Eugenie Bouchard shocked by pickleball taking over tennis in USA, despite her own career switch

Eugenie Bouchard expressed her surprise at the news that 10% of tennis courts had been turned into pickleball courts to satisfy the demands of the rapidly growing sport. Interestingly, the Canadian is among the many tennis stars who have become professionals in pickleball.

Bouchard became the first Canadian-born player to reach the Wimbledon finals in 2014. She also reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and the French Open the same year. Though she had her fair share of success as a tennis player, winning the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup, she never replicated her stellar 2014 season moving forward.

The 30-year-old shocked the sporting world when she announced that she would take her tennis skills to the pickleball court last year. However, it is worth noting that she hasn't quit tennis and juggles her life as a professional in both sports. There have been other players such as Jack Sock and Sam Querrey who have hung up their rackets to pick up the pickleball paddle.

The sport's rapid growth has been detrimental to tennis. A popular pickleball page on Instagram shared how the CEO of the USTA (United States Tennis Association) acknowledged pickleball's massive 223% rise in popularity over the last few years.

"The U.S. Tennis Association has reported that nearly 10% of tennis courts in the United States have been converted or repurposed into pickleball courts. Lew Sherr, CEO of the USTA, acknowledged that with pickleball's popularity surging by 223% in the past three years, there aren't facilities available to accommodate both sports," reported @thekitchenpickleball on Instagram.

Eugenie Bouchard was shocked by pickleball taking over tennis and took to her Instagram story to react to the news as she shared the post with an emoji.

"😳," reacted Eugenie Bouchard.

Eugenie Bouchard reacts to the news on her Instagram story - Source: @geniebouchard on Instagram

During Wimbledon this year, Novak Djokovic had also relayed his fears of tennis being endangered.

"I have to rewire my brain" - Eugenie Bouchard on how the difference between tennis and pickleball made her spend more time on courts

Eugenie Bouchard - Source: Getty

During a video chat with TENNIS.com in August, Eugenie Bouchard highlighted how many of her tennis skills couldn't be transferred to her pickleball game, which led her to practice more until she found her rhythm.

“So many things that I would do in tennis are not what you want to do in pickleball,” Bouchard explained. “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.

Eugenie Bouchard and another former American tennis force Andy Roddick will team up to butt heads against tennis power couple Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf in Pickleball Slam 3 next year.