One of the most popular tennis stars in the world, Eugenie Bouchard is someone who is always in the spotlight. But how well do fans really know the Canadian superstar who drops jaws both on and off the pitch? Ever since Maria Sharapova thrust herself into the limelight after winning Wimbledon as a teenager, tennis received a 21st century superstar. From then on Maria Sharapova became not just the covergirl of many popular magazines but also the poster girl of many little girls around the world who aspired to play tennis.

In Montreal, Canada one such girl was Eugenie Bouchard. Before becoming the apple of the eye of the maple loving country, Genie (as she is popularly known) began her tennis journey aged 5 and began competing soon after. From idolizing Sharapova to becoming a role model to little girls herself, Genie has had a pretty entertaining life. While her tennis career has seen as many ups and downs as a roller coaster ride in an amusement park, her life beyond the court has been quite interesting as well.

A genuine sweetheart off the court, a fierce competitor on it and someone who doesn’t like to mince her words (Ask Maria!); almost everything Genie Bouchard does becomes a tabloid story instantaneously. Despite all the attention, here are 15 things about the Canadian superstar her fans probably weren't aware of. PS – As mentioned before these are things that aren’t too well known about Genie Bouchard. Hence, this list wouldn’t include more popular stories like her reluctance to shake hands with opponents before games at the Fed Cup.

15 Sister, Sister

Despite being about 6 minutes younger than her twin sister Beatrice, Genie is the tallest of her 3 sisters by about 4 inches. ‘The giant of the family’ as she calls herself. Apart from being the sisters one of the biggest tennis stars in the world, both of Genie’s sisters are accomplished individuals themselves.

Beatrice Bouchard is a public figure who is a very popular social media influencer.

With an Instagram following of over 256k, it is probably fair to say that she has quite a lot of fans herself. The younger and lesser known Bouchard sister is no slouch either. Charlotte is a women empowerment activist in her native Canada. Fame and fortune apart, who do you think is the best looking Bouchard?

14 Bazinga!

Fans of the hit TV sitcom The Big Bang Theory will be the first ones to get the reference to Sheldon Cooper’s favourite word – Bazinga. But did you know that Canada’s blonde beauty Genie Bouchard is one of those fans too?

Genie has been very vocal about her fondness for the hit TV show in the past.

Also, actor Jim Parsons who plays Sheldon Cooper has developed a fine friendship with Genie as he follows her career in the same way that she does his. Imagine being a Big Bang fan and becoming friends with Jim Parsons in real life; seems surreal doesn’t it? Well that’s why there’s only one Eugenie Bouchard.

13 Social Media Sweetheart

It’s been nearly over a year since Genie Bouchard made every sports fan’s dream come true by going on a date with a fan who tweeted to her. John Goehrke was the real MVP of Super Bowl 2017 and a year later, it sure seems like things are going in the right direction with Genie and her super-fan. Apart from that, Genie’s social media game is genuinely right up there with the best. Be it congratulating a colleague or showing off a new endorsement deal, trust in Genie to add her own spin to what would otherwise be a pretty stale tweet. Is it fair to call her a social media queen, already? Her sister Beatrice is also very active on social media, as she uses her presence to promote various brands.

12 What’s In A Name

In an interview with Outside The Ball, Eugenie Bouchard revealed the secret correlation between the names of her siblings and the royal family of Britain. A ‘Royal Fanatic’ as she called her mother, Genie stated that all of her siblings (i.e twin sister Beatrice, younger sister Charlotte and younger brother William) were actually named in relation to their royal namesakes across the Atlantic.

Beatrice and Eugenie are named after Prince Andrew’s daughters – the Princesses of York; younger sister Charlotte is named after Princess Charlotte and youngest brother William is named after Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. While her mother Julie definitely isn’t the only mom to name her kids after the prince and princesses of Britain, thanks to her the Canadian sports world got their own royal family.

11 Bond With The G.O.A.T

It is a little known fact that Genie Bouchard shares a strong bond with Roger Federer, who is popularly known as the G.O.A.T of tennis on social media. What brought about this friendship, you might ask? That’s what makes it even more adorable.

As a father of twin girls, Roger and Genie hit it off instantly.

They discussed the beauty and the trouble of having twins and being a twin in today’s world. With the closeness of the Bouchard sisters out there for the world to see, it is fair to say that Roger is receiving some top-notch advice when it comes to the topic of twins and how to raise them to be successful.

10 Puppy Love, Not!

While a majority of the world’s heart melts at the sight of a cute dog, Genie Bouchard isn’t one of that majority.

In an interview with Grand Slam, Genie goes on to reveal that dogs are the animals she is actually the most afraid of.

Well to be honest, they’re quite harmless and cute for the most part but hey, maybe she is a cat person? We probably wont know for sure what the reason for her fear of dogs is until the next interview where she talks about it. Just don't expect to see Genie in a dog park near you if you are hoping to get an autograph.

As an athlete, you always have to watch your diet. You have to eat right, sleep right and train right to stay in peak physical and mental shape for competition.

When asked, Genie Bouchard revealed her secret love for ice-cream in an interview ahead of US Open 2015.

An ice cream lover at heart, Genie goes on to tell the host of the rapid fire show known as ’15 Love’ that her favourite ice-cream flavour of all time is ‘Cookie Dough’. Not a bad choice for a cheat food if you ask me. An ice-cream lover whose favourite flavour is cookie dough might not be the most unique thing ever but maybe Genie has a lot more in common with her fans than they might have thought.

