Eugenie Bouchard's mother, Julie Leclair, was, in the words of her daughter, a "royal family nut" who named her four children after European royalty.
Next week, the 20-year-old Canadian could return home to Montreal as the newly crowned queen of Wimbledon.
Bouchard still has to play the final and beat the 2011 champion Petra Kvitova before she receives the Venus Rosewater dish from the Duchess of Kent, but it seems almost a given.
She seems like the child of destiny, merely fulfilling what the stars have been screaming since the start of this year, when she reached the semi-final at the Australian Open.
Playing in only her fourth grand slam tournament and ranked No 31 in the world, Bouchard defeated Ana Ivanovic on her way to the last four. At Roland Garros, she matched that achievement, becoming the only woman to have made the semis at the year's first two majors.
So, a final at Wimbledon looked a natural progression, even though she was in the same half of the draw as Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
Call it luck, or whatever, but world No 1 Williams and 2014 French Open winner Sharapova were knocked out in the round before their expected clash with Bouchard. In the semis, Simona Halep twisted an ankle just 12 minutes into the match.
Almost proof of higher powers working in her favour.
But it is not as if Bouchard needed help – according to Bouchard.
“It’s not like a surprise to me,” she said. “I expect the results like this. So, for me, it’s like, ‘Good, it’s a step in the right direction — I get to play in the final and I still have another match’.
“It’s cool that I got to stay at Wimbledon for two whole weeks. It’s not a surprise to me. I expect to be in these finals. I totally feel like I belong.”
Impressed analysts seem to agree. ESPN’s Pam Shriver said: “She’s the real deal, isn’t she?”
“I think she can win this whole title,” said Chris Evert, a tennis legend and another ESPN analyst. “We all talk about her poise and mental toughness, but we don’t give enough credit to the big game that she has.
“She’s aggressive, she moves well, she attacks all the time. She has no holes right now in her game.”
“She’s the real thing,” Virginia Wade, a former Wimbledon champion, told Canadian TV. “She’s the right height, she moves well, her technical game is very good and she seems to have nerves of steel. So it’s only a matter of time.”
Two years ago, Bouchard was the Wimbledon girls’ champion. Since then, she has made a rapid rise up the rankings and, next week, for the first time in her career, she will be among the top 10.
A year before Bouchard's junior Wimbledon triumph, Kvitova had stunned Sharapova to win the championship. She was immediately hailed as the next big star of women's tennis.
The Czech has struggled to live up to that tag since and has reached one quarter-final in her past seven majors.
At Wimbledon, though, she could prove to be Bouchard’s party-pooper.
“It’s Wimbledon,” Kvitova said. “It’s the best tournament in the world for me, definitely.
“I mean, this is what makes tennis special. I’m back in the final and I’m feeling well. I’m going to try my best.”
The final should be an engrossing duel between an almost forgotten grand slam champion and destiny’s favourite child.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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