When a 20-year-old Eugenie Bouchard reached the Wimbledon final in 2014, she was hailed as the new star of women’s tennis. A prosperous and lucrative career on and off the court was expected, with the business media company SportsPro including the Canadian on a top-20 list of sport’s most marketable athletes alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Usain Bolt and Alex Morgan.
Ten years later, Bouchard is ranked No524 in the world after playing only one third-tier tournament this season, at which a cheque of £1,400 was received for two wins. Instead of hitting tennis balls on the grass in preparation for Wimbledon, two weeks ago she was on the smaller hard courts of California for a Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) event.
While the racket sport of padel