Eugenie Bouchard has taken a different path after her tennis career, and it’s leading straight to the pickleball court. The former Wimbledon finalist is now making waves in the sport, currently ranked No. 17 in the pickleball standings. Not only has she become a force to be reckoned with, but she also has her own signature pickleball paddle. But she’s not the only former tennis pro stepping into the pickleball world. Jack Sock, a former American tennis star, has also joined the movement. And the two have found a rather unconventional place to hone their pickleball skills.
The Canadian is currently juggling both pro pickleball and pro tennis. On the tennis side, she last competed at the WTA 1000 event in Canada in 2024. Meanwhile, Sock made his pro pickleball debut at the 2023 PPA North Carolina Open. The former American tennis star started strong, winning a mixed doubles gold medal with Anna Leigh Waters and later signing with the PPA Tour. The two have teamed up for multiple mixed doubles events. In January, they played together at the PPA Masters but couldn’t make it past the early rounds. In February, at the Tuscan Open, they faced Lindsey Newman and Ivan Jakovljevic, falling 8-11, 5-11.
It seems they’ve reunited again in March—but not on a traditional pickleball court. Instead, Bouchard and Sock were seen practicing on a flight. Taking to Instagram, Bouchard shared a clip of their mid-air pickleball session, and Sock reposted it, captioning it, “ok we will stop annoying the plane.”
Pickleball continues to explode in popularity, recently being named the fastest-growing sport in the United States for the fourth consecutive year. Even tennis legend Andre Agassi has weighed in on the sport’s appeal. “Anybody can pick up a pickleball racket, anybody. It’s not intimidating. You grab the paddle and you try it, and every ten minutes you get better. I don’t care what level you play at,” he said.
Bouchard, however, sees both sports as very alike.
Eugenie Bouchard highlights the similarities between tennis and pickleball.
In a promotional video for Pickleball Slam 3, Eugenie Bouchard pointed out the athletic demands of the game. “Pickleball pros are very close to tennis pros. Everyone’s athletic, especially in singles. It is very tough physically, so you have to be in shape and often [one player will] play multiple matches in a day, which is very different from tennis as well. So, being on the pro tour you have to be ready for that like endurance,” she said.
The Canadian player’s tennis career once saw her rise to a career-high ranking of No. 5 in the world. She was named Tennis Canada’s Female Player of the Year four times and made deep runs at multiple Grand Slams, reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open and French Open in 2014 before finishing as runner-up at Wimbledon. In 2015, she reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open again, but injuries later disrupted her progress. Now, she’s fully embraced pickleball as a new chapter in her professional career.
Jack Sock too, had a decorated tennis career. He won four ATP singles titles and 17 doubles titles, including three Grand Slam men’s doubles trophies—at Wimbledon in 2014 and 2018 and the US Open in 2018. He also clinched an Olympic gold medal in mixed doubles and a bronze medal in men’s doubles at the 2016 Rio Olympics. But now, he’s all in on pickleball and wants to bring both sports together. “I would also like to be that bridge between tennis and pickleball. I feel like there’s some negativity from some fans, so I want to try to unite both. There’s space for both because they’re both incredible sports,” he said.
From tennis courts to pickleball courts—and even to airplanes—Bouchard and Sock are taking the sport to new heights.
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