Wimbledon flashback: Bouchard, Townsend win junior dubs

WIMBLEDON – Have nearly eight years really already passed?

The day after Canadian Genie Bouchard won the 2012 junior girls’ singles title with a routine victory over Elina Svitolina, she took to the court again.

This time, she teamed up with American Taylor Townsend to play the junior girls’ doubles final.

You look at the roster of their opponents and you can see that getting to a Slam doubles final is no guarantee of anything.

None of those players have really broken through yet.

One who is here this week is Bouchard’s countrywoman, Françoise Abanda, who qualified for the singles for the very first time.

Abanda was just 15 back in 2012, three years younger than Bouchard. And she also reached the singles semi-final, losing to Svitolina in three sets.

But those opponents in the girls’ doubles final? They were just babies, but it was clear they were going places.

Belinda Bencic was 15; Ana Konjuh was still just 14.

Teenage excitement

Bouchard and Townsend, a few years older, defeated them fairly routinely. And they were pretty excited about it.

The best part of this victory was afterwards. The two giggly teenagers (yes, life was once not so serious, and none of those career setbacks had happened yet) discussed the whole motivation behind the doubles win.

Bouchard had already been to the Wimbledon Champions Ball the previous year; she won the girls’ doubles with Townsend’s countrywoman Grace Min.

So this title was all about getting Townsend there, too. The idea that there was a big room where the dresses and shoes were all lined up to choose from, and hair and makeup specialists awaited, was an exceptional notion.

Here’s a long-lost little audio clip of the two young ladies talking after the victory. Just came across it today.