. The former world No. 5 — and first Canadian woman to contest a Grand Slam final in the open era — upset Colombia's Emiliana Arango 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in the first round Monday night at the National Bank Open, extending her tennis career for at least one match. 'I told my family that if I won the tournament, I would come out of retirement,' she said from centre court. 'I felt like the old Genie out there.' Bouchard, who also earned her 300th singles win, announced on July 16 that she would hang up her racket at the end of her hometown event. The 31-year-old from Westmount, Que., rose to prominence with a sensational season in 2014. At only 20, she reached the Wimbledon final, played in the Australian Open and French Open semifinals and won her only WTA title. Story continues below advertisement Bouchard never returned to that level in a short-lived run among the best in tennis, but for one night at least, she resembled her old self — striking the ball with flair and painting the lines with forehand winners. 'I woke up this morning just telling myself, look I can't control the result, I just want to have a good attitude, have good fight and try to feel good with my shots, feel good with my game,' she said. 'No matter what happens, I wanted to walk off the court having enjoyed that gritty battle. 'I enjoyed every second of it.' Now ranked 1,062nd, Bouchard has moved away from the pro tennis circuit in recent years, spending more time on the PPA Pickleball Tour, where she ranks 12th in singles. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Knowing it could be her last dance, fans mostly filled IGA Stadium, welcoming Bouchard with loud applause when she stepped on the court and cheering her on — with mixed chants of 'Let's Go Genie!' and 'Allez Eugenie!' — with every point. Bouchard could feel the crowd's energy running through her. Sometimes a little too much. When Bouchard broke the 82nd-ranked Arango twice in the decisive third set — first with a forehand, then from the Colombian's missed volley — to build a 5-1 lead, she described the feeling as an 'out-of-body' experience. Story continues below advertisement 'The crowd was so noisy that I didn't feel my body for 30 seconds,' she said. 'And I lost the game after that. It didn't help me at the time.' Arango broke back with Bouchard serving for the match to make it 5-2, but the Canadian went up 40-love in the ensuing game. Arango then sent her forehand wide on Bouchard's second match point. The local favourite held her hands above her head in disbelief, blew kisses to the crowd, and later told a shouting fan 'I love you, too!' 'It was electric out there,' Bouchard said. 'I'm so proud of how I competed and stayed focused throughout the whole match and fought. It was a physical battle, a mental battle, and it just felt amazing to play in Montreal in front of everyone.' Bouchard will take on 17th seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the second round Wednesday night. She came out with flashes of her attacking style, pushing Arango out of position with a dangerous backhand before hitting a forehand winner to go up 1-0 in the first set. After holding serve to go up 5-4, Bouchard earned double breakpoint and hit a forehand winner down the line to take the set. 'I know that I have good tennis, but I didn't know if I could show it today,' she said. 'I put effort into practice recently and I really wanted to have a good performance. So I knew I could do that, but it depended on whether I could stay in the game mentally and not be in my emotions or think about all the things that were around this game and around this tournament. Story continues below advertisement 'I'm proud I was able to do that. I still have my focus.' Bouchard's momentum didn't carry into the second set as Arango broke her three times to comfortably force a third. Then she got it back. Also on Monday, Canada's Kayla Cross, Ariana Arseneault and Carson Branstine dropped out of the NBO after the first round. Cross let a one-set lead slip away in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia, and Arseneault of Richmond Hill, Ont., fell 6-4, 6-2 to Japan's Naomi Osaka. Branstine, who grew up in California but represents Canada through family ties in Toronto, pushed former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari to three sets, but ultimately dropped the two hour, 23-minute match 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. Toronto's Victoria Mboko, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., and Vancouver's Rebecca Marino advanced to the second round with wins Sunday. Andreescu's status for the remainder of the tournament is unclear after she hurt her left ankle on match point against Czechia's Barbora Krejcikova.
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
‘I felt like the old Genie': Bouchard extends career with first-round win at NBO
Eugenie Bouchard of Canada celebrates after defeating Emiliana Arango of Colombia during her first round match at the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Montreal on Monday, July 28, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov MONTREAL — Eugenie Bouchard's retirement will have to wait. The former world No. 5 — and first Canadian woman to contest a Grand Slam final in the open era — upset Colombia's Emiliana Arango 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in the first round Monday night at the National Bank Open, extending her tennis career for at least one match. 'I told my family that if I won the tournament, I would come out of retirement,' she said from centre court. 'I felt like the old Genie out there.' Bouchard, who also earned her 300th singles win, announced on July 16 that she would hang up her racket at the end of her hometown event. The 31-year-old from Westmount, Que., rose to prominence with a sensational season in 2014. At only 20, she reached the Wimbledon final, played in the Australian Open and French Open semifinals and won her only WTA title. Bouchard never returned to that level in a short-lived run among the best in tennis, but for one night at least, she resembled her old self — striking the ball with flair and painting the lines with forehand winners. 'I woke up this morning just telling myself, look I can't control the result, I just want to have a good attitude, have good fight and try to feel good with my shots, feel good with my game,' she said. 'No matter what happens, I wanted to walk off the court having enjoyed that gritty battle. 