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Canadians Are Kind Of Taking Over Tennis Right Now

Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic are making history at Wimbledon. UPDATE: Following their incredible performances at Wimbledon, the two reach career-high rankings.

1. If you haven’t heard, on Wednesday, Eugenie Bouchard became the first Canadian ever to reach the Wimbledon semifinals in singles since the Open Era began in 1968.

If you haven't heard, on Wednesday, Eugenie Bouchard became the first Canadian ever to reach the Wimbledon semifinals in singles since the Open Era began in 1968.

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AP Photo/Ben Curtis

Bouchard defeated No. 9 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany (who had beaten French Open champion Maria Sharapova in the previous round) to move on to the semis. She is officially the first Canadian woman to reach this point in singles at Wimbledon in the Open Era.

2. The Montreal native is also the only woman to reach the final four of each of the three Grand Slams so far this season.

The Montreal native is also the only woman to reach the final four of each of the three Grand Slams so far this season.

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AP Photo/Ben Curtis

When she reached the Aussie Open semis in January, she was the first Canadian woman to reach a slam semi in three decades.

3. WELL, if this wasn’t news enough, fellow Canadian Milos Raonic has also just reached the final four on the men’s side.

WELL, if this wasn't news enough, fellow Canadian Milos Raonic has also just reached the final four on the men's side.

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Clive Brunskill / Getty Images

Raonic defeated Nick Kyrgios, an Australian teenager ranked No. 144 who himself had defeated world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the prior round.

4. Raonic is also the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal in the Open Era.

Raonic is also the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal in the Open Era.

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Clive Brunskill / Getty Images

5. Raonic and Bouchard will both be facing a challenge as each seeks to reach their first major final.

Clive Brunskill / Getty Images

Clive Brunskill / Getty Images

 

Raonic will face No. 4 seed (and 7-time Wimbledon champion) Roger Federer on Friday, and Bouchard will play Romania’s No. 3 seed Simona Halep, who is coming off her first major final at the French Open last month.

6. In the meantime, the entire country of Canada has never been so excited about TENNIS in the history of Canadian sport.

Eric Novak @MMPerspectives

#OhCanada! Bouchard & Raonic both advance to Wimbeldon semi-finals in historic double achievement!

13. UPDATE — Bouchard and Raonic continued to make history at Wimbledon.

Despite Bouchard’s loss to Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic on Saturday, her ranking still jumped from No. 13 to No. 7 in the world, making her the highest ranked Canadian in women’s singles history.

Raonic also reached the top 10 in the men’s rankings, moving up to No. 6, a career-high for him. (Canadian Greg Rusedki held the No. 4 ranking in 1997, though he was competing for Great Britain at the time.)

14. Congratulations, guys! It was a phenomenal Wimbledon run. You’ve made Canada proud.

Clive Brunskill / Getty Images

Al Bello / Getty Images

 

Read more: http://buzzfeed.com/tanyachen/canadians-are-kind-of-taking-over-tennis-right-now

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