Eugenie Bouchard fondly looks back on her "iconic" moment with Grigor Dimitrov in Acapulco, brushes aside Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal

Eugenie Bouchard recalled her ‘iconic’ moment of playing tennis on floating courts in the middle of Acapulco Bay with Grigor Dimitrov back in 2014 during that year's Mexico Open. Her nostalgia was sparked by the tournament’s recent kickoff, which featured an exhibition match between Holger Rune and Frances Tiafoe on the floating court of Acapulco Bay.

The concept of floating court tennis gained widespread attention in 2011 when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal played on the waters at the launch of the Qatar Open.

As Rune and Tiafoe recreated this stunning visual to kick off the Mexico Open in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, it reminded everyone of the iconic moment of ‘Fedal’ which then surfaced by a renowned entity in the tennis world, Bastien Fachan. This prompted Bouchard to share the throwback moments of her memories on the floating court with Grigor Dimitrov in 2014.

The former World No. 5 has transitioned as a professional pickleball player in 2024 and recently competed at the Pickleball Slam 3 partnering with Andy Roddick. The duo failed to get past the legendary tennis couple Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, losing the title and the coveted $1 million prize money.

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Eugenie Bouchard’s transition to pickleball from tennis

Eugenie Bouchard at the Pickleball Slam 3 - Source: Getty

The 2014 Wimbledon finalist recently has switched sports from tennis to pickleball. After her constant underwhelming performances and injury concerns since 2018, the 31-year-old finally decided to pick up pickleball in 2024 as a career option. Her tennis skills complemented and helped her adapt to the requirements of pickleball quite easily.

The Canadian is currently competing on the PPA tour which has recently merged with Major League Pickleball. While being aired on ESPN, she was spotted stating her reasons to start playing pickleball. Bouchard said (via Tennis.com):

"I wouldn't say burned out, I was just excited about a new opportunity."

While stating her reasons, she even disclosed her plans of not completely dropping out of the WTA tour (currently ranked No. 996). She has indirectly indicated that she might return to tennis as whatever she has achieved in her life is because of tennis. The opportunity to represent pickleball was also offered to her by the PPA tour because of her achievements in the tennis world. Therefore, Bouchard has not closed her doors on the idea of returning to the sport.