Montreal – Eugenie Bouchard did not look like a player who retired.
You would be forgiven that you think she was still in her bloom.
In the middle court in her hometown, Bouchard delivered an exciting performance – and a genuine farewell to tennis – with a tough loss in her last game on Wednesday evening.
“I have always had the feeling that I would end my career here,” said Bouchard. “Montreal is where I was born and raised, so it just feels good. An emotional moment. I think I just wanted a moment like this because my career deserved a moment like this.
“I really think I got it tonight, and I’m so grateful for that.”
The 31-year-old bow 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 out in the second round of the National Bank Open against 17th Seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, but the crowd against a top-tier opponent-with flashes of the assertive match that once driven her rise to world no. 5 in 2014.
So is she sure with retirement?
“My sister said she started a petition with fans in the crowd, and everyone has signed it, so now I have no choice but to withdraw my pension,” Bouchard said smiling. “But there is a lot of hard work that tennis goes. It was great to be able to perform well, but it is such a difficult life of sacrifice and hard work.
“I have given so much tennis, and it has given me so much, but I feel ready to continue it and do other things in life, but I will be grateful for what tennis has given me forever.”
Bouchard had expanded her Montreal-Run with a Throwback first round up region on Monday evening against Emiliana Arango, her first WTA Tour victory since 2023.
The local favorite returned on Wednesday by collecting a set, but Bencic held up to win the game in two hours, 16 minutes.
Fans who sang the stands in Iga Stadium “Let’s go GO Genie!” And became louder all night and stood for different ovations.
Bouchard returned the favor with an emotional, tear -eyed speech during a ceremony on the field.
“It’s so special to play my last match here in Montreal, at this court, for you,” she said. “I remember that I was a small child, that I was in these stands, hoping and dreaming that I would ever play at this court.
“It feels like such a full circle moment.”
And her career went on almost a little longer.
After a difficult first set, Bouchard bounced back to win the second and went up a break early in the third and won a third game when Bencic’s shot in the net dropped at the fifth breaking point opportunity of the Canadian.
Bencic regrouped and broke back to bind to 3-3 while Bouchard Schoten sprays wide and long. Bouchard followed 5-4 and had to hold serve, fell into a 40-love hole and sent her backhand wide as she defended the second match point, ending her upset bid.
“I knew I could win the game,” she said. “It was really close from the second.”
Instead, it marks the end of a career in the roller coaster.
Bouchard peaked during the 2014 season and won her only WTA -Singles title, reached the Australian Open and French Open Semis and became the first Canadian to play in a Grand Slam Singles final in Wimbledon.
But the rapid rise of Bouchard at 20 also came down quickly after her 6-3, 6-0 loss for Petra Kvitova in the All England Club.
Her long-awaited homecoming a month later ended abruptly with a 6-0, 2-6, 6-0 loss against the American qualifying Shelby Rogers in the then completed Rogers Cup. And the following year Bouchard from the French open and Wimbledon first rounds when the losing stripes were piled up.
A run to the US Open fourth round hinted on a return to shape, until Bouchard suffered a concussion to slide into the dressing room – for which she later tightened a lawsuit – causing her to get rid of the tournament.
In recent years, Bouchard has played sporadically on the Pro Tennis Circuit and spent more time on the PPA Pickleball Tour, where she is in 12th place in Singles.
She came up for her last event with the WTA 125 Hall of Fame Open in July – her first tournament since the National Bank Open last year – and lost her open sets.
As far as the next one is, Bouchard says that she is looking forward to sleeping, going on vacation and to think about what she wants to do with the rest of her life.
“I feel like I missed it because I didn’t go to university and didn’t go to school,” she said. “Diving more into the TV is definitely something I enjoy, so that’s a likely next step. I mean, are someone of you accepting (laughing)? I don’t know how to even write – what do you call it even if you …”.
Looking for the word Bouchard? CV.
“I don’t even have one,” she said. “Maybe my agent can think of one for me. I am not used to that.”
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