short of their first eight-game skid since March 2005. "W

MONTREAL - It was an intense week at the Bouchard household as daughter Eugenie worked her way to the Australian Open semifinals. "We were yelling like idiots," Mike Bouchard, the players father, said Thursday of his daughters stirring win over Ana Ivanovic in the quarter-finals, which made her the first Canadian to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament since Carling Bassett-Seguso in 1984. It wasnt quite as frenzied at their Westmount, Que., home two nights later, when Bouchard bowed out with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to fourth-seeded Li Na of China in the semis. "It was also exciting, but in the first set Li Na came out strong and Genie was a little nervous," he said. "I felt for her, but she came back well in the second set. Overall, it was an excellent tournament." Bouchard stole the show in Melbourne, where a dozen or so local fans formed Genies Army to cheer her on and toss her stuffed Australian animals after her wins. Several commentators spoke of Bouchard, the 2012 Wimbledon junior girls champion, being the next big thing in womens tennis and a potential future Grand Slam tournament winner. Already, her results are expected to move her from 31st into the top 20 in next weeks rankings. And it has stirred ticket sales for her next appearance on home turf. She will play for Canada against Serbia Feb. 8-9 in a Federation Cup tie at the Claude Robillard Centre in Montreal. Eugene Lapierre of Tennis Canada, tournament director for the Montreal half of the Rogers Cup, said 500 to 600 tickets per day have been sold since Bouchards win over Ivanovic. The 4,000-seat venue will likely be sold out. And ticket sales have picked up for the womens Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium next summer, which is rare in January. "It will drag a lot of people out to come and watch her play," said Lapierre. "It will be interesting to see how she makes the switch from a Grand Slam and playing in a 20,000 seat stadium to the Claude Robillard here with 4,000. But it will be a lot of fun." Canadian tennis has been on a high lately with Milos Raonics rise into the top 10 in the world on the mens side and Vasek Pospisil also climbing in the rankings. Both made the Rogers Cup semifinals in Montreal last summer and led the Davis Cup team to a first-ever semifinal appearance. "Its phenomenal what Eugenie has done," said Lapierre. "I wouldnt say she opened the gates for Canada. The boys started that last year. "But its a new era thats started with the sport of tennis in Canada. Itll be tremendous for the promotion of the game in Canada. Thats our goal at Tennis Canada — to get more kids playing the game. Everyones talking about Eugenie, and thats bound to be good for the sport." Louis Borfiga, Tennis Canadas high performance director, said Bouchard could have a similar impact to Nadia Comaneci, the Romanian who drew slews of girls to try gymnastics after her stunning performance at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Or the effect that Anna Kournikova and Maria Sharapova had on womens tennis in Russia. "It will enlarge the pool of players and that will produce more very good players," said Borfiga. "Thats the difference between Canada and countries like France and Spain — their pool of players is larger." Mike Bouchard, an investment banker, is fine with having a daughter who may be seen as a role model for young players. He doesnt even mind that she is quickly becoming a celebrity. "Its good for her," he said. "Shes put in so much work and effort. "If she can be an ambassador for tennis and help tennis grow in Canada, thats fantastic. If it becomes bigger than that — international stardom — good for her. She has a strong head. Shes well grounded, and I think shell be able to go through that unscathed." Mike Bouchard knew he had a special daughter when Eugenie was a young child. When she was 12, the family the moved to Florida so she could learn at an academy run by Nick Saviano, who remains her coach. She spent more than three years in Florida before returning to Montreal to work at the national tennis centre. "It was difficult to find players at her own level to play against, and we also wanted to expose her to international coaching," said Mike Bouchard. "It takes a lot of dedication. Everyone in the family chipped in." Eugenie has a fraternal twin sister Beatrice, an 18-year-old sister Charlotte and a 14-year-old brother William, so the move was a big commitment for all of them. It paid off when Bouchard became one of the worlds top junior players and then made a rapid rise in WTA rankings. The group cant go to every tournament and they elected not to go to Australia, where Eugenie lost in the qualifying tournament last year. But her father said he was tempted to jump on a plane when she reached the semifinals. "We never anticipated shed go this far in the first Grand Slam of the year, so we gathered the kids and some friends and we watched (on TV)," he said. "There was a lot of emotions when she was hitting some winners. We were screaming and laughing and encouraging her." He was a little taken aback at a bizarre question put to Eugenie by an on-court interviewer after the quarter-final. She was asked who shed most like to date. To the apparent displeasure of Genies Army, she named Canadian pop star Justin Bieber. "Youve got to get used to that if youre going to become a celebrity," Bouchard said. "I actually thought she answered pretty well. She said Justin Bieber with a question mark at the end. It was tongue in cheek." It became a little awkward when Bieber