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LONDON – Following an early-round win at this years Wimbledon, Genie Bouchard brought a stuffed Cinderella doll to her news conference. A fan had tossed it to her. "I like to think thats me," Bouchard said sheepishly with a smile while looking down at the blonde-haired doll in her hand. "Someone gave me it, because Im a princess." Bouchard was named after royalty: Princess Eugenie, the daughter of Prince Andrew, to be precise. And she admits she does have some "princess-like tendencies" that go beyond just the name. "You can ask my coach or my parents or anyone: I can be a princess," Bouchard admitted eliciting laughs from a throng of reporters. "I mean, theyre not horrible, but I can be moody in the morning. Im not so much of a morning person. My fitness trainer carries my tennis bag around, but thats so I dont get tired, because I want to save all my energy for the match. "I mean, I can demand a few things once in a while, but I do it with love," the 20-year-old said with a big grin. Bouchards Wimbledon campaign has all the elements of a fairytale story. Even a platonic Prince Charming has emerged in the form of an American television star. Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, has travelled to the All-England Club to support Bouchard. "Its my favourite show," Bouchard explained. "Its a comedy, you know. For me, so many unexpected things, you just burst out laughing. Its a nice way to relax and have a good time. Its less stressful to watch than, say, like a movie on a war or something. Its pretty relaxing, which I love. Jim Parsons character, Sheldon, is my favourite character. Hes so nerdy. I love the character. Hes so smart and set in his ways. "I think the writing of the show is pretty spectacular." Considering how much Bouchard likes the hit sitcom her agent decided to reach out to Parsons last year and invite him to Wimbledon. Parsons was touched, but couldnt attend due to work obligations. However, he started watching Bouchards matches and writing her emails after each one. Theyve become friends through this pen-pal relationship. And now Parsons is finally here in London. "Its a random pairing, right?" Bouchard said again with a huge smile. "Well, its been a year since weve been in contact. Since then hes watched pretty much every match he could watch or else he would follow on live scores. Hes emailed me after every single match Ive played. Hes more positive than all of my team combined. So its a refreshing change to get a nice email with exclamation marks and smiley faces. Im such a big fan of his show. He says hes such a big fan of me. So its really cool that hes here to finally watch me live. "We talk about, you know, the mental aspect in tennis. He says how its similar to him acting. He has to be in the moment on set and all these things. Its interesting to see how similar the mentality is in different careers." WATCH: Jim Parsons explains how he and Bouchard became friends With a Prince Charming on site, Bouchard has lived a somewhat charmed life at Wimbledon this year. A seemingly difficult draw opened up a bit when Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova were eliminated one round before they were to face Bouchard. On Monday, Bouchard was scheduled to play on Centre Court, which has a retractable roof, and was able to complete her fourth-round match while all her rivals sat and waited due to a lengthy rain delay. "Im happy I got the experience of playing under the famous roof," Bouchard quipped that day. "I follow the roof on Twitter (@WimbledonRoof) and hes kind of funny. I hope hes proud of how I played today. He was looking down. Hopefully he enjoyed the match." The rest of the field didnt find it so funny as every other woman in the draw was forced to play on Tuesday while Bouchard rested up. Then in the semifinals, opponent Simona Halep injured her foot early in the first set, somewhat limiting her mobility and contributing to her defeat. Everything seems to be falling into place and a lifelong ambition is within reach. "I started playing tennis at five years old," Bouchard said on Friday. "Soon after, you know, it was my dream to become a professional tennis player. I was very young when I decided I wanted to do it. I was nine. Since that age I dreamt of winning a Grand Slam." On Saturday, Bouchard gets that chance. Standing in her way is No. 6 seed Petra Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion. But Bouchard is a Wimbledon champion as well. It has been just two short years since the Canadian claimed the junior title here. Bouchard likes the grass, which accentuates her aggressive game. She likes the Royal Box, the tradition and even the strict all-white clothing policy at the All England Club. This is her favourite Grand Slam and Bouchard seems to have the crowd on her side in each match she plays. Considering all of the above, it would be fitting if this was the stage where all her hard work pays off. "Its been a long time in the making, you know, for it to finally come together, all the hard work, the talent I know I have, the effort I put in, you know, for it to produce results on the match court. Thats happened this year, but, you know, its been a long time in the making. I wouldnt say its an overnight thing," Bouchard explained. "Ive just been believing in myself more and more and meeting the challenges I faced. I played on the professional tour for a year and I was improving as I was playing that year; the same this