Eugenie Bouchard is not giving up on tennis despite playing some professional pickleball this year, and she talked a bit about her perspective recently.
The Canadian emerged as a super-talented player a decade ago, and it seemed like she would be the next big thing in tennis. It wouldn't work out that way because even if the start was promising, things cooled off quite a bit.
Injuries, a lack of results, and a couple of other things contributed to that, but the Canadian isn't done with the sport. She surprised quite a few people earlier this year when she signed up to play some professional pickleball events, following some notable tennis players who have done the same.
Despite doing that, Bouchard isn't done with tennis, as she recently played at the Canadian Open as well. It wasn't a winning effort, but it was a good enough effort that proved she still has a lot to give to the sport.
In a recent talk with tennis.com, Bouchard shared a bit of her perspective on juggling tennis, pickleball, and all of her other side projects. First, she talked about the pickleball experience, which was a bit strange because she had to rewire her brain in terms of how to approach the sport.
"So many things that I would do in tennis are not what you want to do in pickleball. So it's kind of like I have to rewire my brain and just spend a lot of time on the practice courts and playing matches until I finally got some wins. I still have a long way to go, but at least I feel like I belong a little more."
Bouchard didn't necessarily plan to pick up pickleball. The opportunity presented itself, and she was never one to dismiss an opportunity to try something new. So her idea was just to try and see whether she liked it, and it turned out nicely because she ended up enjoying the overall experience.
"I was like, you know, 'I'd love to challenge myself to try something new. And also to be a part of something that is so trending and growing so much, that was really appealing to me."
"It was also something I could do while still playing some tennis tournaments. So that’s why I was like, ‘Yeah, sign me up.’"
Despite enjoying pickleball and planning on playing it in the future, Bouchard isn't giving up on tennis. She plans to play both tennis and pickleball in the future, but that may be difficult to combine, given the challenging schedule on the WTA Tour.
"[Tennis] is something I wanted to keep up this year. I definitely focused a little more on pickleball at the first part of the year because that was what was new and something I really wanted to get better at."
"It's something I just don't want to let go of, and I absolutely love playing tennis. It's my first true love. “We'll be seeing lots of tennis, lots of pickle … I'm just making myself busier than ever trying to do all of it!"