Genie Bouchard Retires From Professional Tennis

Eugenie Bouchard of Canada arrives at the players party ahead of the WTA Guadalajara Open Akron 2022, at Centro Panamericano de Tenis on October 15, 2022, in Zapopan, Mexico (Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images)

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One-time world No. 5 and Wimbledon finalist Eugenie “Genie” Bouchard has played her last match as a WTA professional.

Bouchard, who is Canadian and has represented her country in the Olympic Games, played the last singles match of her professional tennis career on July 30 at the Omnium Banque Nationale présenté par Rogers in Montréal.

She announced earlier in the month that she would play her final tournament in her hometown, but the 31-year-old lost a second-round matchup against Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, 2-6, 6-3, 4-6.

In addition to being the first Canadian-born player to reach a Grand Slam singles final, Bouchard made history as a member of the first Canadian team to lift the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023.

The right-hander boasts an impressive career, having logged a 300-230 record as a pro. Bouchard made her professional debut in 2008 at age 14, when she played her first WTA qualifying match in Montréal as a part of the ITF Circuit.

Bouchard’s first big splash came in 2012, when she defeated Elina Svitolina to capture the girls’ singles title at Wimbledon.

She made her Top 100 debut on April 8, 2013, and cracked the Top 50 in September 2013. Later that season, at the Japan Open in Osaka, Bouchard reached the first of eight Tour-level singles finals and was named WTA Newcomer of the Year.

But it was 2014 that became Bouchard’s banner year, breaking through to the semifinals at the Australian Open, as well as the French Open, the latter of which pitted her against then four-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova, who went on to win at Roland Garros.

Also that year, Bouchard, seeded No.13 at Wimbledon, stormed to the final, defeating No.3 Simona Halep in the semifinal before falling to Petra Kvitova in the title bout. She achieved her career-high ranking of No.5 on October 20, 2014.

In addition to her singles title at Nürnberg, Bouchard won a doubles title in 2019 with USA star Sofia Kenin at Auckland.

Playing as an unranked wildcard in Montréal this week, Bouchard enjoyed a rousing three-set win over Colombia’s Emiliana Arango in the first round, Monday night.

The Canadian star also boasts 12 wins over Top 10 opponents and, over her career, earned nearly $7 million in prize money.

More than just a photogenic, exciting player

Fellow players and others heavily involved in the game point to Bouchard’s influence on the sport. The Tennis Gazette reported that Australian pro Jaimee Fourlis said that Bouchard not only held her own as a pro but also introduced a style and energy to the game that was refreshing and new.

Fourlis hints that Bouchard is “more influential” than she gets credit for.

“I feel like on the ITF Tour at the moment, the next crop of girls who are coming up, you can definitely see they have watched Genie and idolised her,” Fourlis said on the Australian Open podcast. “A lot of these girls are starting to swing like her and play like her and hold [the] baseline.

“When you walk around the tour, especially at ITF events, you are like, I know who your favorite player was when you were growing up.

“So I feel like there’s a lot of those girls who are hugging baseline, holding, and pretty much have the same swings as Genie. I definitely think she was more influential than a lot of people have said.”

Reflecting on Bouchard’s career, the WTA’s CEO, Portia Archer, said: “With her standout achievements on court and engagement with fans, Genie has inspired a generation of young Canadians and helped grow the popularity of tennis around the world. On behalf of the WTA, I wish her every happiness and success as she sets out to conquer fresh challenges.”

World No. 33 player Emma Raducanu paid a touching tribute to 31-year-old Bouchard, saying that she enjoyed Bouchard’s style of play. On her Instagram account, Raducau said, “Thank you Genie. Loved watching you play (heart emoji),”

In recent years, Bouchard has jumped in as a television analyst and tennis pundit for the Tennis Channel, and in 2024, she made her professional debut as a pickleball player on the PPA Tour.

In February, AP News reported that Bouchard’s appearances on the court at pickleball competitions always conjured a “big draw” of fans, while the Canadian also had climbed the sport’s rankings to No. 17.

Rounding out the calendar year, Bouchard is signed up to compete in the Luxembourg Ladies Tennis Masters, an invitational event featuring WTA alumnae, this coming October.