8 Brussels Sprouts

After her favourite food, Genie went on to reveal her least liked food (Brussels Sprouts) in the same interview for ’15 Love’. You can almost imagine a young Genie Bouchard throwing tantrums to avoid eating Brussels Sprouts and mother Julie Leclair doing her best to get Genie to eat the veggies. Despite looking like an angel descended from heaven on and off the court, such secrets prove that Genie is still just a girl-next-door type (albeit a supremely talented and world-renowned athlete of a girl). It is interesting to see that despite a lack of Brussels Sprouts one can still achieve fame and success in the world of sports.

7 WNBA Calling

Did you know that Canada’s favourite tennis star has some pretty commendable skills on the basketball court as well?

In an interview before the US Open, Genie revealed that apart from tennis, the sport she is really good at is basketball.

Is anyone really surprised by this? Having made the move from Canada to the US at the age of 12, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to know that Genie knows her way around the court when shooting a few hoops. At least if she doesn't figure out a way to bring her tennis game back up she can always give the WNBA a try. That is, if they would let her get a tryout. She could probably create a lot of buzz for the league come to think of it.

6 Blake Lively Obsession

Admiring beauty is natural for anyone to do. Genie Bouchard doesn’t hold back when she talks about her fondness of Gossip Girl star Blake Lively. When quizzed about who would play her in a movie, Genie answered ‘Blake Lively!’ without even having to give it any thought. While that may simply come down to her admiration of the Green Lantern actress’ acting chops, Genie took it a step further in another interview called ‘15 – Love’. In the rapid fire segment of the show, the host asks Genie who would she like as her ideal celebrity doubles partner. Without the slightest hesitance, Genie answered again – ‘Blake Lively!’ It’s probably fair to say that tennis’ Canadian bombshell has a soft spot for Blake Lively. We hope that Ryan Reynolds needn’t lose any sleep over it.

5 Drove All Night

Canada’s sweetheart actually grew up singing songs from another Canadian sweetheart. When quizzed about her all time favourite song for a karaoke night, Genie typically had her answer ready without hesitation. A song (or rather a cover of the song) from Roy Orbison and Cyndi Lauper – Genie confidently referred to Celine Dion’s famous cover of the classic as the go to version. When asked to sing a line from the song, Genie (being Genie) confidently whipped out her rendition of the chorus singing ‘ I drove all niiight to get to you!” It is nice to see a famous athlete who can have fun and laugh at themselves, all while having great taste in music.

4 A True Belieber

It seems to be a trend, doesn’t it? Canadians showing support for each other just seems to be engrained in their culture. Well that certainly is the case and possibly more as Genie Bouchard candidly stated in an interview that her celebrity dream date would be with fellow Canadian and world famous pop-star Justin Bieber.

Did anyone else figure Genie Bouchard would be a Belieber?

We certainly didn’t! Reciprocating the love, Justin Bieber wished Genie on Twitter ahead of the next Grand Slam following that interview. Was something brewing? Did something brew? Will something brew in the future ? We will have to wait and watch.

3 Busy Lawyers

Having picked up a tennis racket at the age of 5, Genie began competing by the time she was 8. Nicknamed as ‘the chosen one’ by her siblings because of the special talent she possessed, parents – Michel and Julie decided to support their little star in every way possible. To aid her development and growth as a tennis player, Genie’s dad Michel established a limited partnership called ‘Tennis Maria’ which would support Genie’s aspiring tennis career. He (along with two investors) contributed money to the partnership in return for 10% of Genie’s future earnings as a professional tennis player. However, in August 2013, a court ruled against the partnership claiming that they do not have any legal claims since Eugenie, then aged 9, couldn’t have reasonably agreed to giving away a defined sum of her future earnings.

Her encounters with the courts however wouldn’t end there as only as recently as February 2018, Genie settled a liability suit with the USTA (United States Tennis Association) over an incident that occurred in 2015. A wet floor caused a fall after Genie had just completed a Mixed doubles match. Injuring her head due to the fall, Genie had to withdraw from the US Open and subsequent tournaments in China and Japan. Genie’s lawyers argued that her downward spiral on the Tour began after the fall and she has never reached the heights of early 2015 again.

2 A Nike Girl In An Adidas world

Something that goes unnoticed in the WTA World is the dominance of Adidas in terms of sponsorship. With 6 of the last 9 Grand Slam winners being Adidas athletes, it is fair to say that Adidas have a grip over the WTA world. Perhaps the only star that got away from the German brand is Eugenie Bouchard. Adding the glam factor to tennis, Nike have tied up Genie with a lucrative sponsorship deal, and why wouldn’t they? When you have an athlete who can pull off any attire on and off the court like Genie Bouchard, you wouldn’t want to let her get away from your brand! Genie has always been a little different from the rest of the pack, and her sponsors are no exception.

1 The Sky Is The Limit For An Air Traffic Controller

Well, what have happened if Eugenie Bouchard didn’t pick up a tennis racket at the age of 5 and go on to become a world-renowned tennis star? The 24 year old Canadian stated in an interview to the WTA that if it weren’t for tennis then most probably she would’ve been an air traffic controller for a living. Can you imagine Eugenie Bouchard on the radio guiding flights in and out of Montreal airport? We definitely can't! While not the most popular career choice, it seems like something Bouchard would do. She is always surprising people with her choices and interests, and her backup career is no different.