Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard has become the highest-profile addition yet to America’s PPA Tour.
The 29-year-old tennis star has become the best-known female professional player to make the switch to pickleball, with the PPA Tour confirming the move on Instagram.
Bouchard had her breakout year in 2014, reaching the semi-finals of both the Australian and French Open, before falling at the final hurdle at Wimbledon that same year.
Petra Kvitova proved too much in the final that year, taking home the trophy after a 6-3, 6-0 win, and it remains the only Grand Slam final Bouchard has reached.
Ranked as high as #5 in the world that same year, the Canadian has not made it to the quarter-finals of another Grand Slam since the 2015 Australian Open, and she is now ranked #215.
Injuries have been a problem in recent years, with Bouchard having missed 17 months of action in 2021 and 2022 because of an issue with her right shoulder.
The PPA Tour consists of 25 tournaments a year, across 14 states in the U.S., with the prize money across all 25 tournaments in 2023 totalling $5.5m, almost double the available prize money in 2022.
Pickleball is proving an attractive alternative to tennis, especially for stars from North America.
Four-time Grand Slam doubles champion Jack Sock, ranked #2 in the world in doubles and #8 in singles at his peak made his professional pickleball debut in May of this year. He announced he will join the PPA Tour after the US Open. He has already won a title in pickleball, taking home the mixed doubles trophy at the North Carolina Open with Anna Leigh Waters.
He was then joined in August by former world #11 Sam Querrey, who has previously played in several pickleball tournaments and is now joining the tour full-time.
