Montreal, July 3, 2014 – Eugenie Bouchard (Westmount, QC) became the first Canadian in history to reach a Grand Slam singles final on Thursday at Wimbledon thanks to a 7-6(5), 6-2 victory over world no. 3 Simona Halep of Romania.
Bouchard was broken at 1-1 in the opening set, but immediately broke Halep’s serve in the next game to even the score. Halep rolled her ankle in the game. She received treatment from the trainer and was able to continue. Bouchard played offensive tennis in the tiebreak to take a one set lead after one hour of play. She carried the momentum into the second set, which she won comfortably after finally converting her sixth match point chance. The 20-year-old advances to her first Grand Slam final on her third try after coming up short in the semifinals of the Australian Open and Roland-Garros. She has more Grand Slam victories than any WTA player this season with 16. Bouchard will be ranked no. 7 on Monday. If she wins Wimbledon, she will be ranked no. 6.
In Saturday’s championship match, Bouchard will face world no. 6 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic who defeated her compatriot Lucie Safarova 7-6(6), 6-1 in the other women’s semifinal. Kvitova will be trying to win her second Wimbledon title after being crowned champion on the London lawns in 2011.
