Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard reaches Quarter-Finals on return at ITF tournament in Zephyrhills

Eugenie Bouchard has reached the Quarter-Finals on her tennis return at the ITF W75 tournament in Zephyrhills which has seen her play her first tennis since November last year.

Back then it was the surroundings of winning the Billie Jean King Cup with Canada in Seville and now albeit it is back at home in Florida for Bouchard, it is more of a smaller setting than she is used to. But it is one that she has adapted well to this week.

She has seen off Fanni Stollar in a 6-1, 2-6, 6-5 win to reach the Quarter-Finals of the tournament on clay and could play Kayla Day in the next round who is top seed at the lower level tournament this week.

Initially Bouchard left tennis behind as such with pickleball being a lure for the former Wimbledon finalist who herself has a big social media following aside from her tennis exploits. As a result, it was a fairly big name get for a fledgling sport in pickleball.

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But she always said that she had never left tennis behind and would continue to play and it took a few months to start her seasons. All reports though have pointed to Bouchard playing well albeit hard to gauge against lesser players who have never been at the level of the former top 10 star. But very much a positive nonetheless.

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Her future plans are still not known with Bouchard winning her first pickleball match last month and using her post match interview to call out Nick Kyrgios. The Aussie had been embroiled in a row alongside James Blake and Andy Roddick at the time about a pickleball player being able to play tennis and vice versa. Wagers were given out but none accepted including Bouchard's towards Kyrgios. She has notably struggled since switching as have most former tennis stars with Jack Sock and Sam Querrey among high profile names retiring to play the sport.

José Morgado

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QFs for Genie Bouchard in Zephyrhills (ITF 75), her first tournament of the year. Beat Fanni Stollar.

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