Eugenie Bouchard is preparing to retire from professional tennis at her home tournament in Canada next week. Aged just 31, the former world No. 5 has barely played in recent years, turning her hands to pickleball instead. But she made her comeback at the WTA 125 in Newport just a couple of weeks ago, and then announced her retirement.
Bouchard enjoyed a breakthrough in 2014, winning her first title, reaching the Wimbledon final, and breaking into the world’s top five aged just 20. But the Canadian has struggled for form since, and she’s now “excited” to say goodbye on home soil.
The 31-year-old returned to tennis at the WTA 125 in Newport earlier this month and lost in the first round. But Bochard’s brief stint back on the tour didn’t encourage her to continue as days later, she took to social media to announce her retirement.
“Well, look, I obviously started doing the pickleball stuff about a year and a half ago, so that already had me playing a lot less tennis,” Bouchard said of her decision to hang up her racket.
“I think all good things come to an end. I love tennis. I’ll always love tennis. I will stay involved in tennis. But it just takes so much dedication, sacrifice, and, you know, dedicating your entire life to have a chance to make it.
“That’s something I have done my whole life thus far. For me, at a certain point, that’s just not worth it anymore. So I’m kind of at that stage.”
Bouchard also played in the WTA 500 event in Washington for the final time, partnering with Clervie Ngounoue in the doubles. They lost to Venus Williams and Hailey Baptiste.
After her last appearance in the US capital, the former world No. 5 looked ahead to her upcoming retirement and admitted she had initially dreaded announcing her decision.
Bouchard explained: “Right before I announced it, I was kind of stressed about this whole situation and had this thought of, ‘Oh, I just want to fast-track until August and put it all behind me’.
“And then I got such an outpouring of support and so many people reached out to me, and I saw so much positivity out in the universe.
“I was, like, ‘Okay, wait, let me embrace this time’. It’s such a unique time in my life and something I have never done before and will never do again, really, unless I retire from my normal office job in 40 years.”
Now, Bouchard is looking forward to her final appearance in Montreal. And her short but sweet time in Washington gave her a taste of what to expect next week.
“So I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m actually excited’. First I was quite stressed about the whole ordeal, and then seeing the love I got, feeling so supported and appreciated made me feel so excited. So I’m looking forward to it. I want to make it like a celebration, not a funeral and see everybody.
“Even just being here in D.C. feels like a high school reunion to me. I went to the player party last night, and I was hugging everybody and saying hi to everybody. I also haven’t played a tournament in a year, so I haven’t seen people in a while.
“So I want it to be like that next week too and soak up every moment of love and tennis and the hard stuff on the court, the amazing stuff off the court. You know, it sounds cliche, but really just appreciate it so much.”
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