was arrested in Florida on Thursday for reportedly taking part in an early morning drag race. "I actually dont follow anything that goes on in his life," Bouchard said with a laugh. "But I did hear about that." Brandon Roy Jersey . Bryce Harper? He also came into Wednesday without a long ball and hadnt driven in a run. He was hitting .160, had nearly three times as many strikeouts as hits and was dropped to seventh in the batting order. Cheap Blazers Jerseys .I get texts: Do you know Drake? Have you met Drake? He sits there every night, he hears me cuss out the referees every night, Casey said, laughing. http://www.cheapblazersjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-nik-stauskas-jersey . -- Wide receiver Sidney Rice should be fully recovered from a torn knee ligament by the time the Seattle Seahawks start defence of their Super Bowl title, general manager John Schneider said Wednesday. Zach Collins Jersey . Bjoerndalen, who had failed to win any major race for two years before Sochi, writes in a Facebook entry that he is "full of energy and inspiration" after winning the 10-kilometre sprint and mixed relay at last months Olympics. Cheap Blazers Jerseys Authentic . Villa has already confirmed his short-term deal and the Daily Mirror reported early Tuesday that Lampard will join him as both build up match fitness ahead of moves to the new Major League Soccer franchise New York City.SALT LAKE CITY -- Nick Young gave the Lakers a reason to smile near the end of this gloomy season. Young scored a season-high 41 points and helped Los Angeles snap a seven-game losing streak with a 119-104 victory against the Utah Jazz on Monday night. The mercurial guard bounced around the court, playing full-throttle. "You have to find the joy even when you may be frustrated with the way things have been going," Young said. Coach Mike DAntoni said: "Nick is fun, a good guy in the sense that he is always laughing and smiling,". "He can get his shot off of anybody and when he gets on rolls, he uncanny in how he can score." Jodie Meeks had 23 points and Jordan Hill added 21 for Lakers, who had only eight healthy players. Alec Burks scored 22 points and Gordon Hayward had 21 points for Utah. Enes Kanter had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Trey Burke chipped in 17 for the Jazz, who have lost 10 of 11 games. The game was tied at 86 after the third quarter, and then the Lakers found their range. Los Angeles outscored the Jazz 33-18 and the Utah players heard a mix of cheers and boos as the clock expired in their last home game of the season. Los Angeles converted Utahs 18 largely unforced turnovers into 29 points and outrebounded the Jazz 21-12 in the second half. "They were turnovers that didnt give us a chance to get back and make stops. They made us pay," Utah coach Ty Corbin said. Young fought through ball denials to get off shots all over the court -- jumpers and acrobatic drives to the baskets. He yelled at the crowd and bobbed his head, flashing a variety of hand signals after swishing 3s. "Hey Swaggy P can play a little bit and I just want you people to see that. I got a future. I can do my thing, Im telling you all. Better watch out for me," Young said, referencing his self-proclaimed alter-ego. Three late misses stopped him short of his career-high of 43 points. "That was tough. It was great to have my teammates and my coach try and help me out there. I wish I had those last few shots back," Young said. In recent days, the teams were loocked in a battle for lottery seeding and a better chance at one of the top four picks in the 2014 draft.ddddddddddddThe Jazz seem to have solidified the fourth slot and may match their club-worst 24-58 record in 1979-80, the first season after the franchise moved from New Orleans to Utah. The Lakers have no reason to tank for a better lottery seed as most will be elsewhere next season. A dozen of the 15 players on the roster could be free agents, including Young if he opts out of his $1.2 million deal for next season. The Jazz started the presumed core of their future -- Hayward, Derrick Favours, Kanter, Burks and Burke -- for the third time this season but all three games have ended in late-game collapses and losses. The Lakers have already set a record for most losses in a season, the worst since the NBA went to an 82-game slate. They will miss the playoffs for the just the second time in two decades but this win stopped them short of their first eight-game skid since March 2005. "Were not last place now," Young said. "Were not quitters." DAntoni and Corbin are both rumoured to be on their way out and the game resembled a pre-season contest with porous defences, lots of broken plays and sloppy turnovers. The lack of defensive intensity did lead to excellent accuracy as the Lakers hit 55 per cent of their field goals and the Jazz shot 52 per cent from the floor. The Jazz led by as many as 13 points before the Lakers closed the half on a 19-2 run, powered by Meeks nine points. "Early on we struggled, but thats basketball. We knew we were going to make some runs," Meeks said. NOTES: A significant portion of crowd was dressed in gold and out-cheered the home crowd as the Lakers rallied to take the lead at the end of the first half and opened a big advantage in the fourth quarter. . Not one of the Lakers that started this game was in the lineup of the opening game of the season. . Burke, Burks, Kanter, Favours, Jeremy Evans, and Rudy Gobert are the only players with guaranteed contracts with the Jazz for next season. . Kendall Marshall had 2 points and 15 assists for the Lakers. 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