"I have been inspired by her personally in my tennis career and I know that so many more people play tennis because of her" - Eugenie Bouchard on Serena Williams
Serena Williams' farewell continues to be one of the most epic sporting moments witnessed in recent times, with fans from different walks of life voicing their views on what the legendary champion meant to the game of tennis.
Eugenie Bouchard revealed that Williams was an inspiration for her and asserted that the 23-time Grand Slam champion had "transcended the sport."
Over the course of a segment on the Tennis Channel, Bouchard, who failed to qualify for the ongoing US Open, also stated that Williams had inspired many people to play the game.
"I think everyone has been talking about how it's not just on the court of course, but off the court, as she has inspired so many people and has really transcended the sport. I mean, she has brought so much awareness. I have been inspired by her personally in my tennis career and I know that so many more people play tennis because of her and that just makes me so happy," said Bouchard.
The Canadian also added that the entire world was "lucky and happy" to see Williams' career come to an end in the manner that it finally did.
"We see it just from this past week how the entire world is talking about Serena and we are all just lucky and happy to see this career come to an end in such a nice way," she added.
When 19-year-old Bouchard was in awe of Serena Williams
Eugenie Bouchard first played Serena Williams at the 2013 Cincinnati Open when she was 19.
Bouchard took the first set but went down fighting 4-6 6-2 6-2 against a player she was in awe of as she revealed during the Pardon My Take podcast show.
The 2014 Wimbledon finalist stated that seeing the then World No. 1 on the court was like an "out-of-your-body experience" for her given that she was used to seeing the American star on TV. She added that she wasn't concerned about winning and was focusing on hitting a serve that "she's OK to return."
"The first time, especially when I played her, I looked across the net and I felt like I was looking at my TV screen because I'm so used to seeing her on TV. I was like, "Wow." I mean, it's an amazing feeling to be able to get to that place and achieve that to be able to play against her," said Bouchard, recalling the big moiment.
"And so it's just kind of one of those like out-of-your-body experiences, because you're just so used to seeing her on TV and now she's actually in front of you waiting for you to serve. I wasn't even thinking about winning at that point, I was like, "I just want to do a good enough serve that like, she's OK to return," you know what I mean," she added.
Bouchard beat Serena Williams during the course of a memorable 2015 Hopman Cup encounter. The two last met at the 2019 Australian Open, with Bouchard going down in straight sets during their second-round encounter.