ore Sirigu saved Simon Rolfes penalty kick in the 28th

MONTREAL - It was an intense week at the Bouchard household as daughter Eugenie worked her way to the Australian Open semifinals. "We were yelling like idiots," Mike Bouchard, the players father, said Thursday of his daughters stirring win over Ana Ivanovic in the quarter-finals, which made her the first Canadian to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament since Carling Bassett-Seguso in 1984. It wasnt quite as frenzied at their Westmount, Que., home two nights later, when Bouchard bowed out with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to fourth-seeded Li Na of China in the semis. "It was also exciting, but in the first set Li Na came out strong and Genie was a little nervous," he said. "I felt for her, but she came back well in the second set. Overall, it was an excellent tournament." Bouchard stole the show in Melbourne, where a dozen or so local fans formed Genies Army to cheer her on and toss her stuffed Australian animals after her wins. Several commentators spoke of Bouchard, the 2012 Wimbledon junior girls champion, being the next big thing in womens tennis and a potential future Grand Slam tournament winner. Already, her results are expected to move her from 31st into the top 20 in next weeks rankings. And it has stirred ticket sales for her next appearance on home turf. She will play for Canada against Serbia Feb. 8-9 in a Federation Cup tie at the Claude Robillard Centre in Montreal. Eugene Lapierre of Tennis Canada, tournament director for the Montreal half of the Rogers Cup, said 500 to 600 tickets per day have been sold since Bouchards win over Ivanovic. The 4,000-seat venue will likely be sold out. And ticket sales have picked up for the womens Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium next summer, which is rare in January. "It will drag a lot of people out to come and watch her play," said Lapierre. "It will be interesting to see how she makes the switch from a Grand Slam and playing in a 20,000 seat stadium to the Claude Robillard here with 4,000. But it will be a lot of fun." Canadian tennis has been on a high lately with Milos Raonics rise into the top 10 in the world on the mens side and Vasek Pospisil also climbing in the rankings. Both made the Rogers Cup semifinals in Montreal last summer and led the Davis Cup team to a first-ever semifinal appearance. "Its phenomenal what Eugenie has done," said Lapierre. "I wouldnt say she opened the gates for Canada. The boys started that last year. "But its a new era thats started with the sport of tennis in Canada. Itll be tremendous for the promotion of the game in Canada. Thats our goal at Tennis Canada — to get more kids playing the game. Everyones talking about Eugenie, and thats bound to be good for the sport." Louis Borfiga, Tennis Canadas high performance director, said Bouchard could have a similar impact to Nadia Comaneci, the Romanian who drew slews of girls to try gymnastics after her stunning performance at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Or the effect that Anna Kournikova and Maria Sharapova had on womens tennis in Russia. "It will enlarge the pool of players and that will produce more very good players," said Borfiga. "Thats the difference between Canada and countries like France and Spain — their pool of players is larger." Mike Bouchard, an investment banker, is fine with having a daughter who may be seen as a role model for young players. He doesnt even mind that she is quickly becoming a celebrity. "Its good for her," he said. "Shes put in so much work and effort. "If she can be an ambassador for tennis and help tennis grow in Canada, thats fantastic. If it becomes bigger than that — international stardom — good for her. She has a strong head. Shes well grounded, and I think shell be able to go through that unscathed." Mike Bouchard knew he had a special daughter when Eugenie was a young child. When she was 12, the family the moved to Florida so she could learn at an academy run by Nick Saviano, who remains her coach. She spent more than three years in Florida before returning to Montreal to work at the national tennis centre. "It was difficult to find players at her own level to play against, and we also wanted to expose her to international coaching," said Mike Bouchard. "It takes a lot of dedication. Everyone in the family chipped in." Eugenie has a fraternal twin sister Beatrice, an 18-year-old sister Charlotte and a 14-year-old brother William, so the move was a big commitment for all of them. It paid off when Bouchard became one of the worlds top junior players and then made a rapid rise in WTA rankings. The group cant go to every tournament and they elected not to go to Australia, where Eugenie lost in the qualifying tournament last year. But her father said he was tempted to jump on a plane when she reached the semifinals. "We never anticipated shed go this far in the first Grand Slam of the year, so we gathered the kids and some friends and we watched (on TV)," he said. "There was a lot of emotions when she was hitting some winners. We were screaming and laughing and encouraging her." He was a little taken aback at a bizarre question put to Eugenie by an on-court interviewer