The shock exit of Spanish giant Rafael Nadal was not the biggest surprise of this year’s Wimbledon, instead, it is the entry of two Canadians Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic into the semi-finals. Although their rise has not been sudden, as Eugenie has reached the semi-finals of both the Australian adn French Open this year, but this is the first time that players from both men and women have gone so far in a single grand slam in the open era.
Some experts say that this is the new-era in women’s tennis as new players like Eugenie along with some others like Simona Halep, Sabine Lisicki, Alize Cornet and Angelique Kerber are challenging the might of the likes of Williams, Azarenka and Sharapova. Thanks to her consistent performance, Bouchard has finally broken into the top 10 in the WTA rankings, but is still looking for her first Grand Slam singles title.
Bouchard who defeated Kerber in the quarters will now play Halep in the semis. Both of them are now expecting a tough challenge from each other. Their last meeting was at the Indian Wells where Halep got the better of Bouchard, but on grass, experts are betting on Bouchard to come good after her performance throughout the tournament where she was hardly broke a sweat.
In the latest results in the men’s quarters, Milos Raonic beat giant killer Nick Kyrgios to reach his first Wimbledon semis. He will now though have to face the ultimate challenge of Roger Federer in the semis. Anyway the Canadians are enjoying their moment of glory in the world of tennis. Some of them are especially happy as they have clearly fared better when compared to their much illustrious neighbors.
When asked about the good performance of the Canadians this time, Raonic said their performance here at Wimbledon is really the best the Canadians have ever seen and reiterated that it is bigger than their performance at the Davis as well as the Fed Cup thanks to the bigger audience and bigger recognition.
See also: Eugenie Bouchard vs Li Na