EUGENIE BOUCHARD DISCUSSED TENNIS FUTURE AFTER MISSING WIMBLEDON AND PLAYING NEW SPORT
Tennis sensation Eugenie Bouchard is continuing to take time away from tennis after investing her time in a new sport. The Canadian star, who was ranked at No.5 in the world following impressive performances at the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon in 2014, has seen her career impacted by injuries and a series of losses, plummeting to 524th in the rankings.
After a shoulder injury sidelined her for over a year, Bouchard has pivoted to Pickleball, a sport that's rapidly gaining popularity. She joined the Professional Pickleball Association Tour in September and has been balancing her time between both sports.
In a candid conversation with YouTuber Valeria Lipovetsky, Bouchard reflected on her current athletic journey. "That's a very good question. I would say that changed this year because I have to invest some of my time playing the pickleball events as well," she said.
"So training in the gym for both, I would say, is similar but obviously on the court it's different. So if I'm starting to give some time to pickle, it's taking time away from tennis. I would say this is an exploratory year to see how I love either one, how I love both, how I'm able to manage doing both.
"I don't know. I think it's more of an experimental year and we'll see how it goes. This is brand-new for me so I don't know for sure yet is my answer. I totally shifted this year and it's only been three months, four months. I have no idea yet, I'm testing it out, we'll see."
The sport of pickleball has snagged the attention of tennis phenom Bouchard as she dips into this growing domain after participating in her inaugural event at the start of the year, before securing a first win in April.
Despite her primary focus on tennis, Bouchard has been able to balance her time between the court and the pickleball arena, with the latter engagements also occurring in May.
Bouchard also seized the chance to expand her horizons during her shoulder rehab, gracing the broadcast arena with her presence as she joined the Tennis Channel's commentary team not just at Queen's Club Championships but also involving herself with various European tournaments.
"[The injury] made me do more off-court stuff," revealed Bouchard. " I went to do some commentating for the Tennis Channel, found out I really loved that and was told I was good at it so that's something I would love to continue exploring. That's something I can do after tennis."
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