OMNIUM BANQUE NATIONALE

July 28, 2025

Eugenie Bouchard

Press Conference

E. BOUCHARD/E. Arango

6-4, 2-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Genie, congratulations.

EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: A tough match, but what are your thoughts? How was it to have the crowd behind you today?

EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, it was electric out there. I had so much fun. I'm so proud of how I competed and stayed focused throughout the whole match and fought.

So, yeah, it was a physical battle, a mental battle, and it just felt amazing to play in Montreal in front of everyone.

THE MODERATOR: English questions, please.

Q. Was it the way you imagined?

EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I didn't know what to expect. You know, 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 feel good with my shots, feel good with my game.

No matter what happens, I wanted to walk off the court having enjoyed that kind of gritty battle, and it definitely turned into one of those battles. I enjoyed every second of it. I guess not really what I expected. I didn't know what to expect, but a happy result.

Q. You said on the court that you felt like the old Genie. What was it that felt like the old Genie?

EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I think coming back to Montreal, you know (laughing). I had these visions of like when I've played here in the past and just good feelings on that court with that crowd. It just really brought me back to some very nice memories I've had here over the years.

And, also, just the tennis habits kind of kicked back in. I haven't played in front of a crowd like that in a while or a big match like that in a while. I really tried to be disciplined with my focus.

Then all my habits, my between-point habits, my changeover habits, that kind of came back. I don't really use those in pickleball, so it's been a while, and I'm a little rusty with them, but they were there. It was still inside me (smiling).

Q. Have you thought about Bencic at all?

EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I've thought about it a little bit since the match. She's obviously a great player. It's funny, I played here in Toronto ten years ago, and then she ended up winning the tournament.

So, yeah, I know it will be a crazy tough match. I'll probably do stuff in practice tomorrow, kind of thinking about playing against her. She loves to take it early, change direction. So I've had some battles against her, so I'm looking forward to it.

Q. You were saying you managed to stay focused, but what were the nerves like? Was there a feeling of like, Oh, my God, this might be the last one?

EUGENIE BOUCHARD: It's interesting. I always knew, of course, if I lost, it would be the last one be, but as soon as I got on the court, I really tried to take it like a regular match and really emphasize, like, the focus and just telling myself what I wanted to do each point.

I'm blocking out all the kind of consequences, and I'm, like, Okay, I'll deal with all that stuff after, let me just play tennis and enjoy the toughness of what playing a WTA match is, because it's tough out there.

You know, you have to kind of enjoy that pain, and so I did. Then the crowd really was helpful in terms of motivating me and giving me energy, but at the same time, it's almost -- it can be a point where it's almost so much that it can help me -- it can make me lose my focus or I don't want to get kind of too kind of excited or too high because you still have the rest of the match to play.

So there were definitely moments where I had to kind of almost block out the noise and just pretend it was a normal point that just happened and just keep going because the crowd was very loud out there, and I really, really appreciated it.