TENNIS WIMBLEDON 2014 – 28th of June. E. Bouchard d. A. Petkovic 6-3, 6-4. An interview with Eugenie Bouchard
Q. What are your thoughts about your match? How did you feel about your level of play?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I think I played well today. Even though it was straight sets, it was definitely a tough battle. I knew to expect that from her.
It’s always tough with a long rain delay during the match. But it’s the same for both girls.
I just tried to relax a bit. I’m happy that I was able to close out the match with my serve, being aggressive, taking it early as usual.
Q. How do you relax during that rain delay?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: It’s always tough, you know. I really try to conserve energy because I want to give it all on the court.
You try to eat, you know, depending on when you’re going to play, but you never know exactly.
But the rain is part of the Wimbledon experience. I think we’ve been lucky so far with it. We were bound to get a little bit of rain. You have to have rain to go through Wimbledon.
Q. So we could hear your coach saying, Every point, Genie. Why was it important to focus on that aspect of the game?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, I think it’s something that helps me on the court to stay in the moment and not worry about the score too much or think about the future or the past. It helps me concentrate on what I need to do. I focus on how I want to play the next point.
I think about picking my targets, how I want to construct the next point. That’s all I can really do in that moment, is play that point.
Q. What rituals or superstitions do you have surrounding a match either before or during?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I don’t have any superstitions. I like to say I’m superstitious about not being superstitious. I think whether you have two or three eggs in the morning, that won’t affect what happens on the court. It’s really what you do on the court that matters.
I have, of course, my professional routines of practicing, stretching afterwards, all that fun stuff. But nothing besides that. You know, I just go and try my best.
Q. What is the story behind what you brought with you today?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: What is this (laughter)? I actually did TV stuff before press, which was different today. I visited the Japanese set, and they were very kind and generous people, the Japanese. They gave me a Teddy bear and a Japanese traditional kimono. I thought, well, why not, I’ll wear it. Of course any stuffed animals I get, I bring with me on the rest of my press trip. I thought I’d change it up a bit.
Q. Jim Parsons was there to support you. How did you meet him?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: It’s a random pairing, right?
Well, it’s been a year about since we’ve been in contact. Since then he’s watched pretty much every match he could watch or else he would follow on live scores. He’s emailed me after every single match I’ve played.
He’s more positive than all of my team combined. So it’s a refreshing change to get a nice email with exclamation marks and smiley faces.
I’m such a big fan of his show. He says he’s such a big fan of me. So it’s really cool that he’s here to finally watch me live.
We talk about, you know, the mental aspect in tennis. He says how it’s similar to him acting. He has to be in the moment on set and all these things. It’s interesting to see how similar the mentality is in different careers.
Q. You were pointing and laughing at something at the net.
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I asked her if she heard this lady coughing during the match. There was this lady that was really coughing a lot. She was like, I know, I thought she was dying. I was like, I know, I wanted to say something to the umpire, like maybe she should leave and get help.
I mean, it was kind of distracting. We were also both like, What’s going on?
I think she finally left in the end. Yeah, we both kind of almost felt bad, like is she okay? I think she’s fine now. Well, I don’t know for sure.
Q. It’s been like six months with the stuffed animals. How many do you have and what are you doing with them?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I have to go and count. I mean, for sure over 50 because sometimes I get multiple after matches. Although at Wimbledon, maybe they’re not allowed to throw things on court. I’m going to go with that since they haven’t thrown me any on court.
But I’m going to do something cool with it. Just wait and see. It will be something cool.
Q. Historic day for Canada in tennis. Does that mean anything to you?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: It’s cool to make history. I’ve made Canadian history a few times. To add another one, that’s cool.
I’m always focused on trying to do the best I can. I don’t want to stop here just because I’ve achieved something new. I have worldwide goals. I just want to keep going forward.
Q. You broke her serve a ton of times today. You kind of broke her mentally with all that aggression.
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I think it’s important. I like to say I try to control with my serve. When she starts the point, I want to try to control as soon as I can as well. Sometimes it can be tricky on grass.
She served a few good games as well. Whenever I have a little chance, I always try to take it. That’s what the great champions do. That’s what I strive to do, is take every chance I can.
Q. So many players talk about the dream-like quality of getting deep into Wimbledon. What is it like for you in that regard?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, I wouldn’t consider myself deep into Wimbledon at this stage. I’m into the second week, which is great. But, you know, I want to go so much further. At the same time I’m focused on one match at a time.
But, of course, Wimbledon is probably the most prestigious tournament in the world. It’s the one everyone wants to do well at. It’s just inspiring being here on the grounds, walking around. I get chills down my spine. So does Jim. We’ve talked about it.
It’s a special place to be here and I would love to stay a really long time.
Q. It’s appropriate that you’re making a big bang, I guess.
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: That was a really corny joke. God.
