Eugenie Bouchard is busier than ever—and loving it

Last year, Eugenie Bouchard surprised both the tennis world and the rapidly growing pickleball community by joining the Carvana PPA Tour, following Jack Sock and Sam Querrey in a wave of star signings who made the switch between court sports.

But the Canadian has never left her “first true love” behind. Still active on the WTA Tour, Bouchard has leaned into hybrid career that lets her have the best of both worlds on the court, and enjoy the flexibility to travel, pursue new passions, and spend time with her loved ones off of it.

Read More: The start of something new? Eugenie Bouchard signs on for PPA Tour in 2024

“I thought I would have more free time, and I feel actually busier than ever," Bouchard tells TENNIS.com via video chat.

Earlier this year, the 30-year-old reached the quarterfinals at an ITF event and on Sunday she competed in qualifying at the National Bank Open in Toronto. Last week, Bouchard was seen hitting the courts at the Mubadala Citi DC Open to play doubles with Sloane Stephens.

While the pair lost in the first round, the D.C. outing also saw Bouchard flex her growing media skills. The occasional Tennis Channel analyst proved a popular host as she skillfully handled post-match interviews, meet and greets, and more asks alongside players like top seed Aryna Sabalenka and hometown favorite Frances Tiafoe.

Challenging herself and learning to adapt have become the mantra for Bouchard—who says she is still trying to make room on the calendar for all the new projects she’s taking on.

“Now I'm able to spend a week doing Tennis Channel broadcasting, I'm able to attend events, or do things that I normally wouldn't be able to do," Bouchard says. "...Since I’ve had more of a (pickleball) specific schedule planned out, I’ve just added more things into it.”

Bouchard was beaming as she recalled marking another first just before our conversation: “It's actually my first pickleball clinic!” she exclaimed, speaking from the Ardea Country Club in Tampa. The Canadian had just helped to unveil the club’s multi-million dollar renovations, which include resurfaced clay courts and new dedicated pickleball courts.

“I've obviously done a lot of tennis pro-ams and clinics over the years with tennis, but to be able to do this now pickleball. … I was a little nervous, just because I don't feel like I’m masterful at pickleball yet. But I just tried to relay my experiences in terms of the transition, ‘OK, coming from tennis, this is what I would do.’”

It’s a topic that Bouchard has become well-versed in, having initially struggled to live up to high expectations when she started her professional pickleball journey. The former WTA No. 5 and 2014 Wimbledon finalist didn’t win a match on the PPA Tour until April, which came via a walkover from her opponent. Ahead of her official pickleball debut in January, she admitted that she still had trouble keeping track of which side of the court to line up on.

Read More: Can Jack Sock become the first to prove that pro tennis players can be top pickleballers, too?

“I did not have expectations on myself at all. I do feel like there were external expectations, because coming from tennis I should ‘obviously’ do well in pickleball,” Bouchard acknowledged. “But that is just completely not the case, because I'm playing against professionals who have honed these specific skills for five years, 10 years.

“It would be presumptuous of me to think that I could just train for a month and jump right in and beat them all.”

For Bouchard, an aggressive baseliner in tennis, part of the learning curve involved having to fight her natural instincts to take the ball on the rise to go for a powerful putaway winner. To improve in pickleball—which involves a shorter paddle, a smaller court and essentially a wiffle ball—Bouchard said she had to “rewire” her brain and hone the sport’s finesse shots before she eventually gained the confidence to hit dinks at the kitchen.

“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.

“I still have a long way to go, but at least I feel like I belong a little more.”

The opportunity to compete on the PPA Tour came during last year’s US Open, Bouchard says, when her agents presented her with the idea of going pro and competing in events while still staying active in tennis.

“I was like, you know, 'I'd love to challenge myself to try something new,'” the 30-year-old said. “And also to be a part of something that is so trending and growing so much, that was really appealing to me. It was also something I could do while still playing some tennis tournaments. So that’s why I was like, ‘Yeah, sign me up.’”

Almost a year on, Bouchard has landed on a hybrid model for her career that blends tennis and pickleball, all while traveling, making appearances and learning the ropes in sports media. And as always, she’s unapologetically Genie: In another recent first, Bouchard shared snaps of her first trip to St. Tropez, where she hit the courts in a bikini for one of her most viral Instagram posts of the year.

Read More: Sam Querrey teases a follow-up to his viral Eugenie Bouchard bikini photo shoot

“[Tennis] is something I wanted to keep up this year,” Bouchard said. “I definitely focused a little more on pickleball at the first part of the year because that was what was new and something I really wanted to get better at.

“It's something I just don't want to let go of, and I absolutely love playing tennis. It's my first true love.

“We'll be seeing lots of tennis, lots of pickle … I'm just making myself busier than ever trying to do all of it!”