"You are a professional? Like Novak Djokovic?" - Eugenie Bouchard shares hilarious interaction with customs officer in Germany

Former World No. 5 Eugenie Bouchard recently shared a funny story about her interaction with a customs officer in Germany that involved Novak Djokovic.

Bouchard is gearing up to represent her country, Canada, in the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup Finals, set to be held at the Estadio de La Cartuja in Seville, Spain. The tournament will take place from November 7 to 12.

The former Wimbledon finalist will be joined by the likes of Leylah Fernandez, Rebecca Marino, Marina Stakusic, and Gabriela Dabrowski in representing the Canadian squad. It will also mark her return to the court after her appearance at the Guadalajara Open last month, where she suffered a third-round exit.

As Eugenie Bouchard headed to Spain to start her campaign, she had a hilarious encounter with a customs officer in Germany during her journey. When the Canadian mentioned she was a tennis player, the officer asked if she was a professional like 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

"At customs in Germany and when I tell the officer I’m continuing on to Spain to play a tennis tournament he goes ‘Oh so you are a professional? Like Novak Djokovic?’ Yes sir, just like that," she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

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Novak Djokovic is currently chasing his 7th Paris Masters title

The Serb in action at the 2023 Paris Masters

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is in pursuit of his record seventh Paris Masters title in Bercy.

The 36-year-old is the top seed at the last Masters 1000 tournament of the year, with Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev being the second and third seeds, respectively. Alcaraz and Medvedev both were defeated in their opening-round matches.

Meanwhile, Djokovic is off to a good start, just as one might expect. He kicked off his campaign with a victory over Tomas Etcheverry in the second round, with a score of 6-3, 6-2, having received a first-round bye.

However, he faced tough competition in the third round from Tallon Griekspoor. It was a closely contested match, with the Dutch winning the first set and taking the second to a tiebreak. The Serb ultimately managed to win the match, though, and the final score was 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion will now face Holger Rune in the quarterfinals. Interestingly, Rune was the player who defeated the Serb in the tournament's final last year.

On a related note, it's worth mentioning that the Dane is now working with his upcoming opponent's ex-coach, Boris Becker, and has improved his game following a string of poor outcomes in prior events.