« If I win this tournament, I won’t retire » : Bouchard’s surprise victory in Montreal delays farewell

For the final tournament of her career, Eugenie Bouchard made a triumphant return in front of her home crowd. The Canadian stunned many by defeating Colombia’s Emiliana Arango (world No 82) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in just over two hours on Monday night in Montreal.

It was her first win in almost two years – since September 2023 – and her first victory at the Canadian Open since 2016. “If I win this tournament, I won’t retire,” Bouchard said with a smile during her on-court interview, teasing the possibility of extending her farewell tour.

Once ranked as high as world No 5, the 30-year-old had only played five matches between 2024 and 2025, after stepping back from tennis to focus on a new sporting passion: pickleball. Her last appearance on the WTA Tour came in Newport earlier this summer, where she lost in straight sets to Shelby Rogers.

I tried to treat it like just another match

On Monday evening, in a gradually filling IGA Stadium, Bouchard defied expectations and embraced the crowd’s energy to overcome Arango. “I knew that if I lost, it was the end,” she later admitted in her press conference. “But I tried to treat it like just another match, reminding myself of what I wanted to do on every point and blocking out the stakes.”

The Montreal crowd responded in kind. The atmosphere built set after set, and by the third, chants of “Olé, Olé, Olé” echoed around the stands – two-thirds full but loud enough to lift the local favourite. At 5-1 in the decider, serving for the match, Bouchard admitted: “The crowd was so loud, I couldn’t feel my body for 30 seconds – and then I lost the game!”

She managed to regroup, finally converting her sixth break point of the match to seal the win and delay retirement by at least one more match.

“I love you, Genie!”

After the handshake, a voice from the crowd shouted: “I love you, Genie!” She didn’t miss a beat. “ I love you too!”, she replied, laughing.

Her next opponent will be a much tougher test: Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, former champion in Montreal (2015) and semi-finalist at Wimbledon earlier this month. That second-round clash is scheduled for Wednesday night.

The dream run may still be brief, but for now, Bouchard has given her home fans one more night to remember.

Montreal WTA 1000, other first-round results (IGA Stadium, hard, USD 5.152.599, most recent results first):

• Ann Li vs. Anna Kalinskaya
• Maya Joint vs. Leylah Fernandez
• Alycia Parks vs. Catherine McNally
• Maria Sakkari vs. Carson Branstine
• Antonia Ruzic vs. Anastasia Potapova: tuesday
• Anastasija Sevastova beat Ajla Tomljanovic: 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
• Lucia Bronzetti beat Elizabeth Mandlik (WC): 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2
• Renata Zarazua beat Katie Boulter: 6-1, 7-5
• Naomi Osaka beat Ariana Arseneault (Q): 6-4, 6-2
• Lulu Sun beat Sorana Cirstea: 6-3, 7-5
• Marie Bouzkova beat Moyuka Uchijima: 6-2, 7-6 (4)
• Eva Lys beat Leolia Jeanjean (Q): 6-1, 6-4
• Emma Raducanu beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse: 6-2, 6-4
• Anna Blinkova beat Caroline Dolehide: 6-4, 6-1
• Hanyu Guo (Q) beat Yulia Putintseva: 6-3, 6-3
• Yuliia Starodubtseva beat Yafan Wang (Q): 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-4
• Laura Siegemund (Q) beat Tatjana Maria: 7-5, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2)
• Kamilla Rakhimova (Q) beat Kayla Cross (WC): 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Rebecca Marino (WC) beat Elsa Jacquemot (Q): 7-6 (2), 6-1
• Hailey Baptiste beat Whitney Osuigwe (Q): 7-5, 6-1
• Bianca Andreescu (WC) beat Barbora Krejcikova: 6-3, 6-4
• Danielle Collins beat Viktoriya Tomova (Q): 6-3, 7-5
• Camila Osorio beat Bernarda Pera (Q): 6-3, 7-5
• Victoria Mboko (WC) beat Kimberly Birrell: 7-5, 6-3
• Veronika Kudermetova beat Cristina Bucsa (Q): 5-7, 6-2, 7-5
• Lin Zhu beat Varvara Gracheva (Q): 6-4, 7-6 (3)
• Marketa Vondrousova beat Alexandra Eala: 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
• Jessica Bouzas Maneiro beat Louisa Chirico (Q): 5-7, 7-5, 6-4
• Jaqueline Cristian beat Marina Stakusic (WC): 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
• Aoi Ito (Q) beat Katie Volynets (Q): 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
• Suzan Lamens beat Polina Kudermetova: 6-3, 4-6, 6-2