Genie Bouchard at National Pickleball Day and the 2025 DoorDash Major League Pickleball Finals at Grand Central Terminal on August 8, 2025, in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images)
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Yet, Genie Bouchard has started her first full year as a competitor in the Pro Pickleball Association with a bang. She’s also set to compete in the Carvana PPA World Championships, beginning today in Dallas.
“Signing on to play in the PPA almost two years ago, I went from a full-time (pro) tennis player, to a part-time tennis player, on to pickleball in a way that was just a nice transition,” Bouchard said during our Zoom interview on October 30. “It made the transition easy for me.”
Bouchard, who turned professional as a tennis player in 2009 at age 15, also said that she thinks the transition into pro pickleball came at the right time.
“In hindsight, I’m glad it worked out this way, because I think going from 100 to zero is tough mentally and physically. So, it’s nice to get to travel, still have a job that requires me to be physically in shape, and to not quit (sports) cold turkey.”
The right-handed Canadian-born player added that she has started playing left-handed, thanks to pickleball, while also utilizing the skills from her 16-year WTA tennis career in a different way.
The sport of pickleball, which was first established back in 1965, has evolved from a demonstration sport and second pastime for tennis enthusiasts into a full-on professional sport that staged its first U.S. Open championship in 2016.
Related story: Tennis legend Maria Sharapova takes up pickleball
And while much of the enthusiasm about pickleball comes from its accessibility and the popularization of the sport as a doubles game, many longtime pros, like Bouchard and fellow tennis stars such as Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, and Maria Sharapova, have brought their edge as singles players to the sport.
“Singles in pickleball is so much more similar to tennis, and that’s my best category by far, and comes more naturally to me,” said Bouchard. She made sure to point out, however, that pickleball is by no means a miniature version of tennis.
“In pickleball, the ball does not move and bounce off the surface the same way it does in tennis. So, you have to move well.” The 5-foot-10 tennis star also added that her height does not necessarily give her a leg up, the way it might in tennis, especially on Wimbledon’s grass.
“Being tall is not that much of an advantage. Getting up overhead is not as important, and it’s hard to get a good lob, even against a normal-sized player,” Bouchard explained. “Also, you have to get low and get up to the ball. It may not be as physically demanding as tennis, but the court is smaller, your paddle is shorter, and unlike in tennis, you don’t have the luxury as much of the ball coming to you.”
As a tennis player on the WTA Tour, Bouchard finished her career with a 300–230 record as a singles player, winning one career title, topping out in the world rankings at World No. 5. She was also a finalist at Wimbledon in 2014, at age 20, facing Czech Republic star Petra Kvitová.
Going into the PPA’s World Championships, Bouchard is currently ranked by the pickleball organization at No. 9 as a singles player and No. 45 in doubles.
Bouchard (center) along with Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, and Andy Roddick after competing in the Pickleball Slam 3 at Michelob ULTRA Arena on February 16, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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Bouchard’s recent results in the PPA have shown her as a rising star and perhaps a dark horse for this week’s eventual title in Dallas. She recently finished in late October as the runner-up at the PPA Rate Vegas Open, where she defeated Kate Fahey and Jorja Johnson in close matches before losing in the finals to Anna Leigh Waters.
Earlier this fall, Bouchard also earned a silver medal at the Life Time Arden tournament, overcoming Mary Brascia in the semi-finals before falling to Kate Fahey in the finals on September 28.
When it comes to the other side of the game, Bouchard admits that playing doubles in pickleball is challenging.
“Doubles (in pickleball) is a whole different animal, but I love it, and I want to get better at it, and compete. Yet, just from last year, the players and the field in doubles have gotten so much better. This year, every match is hard.”
Bouchard admits that the skill set in doubles pickleball runs counter to the style and flow of her game that she relied on as a WTA singles player. She added that some of what works in doubles pickleball “were bad shots in tennis. So, (now) I’ve had to unlearn almost 25 years” of singles tennis habits. “And that’s hard to do.”
In addition to playing competitively, Bouchard has continued to let her notoriety and personality shine in pickleball as an ambassador for the sport. As such, she is slated to partake in a celebrity pickleball match against Dirk Nowitzki at the Jenius Bank Pickleball World Championships on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, at 7 p.m., also in Dallas.
The event, which also features other celebrities such as Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens and longtime MLB star J.D. Martinez, is a charity fundraiser for the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation.
Read Frye’s interviews with Billie Jean King and Maria Sharapova.
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