Contract on pickleball tour: should tennis star Bouchard throw up now?

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Once considered a major Canadian tennis contender, she stormed into the 2014 Wimbledon final and made headlines as world number five on the tour. Now Eugenie ‘Genie’ Bouchard (29)’s WTA career could be over.

The Canadian just failed to qualify for the US Open, and that has not been enough for the great coup for a long time. Since last year, she has made a jump in the world rankings after dropping out of the top 1000. Bouchard can be found this year at number 215.

There is no official statement of resignation

Is she drawing a line under her tennis career now? A post from the US Pickleball Tour might speak for that. “One of the biggest engagements of the year,” said the Instagram post, which shows a beaming Bouchard. The contract is valid from 2024.

pickle? An emerging American ball sport that has grown in popularity in recent years. It is a mix of badminton, tennis and table tennis, played on a court, in doubles or singles. It differs from tennis mainly in the dynamic course of play, the rackets and the ball. Pickleball is most similar to the thriving sport of padel tennis, even though rules such as counting are different and pickleball has no field boundary wall.

With the signing of the contract, Bouchard follows former American tennis stars Sam Querrey (35) and Jack Sock (30), who have been active on the Pickleball Tour since their retirement. There is still no official resignation from Bouchard’s tennis club, but the two sports are unlikely to agree.

Fans are not pleased

The news is received with little euphoria by the fans. The post’s comment column features incredulous reactions to the 29-year-old’s lack of a statement of resignation. Whether and when such a thing will come remains to be seen. One thing is clear: from 2024, Bouchard will get serious about the pickleball tour.

By the way: the pickleball offer is also growing in Switzerland and you can now practice the sport in 23 sports centers. But whether it will enjoy the same growth as padel tennis, which can count on prominent investors such as Tiger Woods, Justin Timberlake and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is currently difficult to estimate. However, with names such as Bouchard, Querrey and Sock, the first step in the right direction should have been taken. (mo)

Source : Blick