Barring the sudden — not always a given, as will be defined — Genie Bouchard will close out her second full season of skilled pickleball the method she was supposed to close out her first.
With more than 1,300 amateurs competing on the surrounding courts, Bouchard will be part of other PPA Tour professionals competing this week in the year-ending Daytona Beach Open at Pictona in Holly Hill.
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“It’s really great to be part of something that’s growing so much, this thing that’s taken over the country,” said Bouchard, who opens the match with singles play immediately, with combined doubles and doubles Thursday and Friday — semifinals and finals are Saturday and Sunday.
Genie Bouchard has less ground to cowl on the pickleball court, but has discovered “precision” enjoying a larger position in her new recreation.
A yr in the past, the former tennis star (world No. 5, 2014 Wimbledon finalist) had comparable plans, but they disappeared in the blink of an eye — or the shank of an eye, to be more exact. During a apply session a couple days before the 2024 Daytona Beach Open, a pickleball deflected off the paddle of her doubles associate and caught her immediately in the left eye.
Eyewear a must for some, but not all, paddle-sport rivals
A visit to pressing care revealed a scratched cornea, and she was compelled to pull out of the match. Did Bouchard abruptly become a practising advocate for eye safety on the pickleball courts, where close-range, rapid-fire rallies occur typically at the increased ranges of play?
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Yes, of course. But no, not fully.
“I always thought eye-protection on the court looked pretty dorky. But after that, of course, I was terrified so I started wearing it,” she said.
But the 31-year-old Canada native immediately realized an challenge with the protecting accent. The frames of the eyewear enter the discipline of imaginative and prescient, and for some gamers more than others, it’s overly irritating.
“The frame, for me, hinders my view,” Bouchard said. “I never played with glasses in tennis. I know some players do but I was never that person. It makes me unable to see everything.
“So I started wearing it for practice but not for matches. For me, I find that little accidents happen more frequently in practice, because people are a little less focused or a touch lackadaisical. Spraining your ankle, and things like that, happen more often on the practice courts. So I wear them in practice but not in the match.”
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For Genie Bouchard, pickleball singles has progressed sooner than doubles
While hovering around No. 50 in doubles and combined doubles in the PPA Tour’s 2025 standings, Bouchard has cracked the high 10 in singles and at the moment sits at No. 9. Like all others in the high 10, Bouchard is trying method up at longtime No. 1 Anna Leigh Waters, who merely never loses a singles match.
But Bouchard, who formally retired from the WTA tennis tour this previous summer time, is completely happy with her progress, particularly in singles, which has included sometimes advancing beyond the early rounds and into the weekend semis and finals.
“I’ve had some really good wins, made it to some Sundays that weren’t for third place,” Bouchard said. “Really proud of that. Had some good wins against great players.
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“There’s still a huge distance between No. 1 and the rest of the pack, but I feel I’m in the mix with the rest of the pack. It’s been fun challenging myself and learning a new sport.”
As for doubles play, Bouchard says her nagging challenge is a acquainted one for many former tennis gamers who discover the “softball” dinking play close to the web counter-intuitive. For baseball pitchers, it’s avoiding the “hanging curveball.” In pickleball, it’s preserving the ball in a low place at a correct angle, where your opponent can’t take benefit of an alternative.
Genie Bouchard is entered in singles, doubles and combined doubles in the Daytona Beach Open, the ultimate match of the yr for the PPA Tour.
It typically falls into the easier-said-than-done class.
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“With the quality of dinks, you know what to do, it’s just a matter of doing it consistently,” she said. “The good players just hit good quality dinks more often. The players who are a tier below hit good quality dinks, but then every once in a while, it pops up a little bit. I’m still in that category, where I need to improve a little bit.
“The margin for error is really small. You have to hit it in that sweet-spot window. Tennis is not like that. If you hit a ball a little off, it doesn’t matter. But the pickleball court is so small, every inch really matters, so you have to be more precise.”
A pickleball proponent at all ranges
Occasional struggles apart, Bouchard hasn’t just turned to pickleball to proceed her aggressive profession while being paid to do so. She’s also become a huge believer in the recreation’s ongoing advantages for gamers at all ranges.
Genie Bouchard made the semifinals of three majors in 2014, and reached the finals at Wimbledon, where she lost to Petra Kvitová. She was the first Canadian to attain a main singles ultimate.
“It’s a nice outlet to keep the competitive aspect going,” she said. “Some other tennis players I speak to are considering it themselves. But I think it’s also good for the community. It’s better to have someone out on the pickleball court instead of on the couch at home.
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“Physical health, mental health … people can socialize with it as well. I think it creates a healthier community.”
This week at Pictona
More than 1,300 amateurs will compete through Sunday at the 49-court Pictona advanced in Holly Hill. The Grandstand and Championship Courts will be reserved for PPA Tour play. Here’s the schedule for the professionals competing in the Florida Dairy Farmers Daytona Beach Open:
Wednesday: Singles starting at 9 a.m. (TV: Pickleball TV, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
Thursday: Mixed doubles starting at 10 a.m. (Pickleball TV, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
Friday: Men’s and ladies’s doubles starting at 10 a.m. (Tennis Channel, 3:30-6:30 p.m.; Pickleball TV, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
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Saturday: Semifinals in all divisions starting at 10 a.m. (Tennis Channel, 3:30-6:30 p.m.; Pickleball TV, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
Sunday: Finals and bronze matches in all divisions starting at 9 a.m. (Tennis Channel, 2:30-5 p.m.; Pickleball TV, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).
More data: PPAtour.com.
This article initially appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: PPA pickleball Daytona Beach Open: Genie Bouchard eyes season finale
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