Quebecer Eugenie Bouchard is likely to swap her tennis racket for a pickleball racket in 2024, the professional pickleball circuit announced on Thursday.
"@geniebouchard, a star professional tennis player who has climbed as high as fifth in the world singles rankings, will be joining the PPA Tour in 2024," read the official Twitter account of the circuit, along with a photo of the 29-year-old athlete.
It is not yet known whether this announcement will have any impact on her tennis career.
Bouchard, from the Montreal on-island suburb of Westmount, is currently ranked 215th in the WTA world rankings.
The 2014 Wimbledon finalist has not played a singles match since being eliminated by American Danielle Collins in qualifying for the National Bank Open last month.
Bouchard has compiled a 9-9 record so far in 2023, for a cumulative career record of 295-224.
She won her only career WTA Tour title in May 2014 at the Nuremberg tournament in Germany, defeating Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the final.
Pickleball, also known as light tennis in Quebec, is a racket sport, played indoors or outdoors, in which two players (singles) or four players (doubles) hit a perforated hollow plastic ball over a 0.91 m high net using a solid-faced racket.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 7, 2023.