'I enjoyed every second of it.' Now ranked 1,062nd, Bouchard has moved away from the pro tennis circuit in recent years, spending more time on the PPA Pickleball Tour, where she ranks 12th in singles. Knowing it could be her last dance, fans mostly filled IGA Stadium, welcoming Bouchard with loud applause when she stepped on the court and cheering her on — with mixed chants of 'Let's Go Genie!' and 'Allez Eugenie!' — with every point. Bouchard could feel the crowd's energy running through her. Sometimes a little too much. When Bouchard broke the 82nd-ranked Arango twice in the decisive third set — first with a forehand, then from the Colombian's missed volley — to build a 5-1 lead, she described the feeling as an 'out-of-body' experience. 'The crowd was so noisy that I didn't feel my body for 30 seconds,' she said. 'And I lost the game after that. It didn't help me at the time.' Arango broke back with Bouchard serving for the match to make it 5-2, but the Canadian went up 40-love in the ensuing game. Arango then sent her forehand wide on Bouchard's second match point. The local favourite held her hands above her head in disbelief, blew kisses to the crowd, and later told a shouting fan 'I love you, too!' 'It was electric out there,' Bouchard said. 'I'm so proud of how I competed and stayed focused throughout the whole match and fought. It was a physical battle, a mental battle, and it just felt amazing to play in Montreal in front of everyone.' Bouchard will take on 17th seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the second round Wednesday night. She came out with flashes of her attacking style, pushing Arango out of position with a dangerous backhand before hitting a forehand winner to go up 1-0 in the first set. After holding serve to go up 5-4, Bouchard earned double breakpoint and hit a forehand winner down the line to take the set. 'I know that I have good tennis, but I didn't know if I could show it today,' she said. 'I put effort into practice recently and I really wanted to have a good performance. So I knew I could do that, but it depended on whether I could stay in the game mentally and not be in my emotions or think about all the things that were around this game and around this tournament. 'I'm proud I was able to do that. I still have my focus.' Bouchard's momentum didn't carry into the second set as Arango broke her three times to comfortably force a third. Then she got it back. Also on Monday, Canada's Kayla Cross, Ariana Arseneault and Carson Branstine dropped out of the NBO after the first round. Cross let a one-set lead slip away in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia, and Arseneault of Richmond Hill, Ont., fell 6-4, 6-2 to Japan's Naomi Osaka. Branstine, who grew up in California but represents Canada through family ties in Toronto, pushed former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari to three sets, but ultimately dropped the two hour, 23-minute match 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. Toronto's Victoria Mboko, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., and Vancouver's Rebecca Marino advanced to the second round with wins Sunday. Andreescu's status for the remainder of the tournament is unclear after she hurt her left ankle on match point against Czechia's Barbora Krejcikova. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2025. By Daniel Rainbird
National Post
4 hours ago
- National Post
Jamie Sarkonak: Hockey Canada judge believed in truth, not 'believe all women'
Article content She didn't leave happy, though: towards the end, McLeod asked her if she had STDs, and whether she was going to be leaving soon, which she felt was rude. E.M. also testified that McLeod also seemed annoyed at her when she returned to the room to search for a lost ring; she took an Uber home and was found crying in the shower by her mother, who 'took it upon herself' to report a sexual assault to police. Article content E.M. later explained to the court that her actions were driven by fear — fear that she never mentioned until she filed a civil suit against Hockey Canada, four years after the fact. Her mind 'separated' from her body to cope, she claimed. The judge didn't buy her story: important details had changed over time, and E.M.'s own concept of truth was uncomfortably fuzzy. Plus, E.M. initially told police that she didn't think the men would have physically forced her to stay. Article content The judge didn't hypothesize the complainant's actual feelings about what happened, but I suspect E.M. was quite miserable. She may have felt shame and regret for cheating on her boyfriend, as the defence argued during the trial. The little oral sex that was had was awkward and not erotic at all. The STD question may have felt like an accusation. Article content Article content Pop culture tells women that consensual sex is a neutral to empowering act, and good feminists will tell their friends that there's nothing to be ashamed about in sex. Slut shaming, we all knew in the good year 2018, was bad. But missing from that intense belief in female agency was the other side of the coin: that women can consent to something and wish they hadn't. Article content And certainly, the men regret it too. Their evidence suggested they took care to ensure consent was given at the time, and even that wasn't enough to keep an investigation from pausing, perhaps snuffing out, their NHL careers. McLeod and Foote were put on indefinite leave last year by the New Jersey Devils, as was Hart by the Philadelphia Flyers and Dubé by the Calgary Flames. And in 2022, Formenton may have lost out on a new contract with the Ottawa Senators due to the allegations; he played in Sweden until the charges were laid in 2024, and now works in construction. As for the future of these five men, the ball is still in the Ontario Crown's court. Prosecutors will have to decide in the next month whether to appeal for another shot at securing convictions; there's still a way this can drag out for years. Article content Supporters of E.M. will say the acquittals amount to a terrible outcome for women and sexual assault survivors, but they're the opposite. If sexual assault is to be taken seriously, it needs to mean something. It's to the actual victims' benefit that Carroccia didn't bend the rules to acrobatically extend the concept of sexual assault to new frontiers of apparently regretful intercourse, as courts have done in the past; doing so would have cheapened the concept to dollar store levels. Article content So, now what? After the decision was read, E.M.'s lawyer, Karen Bellehumeur, immediately took to calling for reform. 'While the accused's rights are important, those protections should not come at the expense of survivors' well-being,' she told a media scrum late Thursday. She expressed frustration with the fact that E.M. had to testify for nine days and was subject to 'insulting, unfair, mocking and disrespectful' cross-examination. 'She's really never experienced not being believed like this before.' Nine days of careful scrutiny is a very modest ask when a man is facing jail for an apparently consensual act that didn't pass the initial police sniff test. Article content
