Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard made headlines earlier in the week when she revealed that the didn’t feel that the WTA Tour is the place for friendship.
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“I don't think the tennis tour is the place to have friends,” Bouchard said. “For me it's all competition. And, you know, I think it's important to, you know, just remember that we're going to play against each other in matches. It's not like we're teammates. To me, it's kind of more competitive.”
Just in case anybody was wondering, Bouchard isn’t making exceptions for Maria Sharapova. Though she idolized the four-time Grand Slam champion while growing up, the 20-year-old says she is over it at this stage of her career.
“Well, first, I mean, you know, we're not friends, so there is that,” Bouchard said on Tuesday, when asked about her relationship with the Russian. “Yeah, of course as a child I looked up to her and I remember watching her in the finals of Wimbledon and, you know, thought what she was doing was so cool and I wanted to do the same thing. For sure I respect her. But now, you know, we're in the semis of a Grand Slam, so I'm going to respect her but not put her too high on a pedestal and really just battle. That's what it's going to be.
“I will leave everything on court and just focus on myself and try my best to win.”
Bouchard, who is into her second career semifinal, will face Sharapova for the third time in her career on Thursday. The Canadian has yet to take a set from the Russian.
Even if they are not fast friends, there will always be this adorable photo, which surfaced on Twitter yesterday.