Eugenie Bouchard Makes Tennis History -- And Then Gets Asked This Sexist Question

She Made Tennis History -- And Then Got Asked A Sexist Question

We imagine that 19-year-old tennis player Eugenie Bouchard was more than thrilled when she made history by becoming the first Canadian woman to make it to the semifinals of the Australian Open in over three decades.

Unfortunately, some reporters are more interested in her love life than her skills on the court.

During a courtside interview after the athlete beat Serbia's Ana Ivanovic, Bouchard was alerted to the presence of an all-male fan group in the stands and asked about her love life.

“You’re getting a lot of fans here,” interviewer Samantha Smith, a former British tennis player, said. “A lot of them are male, and they want to know: If you could date anyone in the world of sport, of movies -– I’m sorry, they asked me to say this -– who would you date?”

Because obviously, that's the most important question to ask a world-class athlete after a historic win -- no assessment of her skills in the game, inquiry into her training regime, or how she felt after winning. We also can't tell if it makes things better or worse that Smith understood how absurd the question was and proceeded to ask it anyway.

Unfortunately, accomplished women in all arenas face similar types of casual sexism, whether it's on the red carpet, as Cate Blanchett pointed out at the SAG Awards, or after a major athletic match.

For anyone interested in Bouchard's thoughts about the game of tennis, she told CBC Sports:

This is something I've been doing since I was five years old and working my whole life for and sacrificing a lot of things for. So it's not exactly a surprise. I always expect myself to do well. I'm just happy to have gone through this step. I'm not done. I have a match on Thursday. I'm just looking forward to that.

[h/t Jezebel]

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