year. So every time I have a challenge, I just try to get better. Its really helped." Vern Mikkelsen Lakers Jersey .com) - Real Madrid claimed its 16th consecutive victory across all competitions on Saturday after earning a 2-1 win over Malaga at the Estadio La Rosaleda. Bob McAdoo Lakers Jersey . Bale has had a successful debut season in Spain, and Ancelotti appears ready to reward him with a starting role on Saturday. Ancelotti says "Gareth had some problems at the beginning (of the season) but when he found good physical condition he scored a lot of goals, he had a good impact on the team. https://www.lakersjerseycheap.com/311j-k...sey-lakers.html. Goins is the early favourite to win the starting job at second base. Pillar is an outsider to secure a role off the bench, which becomes an even more difficult spot to win if the number of back up jobs is reduced by one. That happens if the Blue Jays decide to start the season with an eight man bullpen. Ron Artest Lakers Jersey . The New York Rangers centre had a goal and two assists in a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators ending a 13-game goal-scoring drought. Steve Nash Jersey . Detroits powerful offence made that unnecessary. Scherzer allowed two hits and struck out seven, and the Tigers backed their star right-hander with three early homers in an 8-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night.AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- When Trey Burke took the floor shortly before tip-off, he was the only Utah player to come out of the tunnel at first. Burkes teammates stayed behind, playing a little joke on the rookie point guard by leaving him alone on the court for a few seconds before eventually joining him. "I was mad at the guys, because that was embarrassing, but they do little things like that to me once in a while," Burke said. Burke should have expected a prank like that, because this was his return to Michigan -- and for the most part, it was an enjoyable one. He had 20 points and a career-high 12 assists, leading the Jazz to a 110-89 rout of the Detroit Pistons on Friday night. Burke, who was the national player of the year at Michigan last season and led the Wolverines to the Final Four, had plenty of supporters in the crowd at the Palace. He shook off a slow start and outplayed Detroit counterpart Brandon Jennings as the Jazz built a big lead. "That felt good. We had a lot of fun out there," Burke said. "Im not even going to lie. I was nervous at the start, and I had to get my nerves calmed down. My family was here, and all the people who have supported me in Michigan, and I knew this was my only chance to play in front of them this year." Enes Kanter added 18 points for Utah and Marvin Williams scored 17. Rodney Stuckey led the Pistons with 21, but Detroit looked flat for much of the game after a five-day layoff. "We worked real hard this week, and put a good effort in this week," Detroit centre Andre Drummond said. "To come out like we did tonight, we took a step back." The Pistons had a chance to draft Burke with the No. 8 pick last year, but took Kentavious Caldwell-Pope instead. Burke signed autographs before the game, and when his Utah teammates left him alone on the court, it gave the crowd a chance to give the young point guard a cheer. Burke got another ovation when he was announced with the Utah starters, and the Jazz opened the scoring when he made a clever pass to Derrick Favors for a dunk.dddddddddddd. The crowd at the Palace was announced at 18,528, and there was plenty of maize and blue around. Burke didnt score until the second quarter, when his 3-pointer put the Jazz up 44-37. A steal and a layup by Burke made it 50-42, and there were some boos for the home team when Utah took a 58-45 lead into halftime. The second half didnt start any better for Detroit. The Jazz scored the first eight points of the third quarter and led 66-45 after a dunk by Favours. "It was unexplainable to me," Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks said. "Maybe the days off affected us in terms of getting up and down the floor." Burke had nine points and five assists in the third, capping the quarter with a driving floater off the glass in the final seconds for an 89-65 lead. "He looked tight early on, and I decided to play him a longer stretch than a shorter one to let him play himself into a rhythm. He was throwing great passes, and that got him into the offence," Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said. "You always root for guys who are playing at home. He wanted to show the fans how much he has developed his game, and he did that." Utahs lead reached 29 in the fourth. Detroits vaunted front line of Drummond, Greg Monroe and Josh Smith combined for only 18 points on 5-of-18 shooting. Smith and Monroe made only one field goal each. Detroit passed up a chance to draft Burke, the local favourite, and instead the Pistons addressed the point-guard spot by trading for Jennings, who has impressed at times but been inconsistent. He scored 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting Friday. Burke turned the ball over seven times, but he surpassed his previous career high in assists with a pass to a cutting Jeremy Evans in the fourth quarter for a 98-72 lead. Burke had 11 assists against San Antonio on Wednesday. NOTES: Utah went 9 of 22 from 3-point range and played the Pistons to a 44-all tie in the paint. ... Kyle Singler scored 13 points for the Pistons. Drummond had 10 points and 13 rebounds. ' ' '