“Such a flop” “When you can no longer compete in tennis, you go to Pickleball” – Tennis fans react to Eugenie Bouchard joining PPA Tour

Tennis fans on the internet denounced Eugenie Bouchard for quitting tennis and joining the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA).

Bouchard started playing professional tennis in 2009. She reached the Australian Open and French Open semifinals and a final at the Wimbledon Championships in 2014 before achieving a career-high ranking of World No. 5 the same year.

The Canadian currently sits in the 215th spot in the WTA rankings. She has not competed in the main event of a Grand Slam since the 2020 French Open. She played the qualifiers at the 2023 US Open but failed to make it to the main draw.

Bouchard, 29, will now give up tennis and pick up the smaller racket on the PPA tour at the turn of the year. The tour announced Bouchard's signing on social media, writing:

"With one of the biggest signings of the year, @geniebouchard, professional tennis star with a WTA #5 career high in singles, joins the PPA Tour in 2024!"

The announcement has not met with a positive reception from tennis buffs. A fan opined that Bouchard's move to pickleball will render her irrelevant.

"Ah Genie, you were done playing tennis anyway and your Novak swipes have never been forgotten. Enjoy descending into irrelevancy with pickleball as you continue to try to get any attention you can. Maybe green hair this time," the fan wrote.

Another fan said the Canadian's best years were already behind her.

"Couldn’t hack it on a tennis court. Stopped being good maybe 8 years ago, been coasting on looks ever since," the fan tweeted.

A user chimed in, saying:

"When you can no longer compete in tennis, you go to Pickleball. Everyone knows that."

Another user expressed his disappointment, writing:

"Genie Bouchard is such a flop omg."

Here are a few more reactions from X (formerly Twitter):

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Eugenie Bouchard at Grand Slams

Eugenie Bouchard with the runner-up trophy: Wimbledon 2014

Eugenie Bouchard won the Wimbledon girls' title in 2012 and broke through the tennis ranks in the year 2014.

Seeded 30 in the 2014 Australian Open, she managed to reach her first-ever Grand Slam semifinal. She famously defeated 14th seed Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals but lost to eventual champion Li Na in the final four.

Bouchard continued with her brilliant form at the French Open as well. She defeated higher-ranked Angelique Kerber and Carla Suarez Navarro before going down against eventual champion Maria Sharapova in the semifinals.

Going forward, the former WTA No. 5 reached her first Major final at the Wimbledon Championships. The 13th seed got the better of Angelique Kerber once again and also trounced third seed Simona Halep in the semifinals to set up the summit clash with Petra Kvitova.

Eugenie Bouchard's career, however, went down a slippery slope after 2014 as she has only reached one quarterfinal — at the 2015 Australian Open — since then.