Genie Bouchard confesses she has few friends on the WTA Tour.
Sloane Stephens is one of them.
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The long-time friends revived their doubles partnership, prevailing over Gabriela Dabrowski and Yifan Xu, 6-4, 4-6, 10-6, in their Rogers Cup opener.
The swoosh stars have known each other since childhood.
Both Bouchard and Stephens spent time working with coach Nick Saviano. Bouchard said she believed Stephens would be a Top 10 player since their junior days.
"I've known her since I was 11 or 12, half of my life," Bouchard said of Stephens. "She always had a lot of talent. She always had the potential of having the results she had recently.
"I was sure it would happen someday because she has a big game and she's so powerful. I knew, even when we were young, she would become one of the top players in the world."
Their initial pairing came at Stephens' request. Bouchard said they immediately clicked on court.
"Yes, absolutely. She asked me to play," Bouchard said. "It was a bit random. I said yes. As soon as we played the first match, we had a lot of fun on the court. We were laughing a lot. It was really fun."
The former Wimbledon finalist is hoping doubles success can fuel her for a tough singles assignment.
Canadian wild card Bouchard faces 14th-seeded Elise Mertens in tonight's singles opener. The 15th-ranked Mertens reached the Australian Open semifinals and has captured three titles this season.
In their lone prior clash, Mertens demolished Bouchard, 6-2, 6-0, at the 2016 's-Hertogenbosch on grass.
"Well, I feel like you guys just keep raising and raising the expectations," Bouchard told the media in Montreal. "Look, it's a win. It's a doubles match. It was great to play a match instead of practice today.
"That's why I played doubles. But tomorrow's another day. I'm going to just have to fight and we'll see what happens."
Photo credit: Patrice LaPointe/Tennis Canada