Eugenie Bouchard's first pickleball tournament confirmed ahead of 2024 career switch

Eugenie Bouchard will make her foray into professional pickleball in 2024, following the confirmation that she will not be competing in the first Grand Slam at the Australian Open. The former Wimbledon finalist recently represented Canada in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, and her future trajectory in tennis remains uncertain.

The former world No. 5 recently announced her participation in the 2024 Carvana PPA Tour at the Hyundai Masters at Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Springs. This marks her professional pickleball debut, where she will play mixed doubles alongside Tyler Loong.

The Canadian will participate in the tournament from January 10 to 14, ruling out her participation in the Aussie Open. With a world No. 288 ranking, Bouchard was far from the main draw cutoff and her participation in the qualifying rounds was also unlikely.

She won't be the only tennis player present at the tournament, as Jack Sock, Sam Querrey, and Donald Young have also confirmed their participation. Bouchard expressed her excitement on social media about playing in a professional pickleball tournament: "I’m so excited to make my PPA Tour debut at the Masters in Palm Springs in January. I don’t really have any expectations as this will be my first event. I’m training hard and am excited to compete against the best players in the world. This will be a great moment to start my pickleball career."

At the age of 19, Eugenie Bouchard made one of the most remarkable breakthroughs on the WTA Tour in recent years. She reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in her debut appearance and followed it up with semifinal appearances at the French Open and a final at Wimbledon, both in only her second appearance at each tournament.

In 2014, she ended the year as the world No. 7 but was unable to replicate her early successes in the subsequent years. In 2015 and 2016, she finished the year just inside the top 50, and since 2019, she has been outside the top 100. Despite reaching eight finals in WTA tournaments, Bouchard has secured only one title at the Nuremberg Cup in May 2014.