Eugenie Bouchard never retired from tennis
Eugenie Bouchard hung up her racket temporarily last September to sign a contract with the professional pickleball circuit PPA (Professional Pickleball Association). When she made the announcement, she made it clear that she was not retiring from tennis as she wanted to enjoy both sports for a while after receiving an offer from the PPA that "she could not refuse".
Bouchard was not the first former professional tennis player to make the move to professional pickleball, Jack Sock, Sam Querrey and Donald Young were already competing on the circuit.
A comeback at the ITF W75 in Zephyr Hills
According to Canadian journalist Stephanie Myles, Eugenie Bouchard would make her comeback in singles next week at the ITF W75 tournament in Zephy Hills, Florida. It would be her first tournament since September 2023 when she lost a close 3-setter to Veronika Kudermetova in Guadalajara, Mexico. Eugenie also helped Canada win the Billie Jean King Cup last November.
Eugenie Bouchard, who was once ranked 5th in the world in 2014, is now ranked 346th in the WTA rankings. However, she will lose 120 ranks in the rankings to be published next Monday and she will fall to number 466. Genie is not in the qualifications entry list, so she would need a wildcard from the organizers to enter the tournament.
The Florida ITF W75 tournament usually has a strong field in singles with past champions such as Emma Navarro (2023), Taylor Townsend (2019) and the Canadian Rebecca Marino (2021). This year, the first seed will be the American Kayla Day who is ranked 84th in the world.
The matches from the main draw will start May 6th, 2024. We wish Genie the best of luck for her return!
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