Die Macht » g three goals in 4:24, before Bourque scored his

The only Canadian woman to achieve a world top-10 ranking in tennis is watching Eugenie Bouchards run at Wimbledon with great interest. Carling Bassett-Seguso was a world No. 8 almost 30 years ago. Currently 13th, Bouchard is assured of equalling that when the next rankings are released Monday. The 20-year-old from Westmount, Que., became the first Canadian woman to reach Wimbledons semifinals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over ninth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany on Wednesday. "Im telling you shes going to number one," Bassett-Seguso told The Canadian Press. "I watched her play. I dont watch too much womens tennis to be honest with you. I watched that match and I was just blown away. "She just takes the ball so aggressively. Her composure, I cant even believe shes 20. Her shot selection, her timing is impeccable. She really takes the ball early. If you look at her statistics, she hits more winners than errors." A victory over third-seeded Simona Halep of Romania in Thursdays semifinal can push Bouchards ranking higher than eighth and set a new pinnacle in Canadian womens tennis. Bassett-Seguso intends to be watching from her home in Bradenton, Fla., as Bouchard attempts to make more Canadian tennis history. "It gives me great interest to watch now," the 46-year-old said. "She has such great potential. "I love Wimbledon. I look at it and say they hit the ball way harder than I did. Its a totally different game now. Whats exciting is she can hit a lot of other shots too. I like to see the creativity too." Bouchard also reached the semifinals of this years French Open and Australian Open. Canadas Federation Cup captain Sylvain Bruneau agrees with the Bassett-Segusos assessment of Bouchards potential. "Can she be No. 1 one day? I wouldnt dare to put any limits on Eugenie," he said. "With three semifinals at 20 years old and the type of tennis she plays, I dont think there is a limit. "I think she can aim for big things in tennis. No. 1 in the world is something that is very possible. Right now, shes playing great tennis." These are heady days in Canadian tennis. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., also earned his first Grand Slam semifinal berth Wednesday with a 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over Australias Nick Kyrgios. Bassett-Seguso, who blazed her own tennis trail in the 1980s, is enjoying it from afar. "For me, its great," she said. "Theres a big interest and I think its going to be such a great asset to Canadian tennis itself, on the mens side too." Torontos Bassett-Seguso turned pro at 15 in 1983 when there were no age minimums to play on tour. She reached No. 8 in the world two years later. She was a semifinalist at the U.S. Open in 1984 when she lost to Chris Evert. She also reached the quarter-finals of the Australian and French Opens during her career. She married U.S. tennis player Robert Seguso in 1987. The couple once ran a tennis academy in Florida, but are no longer involved in the sport. They have five children ranging in age from two to 26. The blonde, photogenic Bassett-Seguso became a Canadian celebrity with the nickname "Darling Carling." The teenager worked for the Ford Modelling Agency. She acted in the teen movie "Spring Fever", as well as a television episode of "The Littlest Hobo." The success came with pressure, however. Bassett-Seguso struggled with an eating disorder during her career. She lost some of her passion for the game after the death of her father John in 1986 from cancer, although she continued to play on tour until 1990. Bouchard, also tall and blonde, is likewise attracting her share of attention, and endorsements, as her career soars. She has a significant following on social media and her fan club is "Genies Army." But joining the worlds top 10 players requires unwavering commitment to the sport, Bassett-Seguso said. Tennis is a world sport with 145 countries as members of the International Tennis Federation. "Its hard. Im not going to lie. Its really hard," Bassett-Seguso said. "I dont think anything is too hard if you want something bad enough and you have a plan and you have the right people around you and you know what has to go into it. "Youre going to fall (in the rankings) at times and thats where you have to constantly believe in yourself and take baby steps. You have to stay focused. Tennis has to be your whole life. It has to be." --- Canadian Press sports reporter Bill Beacon contributed to this story. Follow @DLSpencer10 on Twitter. Lorenzen Wright Jersey . LOUIS -- Russell Martin wanted a better fate for his starting pitcher and helped deliver a happier ending. Dillon Brooks Grizzlies Jersey . 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In a matchup of teams battling head-to-head for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccers Western Conference, the Whitecaps run to the post-season took a hard hit when FC Dallas blew open a tie game with two goals in the final minutes for a 3-1 victory Saturday night.Rene Bourque scored a hat trick to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 7-4 win over the New York Rangers in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Final, staving off elimination for the Habs and sending the series back to New York for Game Six. Bourque has been a revelation for the Canadiens in the playoffs, scoring eight goals in 16 games after a regular season in which he scored nine goals in 63 games. Bourques career-high in shots-on-goal-per-game during the regular season is 2.95, in 2009-2010; in this years playoffs, hes up to 3.19 per game, so Bourques production, while unusual, isnt being generated by outrageously fluky percentages. The Rangers pulled star G Henrik Lundqvist, after he played 28:58 and allowed four goals on 19 shots, his worst outing of the playoffs (though he allowed four goals on 23 shots in 39:57 during Game Six against Philadelphia). Canadiens C Lars Eller contributed a couple of assists, giving him 13 points in the playoffs, enough to lead all Montreal forwards. If Bourques goal-scoring comes as a surprise based on his regular-season production, so is the case with Eller, who had 26 points in 77 games during the regular season, including six points in his last 35 games. So, yes, Rene Bourque and Lars Eller are the forwards generating the numbers for a team in the Eastern Conference Final. Second-year LW Alex Galchenyuk had a goal and an assist in his fourth playoff game, returning from a knee injury suffered late in the regular season. Veteran Habs D Andrei Markov was beaten a few times, and had the worst possession stats of Montreal defencemen, but also finished the game with three assists, giving him 10 points in 16 playoff games. Canadiens RW Dale Weise chipped in a couple of assists before getting knocked woozy by a John Moore hit in the third period. Weise has put up seven points in 16 playoff games -- not spectacular, particularly considering hes rolling at 31% possession over the past four games, but still useful for a fourth line banger. After having his jaw brokenn by Brandon Prusts hit in Game Three, Rangers C Derek Stepan returned to the lineup, with facial protection, and scored two goals.ddddddddddddStepan now has 13 points in the playoffs, tying Martin St. Louis for the Rangers team lead. Rangers LW Chris Kreider was the big scorer on the night, with a goal and three assists. Kreider now has 10 points in nine playoff games and he led the Rangers with eight shot attempts in the game. Bourque led the Canadiens with eight attempted shots. Former Habs prospect, now Rangers No. 1 D Ryan McDonagh added two more assists. McDonagh has nine points in five games in his series. He had three points in 14 games through the first two rounds. Rangers RW Rick Nash also had a goal and an assist, giving him five points in five games against Montreal. He had five points in 14 games prior to this series. The Canadiens managed to win a game that they nearly gave away, surrending a 4-1 second-period lead by allowing three goals in 4:24, before Bourque scored his second and third of the night to create some breathing room. The good news for the Habs is that G Dustin Tokarski earned a win stopping 23 of 27 shots, a generally mediocre performance. The reason it ought to be good news is that if the Habs are going to come back from a three-games-to-one deficit, they probably need Tokarski to steal at least one game for them. The clubs have been relatively even in possession terms -- the Rangers hold a 293-to-288 edge in overall shot attempts for the series -- so the point of differentiation could easily be goaltending. The task for the Canadiens is still daunting, as Game Six goes in Manhattan and, despite Game Fives results, the goaltending edge remains with the Rangers. But, if the Habs find a way to get it done in Game Six, returning home for Game Seven would be a most interesting proposition. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '