This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/03/eugenie-bouchard-simona-haslep-wimbledon

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Eugenie Bouchard breezes past Simona Halep and into Wimbledon final Eugenie Bouchard breezes past Simona Halep and into Wimbledon final
(35 minutes later)
Eugenie Bouchard stepped into the sunlight vacated by Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in this weird Wimbledon tournament by surviving a dramatic, fretful semi-final. She overcame the No3 seed Simona Halep and now takes on the 2011 champion Petra Kvitova in Saturday’s final. It is not just her heavy serve, good movement, solid ground strokes and court savvy that make Eugenie Bouchard such a dangerous tennis player. The 20-year-old Canadian showed on Thursday that it is her coolness under pressure and unscheduled distractions that sets her apart from many of her contemporaries, and gives her a decent shot of beating the 2011 champion Petra Kvitova in final.
The 20-year-old Canadian won 7-6, 6-2 in an hour and 20 minutes but might have sealed it a few minutes earlier but for a bizarre incident on her first match point, in the seventh game of the second set. The sixth seed, Kvitova – like the world No3 Simona Halep in the second semi-final – will probably start favourite, given her experience (11 Tour titles and 24 wins in 29 matches here), but it is unlikely her free-hitting opponent will be bothered.
As Halep – wrapped up like an Egyptian mummy (left thigh beforehand, left ankle after going over at the end of the fourth game) – served to stay in the tournament at 1-5 and 15-40, a fan shouted out, distracting Bouchard, who pulled away. Halep went through with the serve and the umpire ignored the Canadian’s plea to replay the point. In a post-match TV interview that had all the edge of a chat in a coffee shop, she blithely dismissed the drama of a bizarre finish and spoke with quiet confidence about winning her first slam final against a proven Tour winner four years her senior.
“It was a little crazy, I’ve never ended a match like that,” Bouchard said, although there did not appear to be any animosity between her and the Romanian because of it. “I kept my focus.” “It was a little crazy, I’ve never ended a match like that,” Bouchard said of the incident on the first of her six match points, with Halep serving at 1-5, 15-40 in the second set.
As for her first final, she said: “I’m just going to go for it. I’m probably going to have my toughest match yet. I’ve put in a lot of hard work and it’s been years in the making. I’ve had a lot of success but I always want more. As the Romanian’s arm swung towards contact, a spectator shouted from the stands and Bouchard pulled away – but the Romanian finished the serve, legally, and the chair umpire Kader Nouni ignored Bouchard’s plea to replay the point.
“It took a little bit of mental strength today, but I’m not going to give away my secrets. It’s tough work but it’s what I love. I think I can play even better than I played today. It’s cool I got to stay at Wimbledon for two whole weeks.” Halep, below her best and inconvenienced after turning her ankle in the fourth game of the match – as well as carrying a left thigh strain she picked up in the third round – held to stay in the fight but could not keep Bouchard at bay in her final service game. A big serve wide on the backhand side was the winner’s sign-off for a solid 7-6, 6-1 victory after an hour and 20 minutes.
Halep, who came to the semi-finals a little fresher, probably was the slight favourite but there was little between them until the second set. Some of the tennis was exceptional, although the standard dipped too often to describe the match as memorable. But she got the job done. “I’m just going to go for it,” she said of the final. “I’m probably going to have my toughest match yet. I’ve put in a lot of hard work and it’s been years in the making. I’ve had a lot of success but I always want more.
When Halep turned her ankle at 2-2, and had to have it heavily strapped before resuming gingerly, she was there for the taking. But Bouchard either missed the obvious – moving her stricken opponent around the court at every opportunity – or found it tough to do against the hard, flat ground strokes of her opponent. “It took a little bit of mental strength today, but I’m not going to give away my secrets. It’s tough work but it’s what I love. I think I can play even better than I played today.
Either way, Halep came through the mishap because the Canadian hit too many balls into her forehand zone. By the time Halep was steady again on two feet, they were back on level terms. There was nothing in the match all the way to the end of the set. “It’s cool I got to stay at Wimbledon for two whole weeks. It’s not a surprise to me. I expect to be in these finals.”
Remarkably (or not, come to think of it), Halep was winning a higher percentage of points on her second serve than her first (61-52), but her shot selection and court management were stretching Bouchard across the baseline in nearly every exchange. For someone not long out of her teens (she won the junior title here only two years ago and one of her friends in the game is Laura Robson, herself a junior prodigy), she talks with the assurance of someone who has been on the tour for years and plainly enjoys the limelight.
There was more drama midway through the tie-break – with Halep 3-2 up and about to serve – when a spectator collapsed and required medical attention. After she had been helped away from court, Halep saved a set point before Bouchard hit the winner on the hour. It is as if she always expected to be famous – and always expects to win. “I totally feel like I belong,” Bouchard said. “I want to make my own history.”
The first proper break of the match went to Bouchard for 2-1 in the second when Halep struck her fourth double fault, and the contest shifted further her way after a regulation hold when the world No3 erred on her forehand. Her battle with Halep, who has moved with impressive swiftness through the rankings over the past 18 months, was riddled with incident. First, Halep turned her ankle in the fourth game, requiring courtside strapping, and she never properly regained full and free movement – although Bouchard did not make the most of her injury.
When Bouchard netted a backhand to hand Halep break point, the match briefly bubbled back to life. Surely she could not blow it from here? She did not. A good serve on the backhand side was too good for Halep. That, in part, was due to Halep’s tenacity as they stood and traded booming shots from the baseline all the way up to the tie-break, when a spectator collapsed and play was halted. “It’s pretty tough to stop in the middle of a tie-break,” Bouchard said later. “It messes up the rhythm.”
So she meets Kvitova after a tense examination against an excellent opponent with enough drama to fill a Shaftsbury Avenue playhouse. When they resumed, Halep led 3-2 with her serve to come, Bouchard clipped the net for a point then hit the winner on the hour. However, the second set was nowhere near as competitive as Halep wilted visibly. She said later the prospect of having to win two sets while carrying two injuries drained her at the end of a tough fortnight.
This has been a tumultuous women’s tournament. Serena Williams imploded, physically and mentally, in public; Maria Sharapova, red-lining like a good Russian, had to be levered out in the fourth round by Angelique Kerber, who then fell to Bouchard.
So, there at the finish is a cool young Canadian, a Justin Bieber fan happy to joke about taking marriage proposals on Twitter, unfazed about sharing a table with her hero Roger Federer – “I’ve met him before,” she reminded a questioner – at the champion’s dinner on Sunday night. Bouchard, without doubt, is already a star.