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Eugenie Bouchard made her pickleball debut yesterday at the Hyundai Masters in Rancho Mirage, California, alongside other tennis stars Jack Sock, Sam Querrey, and Donald Young.
The former World No. 5 tennis player and 2014 Wimbledon finalist last played on the WTA tour in Guadalajara back in September last year. She puzzled fans days later when she signed with the Professional Pickleball Association for the 2024 season.
The 29-year-old insisted during an interview that she was not retiring from tennis and that she was made an unrefusable offer. She also shared that she had played pickleball recreationally and that she was ready to embark on the journey to hopefully turn professional someday.
Bouchard played her first game on Wednesday night against Ekaterina Biakina and took to her Instagram to share images of her first experience in the Pickleball league.
While she might have gone down in straight sets to her opponent, she posted that she had a good time through the process regardless.
"First ever pickle match! What an experience lol," she wrote.
Speaking to the PPA Tour earlier this week, Eugenie Bouchard said she was excited to try her hand at something new and experience what the PPA Tour was all about.
"I'm excited to challenge myself in a new world, try something new and see what the PPA Tour is all about," she was quoted saying.
She also conceded that she had very few expectations from her first game and that her main objective was to go out there and have fun.
"I have zero expectations at this point," she said. "I want to get my bearings. I want to just not embarrass myself, maybe that's a good goal, and just get the hang of things on court and off. I want to have fun, try my best and really just not be too hard on myself."
Eugenie Bouchard happy to see how far tennis has come in her country since she began playing
Eugenie Bouchard recently discussed just how far tennis had come in her home country of Canada since she began playing. Bouchard helped Team Canada lift the Billie Jean King Cup in November last year.
Bouchard was the first Canadian to ever reach a major singles final and the first to reach the top five in singles rankings. Her rise to the top has paved the way for multiple other girls to come through the ranks from Canada.
"When I was a kid, it was so weird for people to hear that people played tennis in Canada and that I was a tennis player from Montreal. But now we have top amazing players, men and women, and are winning these events," she said via ESPN.
Having played a part in normalizing playing tennis in Canada, Bouchard conceded that she hopes to continue breaking barriers.
It's totally normal to want to play tennis in Canada now. And so I'd like to say I broke some barriers and was part of this change. It makes me so happy and it's such an honor that I don't take lightly," she concluded.
