Eugenie Bouchard is the No. 59-ranked player in the world, and the Canadian is quickly developing the best beef in tennis with former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova. On Monday Bouchard beat Sharapova at the Madrid Open and quickly took her celebration to Twitter.
Eugenie Bouchard beating Maria Sharapova adds a new chapter to their beef history
Here’s how this rivalry began.
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
The history of their beef dates back several years. Sharapova had always been somewhat of an Achilles heel for Bouchard. They met on the court three times prior to Monday, with Sharapova holding a 3-0 record in their matches. This included a win in the quarter finals of the Australian Open in 2015 and the semi finals of the 2014 French Open.
Sharapova was suspended early in 2016 for taking performance-enhancing drugs. She tested positive for “meldonium,” a legal drug in Eastern Europe, but it was added to the list of the WTA’s banned substances the prior fall. Her two-year suspension was shortened for cooperating with the WTA, and when it was announced Sharapova would return to tennis at the Madrid Open, Bouchard was not happy, saying:
“She’s a cheater, and so to me — I mean, I don’t think a cheater in any sport should be allowed to play that sport again. It’s so unfair to all the other players who do it the right way and are true. So, I just think from the WTA it sends the wrong message to young kids. Cheat and we’ll welcome you back with open arms. So I don’t think that’s right and definitely not someone I can say I look up to anymore because it’s definitely ruined it for me a little bit.”
Sharapova didn’t fire back, but instead said everything she needed to while saying nothing at all. When asked about Bouchard’s comments in April she said:
“I don’t have anything to say - I am way above that.”
When the pair met in Madrid there was no love lost. Both players clearly didn’t like each other and regardless of Sharapova saying she was “above that,” she definitely wanted to stomp Bouchard to make a point — that didn’t happen, and the pair’s post-match handshake was ice cold.
After the match Bouchard claims that the lead up was very different, and that many people in the tennis world were rooting for her and hoping she beat Sharapova to prove a point.
“I definitely had some extra motivation going into today,” Bouchard said. “I was actually quite inspired before the match because I had a lot of players coming up to me privately wishing me good luck, players I don’t normally speak to, getting a lot of texts from people in the tennis world that were just rooting for me. So I wanted to do it for myself, but also all these people. I really felt support.”
The French Open begins later this month and we can all hope these pair meet again. For now Bouchard is continuing her open condemnation of Sharapova while the former world No. 1 tries to take the high road -- but that won’t last forever. This is going to be the beef to watch in tennis this year.
