"It was nerve-wracking" - Eugenie Bouchard has Pickleball debut to forget, loses three straight matches

Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard, who joined the PPA Tour earlier this year, lost all three of her matches during her recent professional pickleball debut.

The matches were a part of the Hyundai Masters, a professional pickleball event on the PPA Tour. In her singles clash, Bouchard lost in consecutive sets to Ekaterina Biakina, dropping the first one 11-1 before losing 11-7 in the second.

The Canadian admitted that the sport was still new to her and that despite her hard work and practice, she was not able to do well.

“This was so different and new. It was the fear of the unknown. I had months of practice but I didn’t know what to expect. It was nerve-wracking,”Bouchard told PPATour.com.

Bouchard became the first Canadian-born player to reach the finals in a Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon in 2014, finishing as the runner-up to Petra Kvitova. The 29-year-old, who won the 2012 Wimbledon junior title, reached a career-high ranking of No. 5 on the WTA Tour in October 2014.

The Canadian star, who has insisted that she would play both tennis and pickleball, informed fans last September that the Professional Pickleball Association made her a great offer that she couldn't refuse.

Despite her recent debut losses, Bouchard stated she was nonetheless happy that she won a few points.

"The positive thing is, I got some points and didn’t completely embarrass myself. I’m proud that I was able to stay calm and get some points in that second game,” she said.

Eugenie Bouchard: "I expect to be more competitive in the next tournament but gimme a full year"

Eugenie Bouchard at the Prague Open in 2020

Despite the poor showing, Eugenie Bouchard said she will not be giving up on pickleball anytime soon. She was hopeful of doing well in the sport by playing in a lot of events this year.

"I expect to be more competitive in the next tournament but gimme a full year,” Bouchard said. “I need to get some practice in and some more matches in. I need to get out there in the heat of the moment. I’m going to play a bunch of events this year and the competitive person in me wants to do the best I can," she told PPATour.com.

Eugenie Bouchard isn’t the only tennis player struggling with the pickleball transition. Sam Querry, a former world No. 11 on the ATP Tour, also lost in the play-in round at the Hyundai Masters, showing that it’s not so easy to transition between the sports even if they look similar.