Everything good comes at a price, doesn’t it?  Ask Canadian player Eugenie Bouchard, whose growing love for pickleball has come with its own set of challenges. From bruising her leg to spending more time on the pickleball court than the tennis court, this WTA star’s pickleball journey hasn’t been without its hiccups. Yet, Bouchard hasn’t let those setbacks demotivate her. In her recent social media update, this WTA star made it clear that she won’t stop until she masters the art of this new sport.

Bouchard dropped an update about her pickleball practice session. Despite an established tennis career, this Canadian player surprised everyone when she decided to switch to tennis’ sister sport. Bouchard was the first Canadian WTA star to reach the 2014 Wimbledon finals. She also entered the semifinals of the Australian Open and the French Open the same year. Interestingly, this WTA star also won the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup. Given her career record, it seemed evident that the Canadian had more left in her. But the star felt Pickleball was her calling, and made the switch. Though it’s not easy, she is enjoying it.

Bouchard shared a selfie on her official IG story where her followers could see her keeping her left eye closed. “got hit in the eye with a pickleball during training today. It was a shank off my partner’s paddle straight into the eye,” she wrote in the caption. However, she cleared that it wasn’t her or anyone’s mistake but a random accident that caused her pain. In her next story, Bouchard shared another selfie wearing an eye patch on her left eye. She smiled and showed a thumbs-up sign expressing that she is doing better. “went to urgent care and have a scratched cornea. the things we do for this sport!!! will be healed in a matter of days,” she added assuring her followers of a speedy recovery.

However, this is not Bouchard’s first accident during her pickleball practice session. Two months after she joined the sport, she shared an update on her IG story last year’s May showing that she got a bruise on her right thigh while practicing pickleball. Sharing the picture, she captioned it, “Pickle injuries.” Despite challenges, Bouchard’s social media updates about her pickleball practice also showcase her spirit and indomitable zeal.

Her pickleball skills are still improving. Last year, she revealed how she needs more time in this sport than tennis highlighting the challenges of the sport that runs deeper than they might appear!

Eugenie Bouchard reveals why she needs more time on court for pickleball practices

In an interview with Tennis.com last year, this Canadian player confessed that starting to play pickleball wasn’t a smooth journey but was quite challenging in the beginning. Despite her experience in tennis, she had to go through many setbacks. “So many things that I would do in tennis are not what you want to do in pickleball, 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,” said Bouchard highlighting her knack and dedication for the sport.

In October she reached her first professional pickleball tournament’s semifinals in Las Vegas. Although she lost the tournament, she’s delighted to come that far. “I’m so excited, I can’t tell you how happy I am,  I feel like I’m been putting in the hours and I’m so happy to see it paying off on the match court,” she said in an interview with the Pickleballtv.

Eugenie Bouchard’s dedication to pickleball demands applause from the fraternity. Despite challenges, she never gave up and fought as a warrior to show she was good at both tennis and its sister sport.