Wimbledon pundit Eugenie Bouchard made a pointed dig at Britain's historical rule of Canada during the BBC's live coverage on Wednesday afternoon. The former tennis star, who is a BBC pundit for the first time this year, joined Clare Balding and Anne Keothavong in the studio on Henman Hill.
Canada Day Comment Sparks Reaction
Balding began the segment by saying: "Genie, happy Canada Day." July 1 is a public holiday traditionally celebrated as Canada Day, the birthday of Canada, marking when it was allowed to form its own government in 1867. Before that, Britain ruled Canada, and sovereign ties were not completely severed until 1982.
Bouchard replied: "Thank you. I wore red in honour and I've seen a few Canadian flags out in the grounds. Thank you for letting us become independent so many years ago." Balding chuckled and said: "You're welcome."
Canadian Representation at Wimbledon
There is Canadian representation in the men's draw on Wednesday as No.3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime takes on Dino Prizmic on Court 1. The 25-year-old beat Alexander Shevchenko in straight sets in round one but faces a tough draw in the same half as Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner.
"I do sometimes look at the draw with my team or other players in the locker room," Auger-Aliassime said. "We kind of look at the draw and we think, 'Oh, this guy is playing really good. I'm calling quarters for this guy or semis for this guy.' I haven't now dissected the whole draw so I can't even tell you what my bet would be for the other side of the draw. But a lot of quality obviously everywhere in the draw, a lot of hungry players that are trying to make their mark in this Grand Slam."
