2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard was granted a surprise wild card at the WTA 1000 tournament in Guadalajara.
The Guadalajara Open is the biggest tennis tournament in Mexico with main draw action set to commence next week, September 17th in a singles playing field featuring 64 players. And for the second year in a row, the 29-year-old Bouchard has received a direct entry into the main draw as a wild card.
The tournament has been marred with so many high-profile withdrawals in the past couple of days, with seven of the world's Top-10 players skipping the penultimate WTA 1000 of the season. This hasn't gone down well with tennis fans on social media, and officials face an anxious wait before the draw in the hope there won't be any more withdrawals.
Last year, she defeated American Kayla Day in her opening match but was sent packing by Jelena Ostapenko in the subsequent round in three sets. Bouchard is fond of the courts in Guadalajara, having previously made the final in 2021 when the event was staged as a 250-level tournament.
The Canadian lost the title match to Sara Sorribes Tormo to extend her bad record in the WTA finals (1-5). Her first and thus far only WTA title came during her career-best 2014 season when she won on the clay in Nuremberg.
Bouchard has won two main draw matches all season in 2023 and failed to qualify at each of the four Grand Slams for the third straight year. She lost to Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska in a tempestuous qualifying match at the 2023 US Open. The Ukrainian did not shake hands after the match following Bouchard's remarks about Yastremska's doping history (even though she cleared her name).
Currently ranked outside the world's Top 200, Bouchard faces an uncertain future on the tennis courts. She has already committed to play Pickleball in 2024, signing up for the PPA Tour, and joining retired ATP stars such as Jack Sock and Sam Querrey, hinting that she could potentially switch her racket for the paddle.
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