Eugenie Bouchard joins professional pickleball tour… former Wimbledon finalist ditches tennis to join new phenomenon backed by Tom Brady and LeBron James
- Eugenie Bouchard will play pickleball on the Carvana PPA Tour next year
- The 29-year-old has a career-high singles ranking in tennis of world No 5
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard has joined the pickleball revolution and will play the booming sport in 2024.
The 29-year-old, who reached a career-high tennis singles ranking of No 5, confirmed the news on social media Thursday.
Pickleball has emerged as a rival to tennis in the US, where it is the country’s fastest-growing sport.
Courts are popping up across America, much to the irritation of some tennis players. As of January 2023, there were nearly 50,000 courts in the United States, with more than 36.5million people said to have played in the 12 months up to August 2022.
Bouchard had a breakthrough year in 2014, when she was beaten in the Wimbledon final by Petra Kvitova after reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open and French Open that same year.
Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard has joined the pickleball revolution
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw5j2fExRVG/
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But she has made the fourth round of a major only twice since – both in 2015 – and the Canadian has not been in the main draw of a slam since 2020.
Bouchard was beaten in qualifying for this year’s US Open and now she has switched to pickleball, which is growing rapidly in the United States.
Tom Brady and LeBron James are among the star names who have invested in the sport, which is played using a paddle and a hollow ball on a court the same size as a doubles badminton court.
Bouchard has joined the Carvana PPA Tour, where players tussle for titles and rankings points in 25 locations across the United States, all leading up to the PPA Finals in California.
Only the top eight singles players and doubles teams reach the season finale, where the year-end world No 1 is crowned.
Bouchard had a breakthrough year in 2014, when she was beaten in the Wimbledon final
But the Canadian has made the fourth round of a major only twice since – both in 2015
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