after the quarter-final. She was asked who shed most like to date. To the apparent displeasure of Genies Army, she named Canadian pop star Justin Bieber. "Youve got to get used to that if youre going to become a celebrity," Bouchard said. "I actually thought she answered pretty well. She said Justin Bieber with a question mark at the end. It was tongue in cheek." It became a little awkward when Bieber was arrested in Florida on Thursday for reportedly taking part in an early morning drag race. "I actually dont follow anything that goes on in his life," Bouchard said with a laugh. "But I did hear about that." Adidas NMD Heren Sale .Tzavelas opened the scoring in the 11th and Pereyra added another in the 51st. Emmanuel Kone pulled one back in the 80th and Levadiakos missed several chances to level in the last 10 minutes. Adidas Falcon Nederland . The incident occurred at 6:28 of the first period in Anaheims 6-3 home win over Dallas on Sunday. Garbutt left the penalty box and skated at Penner before leaving his skates to deliver a check. http://www.nmdtekoop.com/superstar-sneakers.html . -- Novak Djokovic benefited from an erroneous call and claimed he didnt realize he had broken the rules. Adidas NMD R1 Kopen .ca. Hi Kerry, Welcome back! Im sure you heard Peter Forsbergs comments last week regarding Canadian referees in the gold medal game. Seems to me that he was questioning the integrity and impartiality. Adidas NMD R1 Goedkoop ." Bach is in Rome for the European Olympic Committees general assembly and meetings with Pope Francis. He also visited with Italian Premier Enrico Letta. "The prime minister appeared to be interested in a bid from Italy for 24, because he has realized that the games can serve as a catalyst for development for a city and a country," Bach told The Associated Press on Saturday.BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona eased into the Champions League quarterfinals for the seventh straight year, shaking off a slump that has dropped it to third place in the La Liga standings. Lionel Messi and Dani Alves scored second-half goals in a 2-1 win over Manchester City on Wednesday night that completed a 4-1 aggregate victory. "We had some pretty big setbacks, especially in the way we were playing -- but today we got back to playing the way we know, the Barca people love," Messi said. "Even though the goal came in the second half, I dont think we were ever in danger of an upset." In addition to on-field troubles, Barcelona has been dealing with a tax fraud case involving its acquisition of Neymar last summer, and the resignation of team president Sandro Rosell. The match drew 85,957 to Camp Nou, Europes highest-capacity stadium, but about 14,000 short of a sellout. In the nights other game, Paris Saint-Germain gave up an early goal and rallied past visiting Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 for a 6-1 aggregate win. Barcelona dominated with 56 per cent possession and a 16-9 advantage in shots, and could have gone in front early. French referee Stephane Lannoy didnt award a penalty kick when Messi went over Joleon Lescotts leg in the eighth, and Neymars tap-in of Jordi Albas pass in the 18th was called off for offside in what appeared on replay to be an officiating error. Cesc Fabregas pass bobbled through the legs of defender Joleon Lescott in the 67th minute, and Messi ran onto the ball and flicked it over goalkeeper Joe Hart. Messi has eight goals in five Champions League matches this season and 67 overall in Europes top club competition, four shy of Raul Gonzalezs record. Ciity, in the knockout stage for the first time, played a man short after Pablo Zabaleta received his second yellow card in the 78th.dddddddddddd. The card was given for protesting after Gerard Pique barged into Edin Dzeko inside the area without a penalty kick being award. City defender Martin Demichelis had been ejected in the first leg last month. "Going for a second time down to 10 men after it was a clear penalty, its not easy conditions to come and play against a strong team," City captain Vincent Kompany said. "Over the course of two games, whenever there was 11 players, there wasnt much between the two teams." Kompany scored for City in the 89th from what appeared to be an offside position. Dani Alves scored for Barcelona in the first minute of stoppage time, adding to his goal in the first leg. In Paris, Sidney Sam scored for Leverkusen in the sixth minute, but Marquinhos tied it in the 13th and Ezequiel Lavezzi got a go-ahead goal in the 53rd. PSG goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu saved Simon Rolfes penalty kick in the 28th after Christophe Jallet tugged Eren Derdiyoks jersey as he ran into the penalty area, earning a yellow card. Leverkusens Emre Can was ejected in the 68th for his second yellow card. PSG coach Laurent Blanc, who rested several regulars, felt his team eased up after the opening leg. "Its all well and good saying to the players forget the first game, but its true that subconsciously you tell yourself youve got a bit of a cushion," Blanc said. "But there were players out there who dont play that much, and you have to show your best level. The Champions League is a level above, and I was expecting more from my team." ' ' '