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." Wholesale Air Jordan . Beanballs were the theme Friday night as the Red Sox and Rays had another AL East rumble, with Boston earning a 3-2 victory on A. Fake Jordan . PAUL, Minn. https://www.wholesalejordanshoeschina.com/. This game was inside. Adrian Peterson was missing. The stage was set for another step toward the playoffs. Cheap Jordan From China . Wiggins, who had been seen as a contender for a podium finish in Paris, was one of about 20 riders caught near the back of the peloton with 38 kilometres to go in the 218-km flat stage from Le Mans to Chateauroux. Cheap Jordan . The 24-year-old right winger has one assist in nine games this season with the Sabres. In his career, he has three goals and six assists in 43 NHL games.Each week, TSN.ca takes a look at the top storylines in NCAA football and gives you all you need to know heading into Saturdays action to Win The Day. Arkansas RB Jonathon Williams (pictured) and Alex Collins have combined for 1818 rush yards this season. Sneaky Arkansas looks to ruin another team’s season Arkansas may not look like much on paper – or in the standings – but they play the SEC tough. The Razorbacks’ 1-5 conference record includes an overtime loss to Texas A&M, a one-point defeat to Alabama, and a one-score defeat to Mississippi State. They’re also coming off a 17-0 shutout of LSU. Will the Razorbacks play spoiler once again, this time to an Ole Miss team with still plenty to play for? While the Rebels likely have too much ground to cover in the College Football Playoff Rankings they still have an outside shot at the SEC Championship, having earlier defeated Alabama and with Mississippi State still on the schedule. Ole Miss hasn’t played since their shellacking of Presbyterian two weeks ago, and that game was preceded by two straight conference losses, so rust could be a factor for senior QB Bo Wallace and the Rebels. Rivals USC, UCLA battle for spot in PAC-12 Championship game Always slated to be an exciting game against bitter rivals, both ranked in the Top 25, UCLA-USC took on extra meaning after Arizona State fell to Oregon State last Saturday. With that loss, the Bruins and Trojans are all of a sudden battling for the division and privilege to play Oregon in the PAC-12 Championship. Having beaten Arizona State earlier in the year the Bruins control their destiny while things would get muddied if the Trojans win as they’d be in a three-way tie with both schools from Arizona. The game features an interesting individual battle as well with UCLA QB and one-time Heisman candidate Brett Hundley trying to avoid the rush of USC defensive lineman and potential first-overall draft pick Leonard Williams all game long. No. 25 Minnesota looks to keep Big 10 Championship hopes alive vs. No. 23 Nebraska The Golden Gophers are hoping to bounce on Saturday after falling by just seven points to Ohio State last week. Meanwhile, the Cornhuskers are coming off an embarrassing 59-24 loss to Wisconnsin, in which they allowed a record 408 rushing yards to Melvin Gordon.dddddddddddd While Minnesota doesn’t have one of the best running backs in the nation such as Gordon, senior David Cobb has put 180 or more rushing yards four times this season and will look to do so again the Nebraska defence. While Nebraska remains a long shot for the Big 10 championship, Minnesota controls their own destiny with a matchup looming against Wisconsin next week; making this a must-win for the Golden Gophers. You can watch this game live on TSN3 at 12pm et/9pm pt. Player to watch: Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska Widely viewed as one of the top running backs available in the 2015 NFL Draft, Abdullah struggled mightily against Wisconsin. Abdullah’s disappointing performance against the Badgers came just one week after he gained one yard on six carries while playing on a sore left knee against Purdue. If Abdullah struggles again, likely so will Nebraska. No. 15 Arizona, No. 17 Utah battle for bowl positions Both Arizona and Utah are all but ruled out of the Pac-12 championship, but will battle Saturday to keep their top-20 ranking heading into bowl season. For Utah, Arizona will be the final big test before the post-season as they travel to face Colorado (2-8) next week. Arizona, however, is hitting their toughest two-game stretch of the season with rival No. 13 Arizona State looming to close the season. If Arizona, led by true freshman quarterback Anu Solomon, can earn a victory Saturday, the Wildcats battle against the Sun Devils will be must-see TV next week. You can watch this game live on TSN3 at 3:30pm et/12:30pm pt. Notre Dame looks to right the ship against No. 24 Louisville’s backup QB In mid-October, Notre Dame was 6-0 and contender for the College Football Playoff. Now, after losing three of their last four contests, Notre Dame is sitting outside the top-25 and facing two ranked opponents to close their season. This week, Notre Dame faces a Cardinals team that has been forced to turn back to Reggie Bonnafon at quarterback after starter Will Gardner’s season came to an end in Louisville’s last game against Boston College. Led by senior Everett Golson, Notre Dame enters this game as 3.5 point favourites. ' ' '