Three months after her surprise announcement, we can now mark a date on our calendars: Eugenie Bouchard will begin her pickleball career the week of January 9th in California.
Genie will be one of the headliners at Palm Spring Masters, a PPA Tour event running through January 14th in Rancho Mirage, California.
The former fifth-ranked tennis player in the world will compete in the mixed doubles alongside 32-year-old American Tyler Loong, who is ranked 18th in the men's doubles.
The 29-year-old Montrealer announced her intentions last September to join the PPA pickleball circuit starting in 2024. The professional scene also described his new catch as one of the “biggest additions of the year”.
Since then, the 2014 Wimbledon finalist has been stingy with comments on the topic. Her social networks have shown her training in recent weeks… but especially with a tennis racket in her hand.
Nebulous future
However, her future with the women, where she enjoyed her best moments in 2014 and rose to fifth place in the rankings, remains uncertain.
Because even though she's still ranked 300th in the WTA (286 to be exact), Bouchard still achieved some encouraging results in women's tennis last year.
Photo AFP
Okay, we're not talking about a return to the elite class by a long shot, but in April she notably managed to qualify for the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid, the second highest category of events behind those of the Grand Slam, and ultimately lost in the second round .
And Eugenie also reached the quarterfinals in Florence and then the second round in Guadalajara in October, which is also a WTA 1000 series event.
In full growth
Pickleball is a fast-growing racquet sport and Bouchard is not the first professional tennis player to try her luck on the PPA Tour, which was founded five years ago.
The American Jack Sock – eighth in the 2017 ATP rankings – announced that he retired from tennis after the last US Open to practice what is also played in singles or doubles, but with the ball holed and the racket full and so on a smaller dish.
Sock will also play doubles alongside Quebec's Catherine Parenteau, also a former tennis player.
However, Parenteau switched rackets a long time ago and is now one of the stars of pickleball. He ranks second on the PPA Tour in women's singles and doubles and fifth in mixed doubles.