After missing French Open, unranked Eugenie Bouchard announces comeback tennis tournament

Former World No. 5 Eugenie Bouchard announced her return to tennis earlier on Thursday (May 22). The Canadian turned to the pickleball pro tour in 2023. Subsequently, she played only two played tournaments last year, focusing on her pickleball exploits, including her appearance at Pickleball Slam 3 in February this year.

Bouchard, who turned pro in 2009, is a former Wimbledon finalist and competed regularly on the WTA Tour until 2023. The 31-year-old won her lone tour-level title at the 2014 Nuremberg Cup while finishing runner-up at seven other singles tournaments.

Bouchard had last played singles tennis at the 2024 Canadian Open qualifying event, where she lost in the first qualifying round to Japan's Moyuka Uchijima in three tough sets. This loss happened after she was roped in by PPA to play pickleball in 2023, much to the criticism of tennis fans. However, they can rejoice now as the 2014 Wimbledon runner-up is set to make her pro tennis comeback at the Hall of Fame Open in July.

The Canadian tennis sensation took to her Instagram account on Thursday (May 21) to announce to her fans that she will play at the WTA 125 tournament in Newport later this year.

She subsequently reposted the news on her stories, expressing excitement at the prospect of playing pro tennis again.

"Sooooo excited about this!!!!" Eugenie Bouchard wrote on her Instagram stories on Thursday.

For those unaware, the former World No. 5 is currently unranked on the WTA Tour owing to her prolonged absence. Consequently, she couldn't have made her much-awaited return to the sport at the French Open during the next fortnight even if she would've initially planned to.

Eugenie Bouchard was spotted training on a tennis court earlier this year

Eugenie Bouchard surprised the tennis world in February this year after she took to her Instagram stories to post a few pictures from her practice session at the Columbia Tennis Center. She was accompanied by fellow Canadian and World No. 272 Carol Zhao, who served as her hitting partner.

The 31-year-old then participated in the third edition of the Pickleball Slam later on, partnering with Andy Roddick to take on three-time titlist Andre Agassi and his wife, Steffi Graf. Bouchard and Roddick were unimpressive in their debut as a team, losing out on the $1-million cash purse to the husband-wife duo.

Meanwhile, as far as her tennis aspirations are concerned, Eugenie Bouchard is seemingly grounded in the current reality of her career, where she is no more playing the top players that she did in the 2010s.

"I’m a different person, different player. So keep the memories, the confidence, the belief that I have been there but also realize that we’re a decade later and I have to move on and be who I am today. Deal with the players I have to deal with today," she told WTA in 2023.

While Bouchard is likely to be rusty when she makes her comeback at the Hall of Fame Open, the tennis circuit is certainly better with her in the mix.

About the author

Rudra is a seasoned tennis journalist at Sportskeeda who has followed the sport for over a decade. Whether it's breaking news or tactically analyzing a match, he thrives in reporting it. When he isn't working, he's probably spending time with friends or watching art films. He has also played tennis for over eight years and his favourite tennis player of all time is Rafael Nadal.

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Edited by Pratham K Sharma