After retirement announcement, Bouchard finally feeling understood

Genie Bouchard is anticipating an emotional moment when she takes the court in her hometown of Montreal and competes in the final tournament of her tennis career.

"I hope it will be special," the 31-year-old told TSN. "I know it will be. I hope people come out. I hope to just really enjoy it."

Bouchard announced last week that she will retire following the National Bank Open. Tennis Canada awarded Bouchard a wildcard into the main draw of the 1,000-level event and is preparing an on-court ceremony for after her final match. 

"I was quite stressed about the whole thing," said Bouchard, who became Canada's first Grand Slam singles finalist at Wimbledon in 2014. "I actually told myself, I said, 'I wish I could just fast forward to August and just get through this and then move on.' But then as soon as I announced it, I just felt so much love and support. I just saw so much positivity about me and my career. I felt recognized for my hard work and really seen and understood and that made me feel so appreciated."

Bouchard will play her first-round match on Sunday or Monday.

The response to the retirement announcement caught Bouchard off guard. With 2.3 million Instagram followers and 1.5 million on X, Bouchard is used to dealing with keyboard critics and trolls on social media. 

"What surprised me was the positivity I saw online," the former World No. 5 said. "Obviously, being a little bit of a polarizing figure, some would say, I've had my fair share of positive stuff online and negative as well. I just saw mostly positive stuff. All the articles and the comments and the reposts, some from personal friends, some just from news outlets and other sources, were really just appreciating my career.

“I don't know, I've been so beaten down with all the negativity that I was a little bit surprised and taken aback that, okay, people do understand how hard it is. They appreciate the hard work I've done. Whatever I've achieved, they recognize that it's hard to do."

After being named the WTA's newcomer of the year in 2013, Bouchard ascended to superstar status in 2014. She reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and French Open before making the Wimbledon final. She also reached the fourth round at the US Open. No player on tour won more major matches that season than the 20-year-old Canadian. Bouchard also picked up her one and only WTA title in Nuremberg, Germany that season. 

Bouchard's popularity soared and her legion of loyal supporters became known as Genie's Army. 

"I love being able to say that I was a part of helping Canadian tennis," Bouchard said when asked what she's most proud of. "I also love to know that I've inspired some people. I don't know how many, hopefully a lot, but I know that every time a kid would come up to me or I'd get a call from a tennis coach talking about their academy or kids who say they look up to me or I'm their tennis idol, that is the impact that makes me feel special. Obviously, I chase my own dreams and I'm achieving success for myself, but things only matter if you have that continuity and you continue the dynasty of Canadian tennis, of tennis in general."

Bouchard's success helped pave the way for others like Bianca Andreescu, who made Canadian history by winning the country's first singles Grand Slam title at the 2019 US Open, and Leylah Annie Fernandez, who reached the 2021 US Open final. 

"Genie has actually not only set the bar high, but she has kind of broke down barriers about Canadian tennis," said Fernandez. "It was inspiring."

"I remember meeting her for the first time when I was like 10 years old and I took a photo with her," said 18-year-old rising Canadian star Victoria Mboko. "I think her legacy in Canadian tennis will remain very, very there and very, very good."

Bouchard, Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil all arrived on the scene around the same time and helped usher in a new era in Canadian tennis. Raonic, who made the Wimbledon final in 2016, owns the highest singles ranking in Canadian history at No. 3. Pospisil reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2015 and was ranked as high as No. 25. 

Raonic has not played this season while Pospisil has only played a couple matches on the Challenger Tour. The 35-year-old from Vernon, B.C. announced he will retire after the National Bank Open in Toronto.

"It's like all the OGs are on their way out, right?" Bouchard said with a smile. "I'm honoured to be a part of that first group. Of course, we had great players before us as well, but in kind of more recent memory, I would say, just to inspire the next generation."

Bouchard, who represented Canada at the 2016 Olympics, was one of the first players to train at the National Tennis Centre in Montreal and her success boosted belief in the country's ability to develop top talent. 

