CNN
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Eugenie Bouchard, who broke new ground for women’s tennis in Canada, has announced she will retire after this year’s National Bank Open in Montreal.
The Canadian revealed her decision to step away in an Instagram post Wednesday, saying: “You’ll know when it’s time. For me, it’s now. Ending where it all started: Montreal.”
The 31-year-old reached the Wimbledon final in 2014, becoming the first woman from her nation to reach a grand slam singles final in the Open Era.
She also reached the semifinals of both the French Open and Australian Open earlier that year, reaching a career high of world No. 5 in October 2014.
The year also saw Bouchard win her first and only singles title at Nürnberg, before she qualified for the 2014 WTA Finals.
“Few athletes have left as profound a mark on Canadian tennis as Genie has throughout her extraordinary career,” said Tennis Canada’s CEO Gavin Ziv in a statement.
“As one of the very first players to ever be part of the National Tennis Centre presented by Rogers in Montreal, she achieved things that many thought would be impossible for Canadian players.”
He added: “She’s been and still is an incredible ambassador for our sport and, on behalf of Tennis Canada, I want to thank her for everything she’s done. We wish her continued success in the next chapter of her career.”
Her career peaked in 2014 and she never quite managed to hit the same heights again, more recently turning her attention to pickleball.
A distinct turning point in her trajectory as a player was the US Open in 2015, when Bouchard suffered a serious head injury after slipping on a wet locker room floor.
She suffered a concussion and sued the US Tennis Association (USTA) – a jury found the organization was 75% to blame and Bouchard was 25% to blame.
Her playing level never seemed to recover from that moment. Bouchard has barely played top level tennis over the last two years and has dropped out of the world’s top 1,000 players.
Nevertheless, her career has served as inspiration to a new generation of players coming out of Canada.
“She has been one of the most important figures in the history of our sport in Canada and a trailblazer who redefined what Canadian tennis could be,” National Bank Open’s tournament director Valérie Tétreault said in a statement.
“We are proud of everything she has done, as a player and role model, and we can’t wait to see her in action one last time at IGA Stadium this summer.”
The National Bank Open will start on July 26, with Bouchard receiving a wild card to play in the tournament.
