Eugenie Bouchard gave her pickleball duties a break as she picked up a tennis racket after falling to World No. 1000 in the rankings of the WTA. The Canadian duked it out against another former tennis player who turned to pickleball on lush grass courts, who seemed to be struggling against her.
Bouchard decided to juggle her career as a professional in both tennis and pickleball over a year ago and made her highly anticipated pickleball debut in January last year. Since then, she hasn’t really been active on the WTA Tour. Her last match came at the qualifiers of the WTA 1000 in Canada, where she lost to Moyuka Uchijima in a three-set thriller.
The 31-year-old was present in the Fisher Islands in Florida and shared some highlights from her return to the tennis court, where she was engaged in a duel against Jack Sock. The commentary was being provided by Sam Querrey, who joking questioned:
“Who do you think wins right now? Genie starts up 40-love every game.”
However, as soon as the question was completed, Sock hilariously made three unenforced errors, which led to Querrey thinking if Sock was the one needing the score advantage.
Via Bouchard’s Instagram stories.
Via Bouchard’s Instagram stories.
She also expressed her happiness playing on the grass courts and questioned if the Fisher Islands had the best grass court in North America.
“Best grass courts this side of the ocean?”
via Bouchard’s Instagram stories.
via Bouchard’s Instagram stories.
It is worth noting that the highlight of Bouchard’s career came on the grass courts when she stunned the world by reaching the final of Wimbledon in 2014 and becoming the first Canadian-born player representing Canada to reach the final of a Major.
However, the former World No. 5 admitted that the defeat was ‘brutal’ and ‘painful’.
“It’s too painful for me” – Eugenie Bouchard on why she never revisited her 2014 Wimbledon heartbreak
Eugenie Bouchard – Source: Getty
Eugenie Bouchard – Source: Getty
Eugenie Bouchard, seeded 13th, ousted the likes of Daniela Hantuchova, Silvia Soler Espinosa, Andrea Petkovic, Alize Cornet, Angelique Kerber, and Simona Halep to reach the final, where she faced Petra Kvitova. However, things didn’t go the Canadian’s way in the final as she was crushed 3-6, 0-6 by Petra Kvitova.
During her appearance on the Tennis Insider Club podcast, she admitted that she was still haunted by her defeat and was yet to revisit the final.
“So brutal. I still to this day have not rewatched the final because I just can’t, it’s too painful for me. I got killed, which maybe is a blessing in disguise because you know when you come so close to winning a match and lose it, you’re replaying it over and over in your head what you could have done better on every point,” Eugenie Bouchard said. (17:02)
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In 2015, Eugenie Bouchard was eliminated in the opening round of Wimbledon and was unfortunately never able to repeat her heroics of 2014. Her most recent appearance at the London Major came in 2023 when she lost in the qualifiers.