"I'm so happy and proud that tennis is, I feel like, a bigger sport in Canada now since our results, and because of what we've accomplished," she said. "It feels like the No. 2 sport in Canada. Obviously hockey will always be No. 1, but back in my day, I mean, tennis was not really a thing as much. I would go play at my tennis club, but it wasn't talked about as broadly and things like that. So, yeah, to have contributed to that awareness, to just make it a bit bigger and a better sport in our country, I feel like is cool to be a part of."

Bouchard's advice to the next generation? 

"The No. 1 thing I would say is believe in yourself even more than what you do right now," she said. "I believed in myself for sure, but it's like you almost have to be delusional to do something insane, right? You have to be crazy to achieve crazy. And so believing in yourself, like, don't be ashamed at how much you do. Be delusional, that's okay. Most billionaires I've met, they're all delusional, so you got to have that mindset."

Bouchard admits that she struggled, at times, to cope with the outside noise during her career, which leads her to a second piece of advice for aspiring players. 

"If you do start having that success and then having some kind of, you know, presence, a stage, an audience, don't listen to the haters," she said. "Haters are going to hate. Everyone has them. It actually means you achieved something. People always want to, you know, rag on whoever's at the top. If you don't have haters, it means you haven't done much in your life, right? So you got to see it as a reverse compliment. Don't let it get into your head ... I just wish I could, you know, beat that into my brain even more."

Bouchard was unable to really build on her breakthrough 2014 season. She made the quarter-finals at the 2015 Australian Open, but then lost in the first round at the French Open and Wimbledon as the weight of greater expectations took its toll.

Bouchard did appear to get back on track at the US Open that year. With legendary former player Jimmy Connors in her corner, Bouchard reached the fourth round in singles while also winning matches in doubles and mixed doubles.

After winning a night mixed-doubles match, Bouchard slipped on a cleaning substance and fell in a dark dressing room, suffering a concussion and being forced to withdraw from the tournament. She did not play the rest of the season. 

"I was still alive in all three draws and, you know, had had a tough year up until that moment," she recalled. "I was like, 'What if?' I was finally getting my mojo back, what would have happened? I just felt so happy and good on the court and was unfortunately just, you know, stopped so short."

With Bouchard out, World No. 43 Roberta Vinci advanced via walkover and went on to upset Serena Williams, who was going for the calendar year Grand Slam, in the semifinals before losing to Flavia Pennetta in the championship match. 

Bouchard successfully sued the U.S. Tennis Association. She reached a settlement after a jury's verdict in an initial phase of the trial found the USTA mostly liable for the accident. But Bouchard never made it that far in a Grand Slam again.

Bouchard's last appearance in the main draw of a major was at the 2020 French Open, held in the fall due to the COVID pandemic, where she lost in the third round. 

Bouchard has played more pickleball than tennis in the past couple of seasons. She competed at the WTA 125 event in Newport, R.I., earlier this month, winning a doubles match and losing in her singles opener. Prior to that, she had not played since losing in the first round of qualifying at the 2024 National Bank Open in Toronto.

Bouchard received a doubles wildcard to play alongside young American Clervie Ngounoue at the Mubadala Citi Open in Washington this week. They lost to another wildcard team, 45-year-old Venus Williams and local favourite Hailey Baptiste, in the first round.

"Obviously, agreeing to do pickleball a year and a half ago was a step towards playing less tennis," Bouchard said. "Last year, I played 17 pickleball events and three tennis events and the plan was to do the same this summer, get some tennis events in. And gearing up for the summer, putting in the hard hours of training to get back into tennis shape, which is very different than pickleball shape, made me realize, okay, I don't really want to commit to this anymore. This is painful. This is brutal."

And with Montreal hosting the country's top WTA event this summer, the decision on when to retire became an easy one. 

"It just felt right," she said.

 Bouchard still plans to be involved with tennis. She's already done some work as an analyst and is interested in exploring that further.

But she's also looking forward to relaxing a bit. 

"I want to go to Europe for a vacation," she said with a smile. "I want to go without my tennis bag. I want to visit places just to visit them and not because I have any tournament or even a business engagement or anything like that. Yeah, just go on vacation a little more. I've had to sacrifice so many vacations in my life. I would love a few vacations."