Eugenie Bouchard Gives Credit To Melbourne Kids For Starting The 'Genie Army'

Eugenie Bouchard has been getting tons of attentions from fans. The Australians who call themselves the "Genie Army" are among her intense admirers. These fans have travelled around the globe just to show their support their tennis icon. In a recent interview, Bouchard acknowledged her enthusiastic Aussie fans and said that they're a big factor that has contributed to her meteoric rise to fame.

Speaking to Hello Canada, Bouchard said she is thankful for the local Melbourne kids who started the Genie Army. She said she had to give credit to her loyal Aussie fans for being with her from the first round until she reached the semifinals at the 2014 Australian Open.

"They made the atmosphere better, they got more fans involved and people started paying more attention and it became this huge thing," Bouchard told the magazine. "They started this worldwide trend where every tournament I go to, people are in the Genie Army."

Back in August, Canadian news outlet La Presse reported that some of the members of the Genie Army has travelled across the world to Montreal just to cheer for Bouchard's participation in the tennis event. The association that runs the men's and women's tennis events in Canada reportedly offered to pay for Bouchard Australian fans' expenses including travel, lodging and meals fees during the said tennis event. In addition, Bouchard fans were also given tickets to her matches in the tournament. Unfortunately, Bouchard made an early exit after she was ousted in the opening round.

Bouchard has been one of the rising stars in women's tennis today. She reached the semifinals of three of the four Grand Slam tournaments including the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. She made her first finals appearance at Wimbledon and was a runnerup to Petra Kvitova.

In the 2014 season, Bouchard has achieved her career-high singles rank at the number five spot, which guaranteed her spot in the season-ending women's tournament in Singapore. It is anticipated that Bouchard popularity will further climb the rankings after she has inked a deal with global sports company IMG, which also manages other tennis stars such as Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.