Eugenie Bouchard is the highest ranked Canadian female in the world, and though that's not as high of a ranking as it used to be, she'll have everyone's eyes on her in Toronto. And she knows it.

The 23-year-old has played in front of home crowds at the Rogers Cup nine times (six times in the main draw), and her record is 4-9. It hasn't been easy for her to raise her level with so much pressure on her shoulders.

"I've slowly learned over the years how to deal with it better and better," Bouchard said last month. "And just really try to not see it as pressure, but kind of just enjoy the moment, and the attention the fans give me because they don't see me play live ever except for this one time a year."

Her best run at the Rogers Cup came last year in reaching the third round, but it's been the site of more bad losses than any decent wins.

"I want to try to see it in a positive way as a special time and try to show my skill level and how well I can play," Bouchard said. "I don't really want to think about the pressure that much. It's more of just making the most of it for myself and the fans."

She's certainly got a lot of fans.

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Bouchard became the first Canadian to reach a singles Grand Slam final at Wimbledon when she was just 20 years old. Her ranking jumped to No. 5 and her fame skyrocketed, but backing it up proved impossible. Her ranking soon started heading in the opposite direction, and by the end of 2015, she was almost out of the Top 50.

It has been over two years of highs and lows for Bouchard, with a quarterfinal run at the 2015 Australian Open being her best Grand Slam run since her breakthrough in 2014. This season has been more of the same unsteadiness for Bouchard, as her ranking sits at No. 70. Last week in D.C., she stopped a four-match losing streak, but only won one match (though she reached the doubles final with Sloane Stephens).

"I would describe my season as definitely up and down. I've had some good wins but I've had some bad losses," Bouchard said. "I've had some unfortunate struggles with injuries. I really want to kind of focus and give everything to this last remainder of the season."

Her biggest statement in 2017 has been both on and off the court with her words against her former-idol Maria Sharapova and her subsequent win over the five-time Grand Slam champion in Madrid. She'll want to put together more wins like that before the year's over. She'll start her Toronto campaign against Donna Vekic.

"[I'm] playing a really full hard court season up to the US Open and then a lot in Asia afterward," Bouchard said. "I really want to make the most of it. I want to try to play a lot of tournaments, and a lot of matches, and really the goal is to get my ranking up by the end of the year."