Retired tennis player Eugenie Bouchard has discussed the upheaval in her life following her 2014 Wimbledon final appearance, which brought sudden fame and high expectations. She described a rebellious phase that included a drastic hairstyle change, leading to the loss of a sponsorship deal. Now focused on pickleball, Bouchard emphasizes the complexity beyond her public image.
Eugenie Bouchard, who retired from professional tennis at the age of 31 during last summer's Canadian Open, recently shared insights into the turbulence that followed her breakthrough at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships. At just 20 years old, she reached the final against Petra Kvitova in her second appearance at the All England Club, ultimately losing but achieving a career-high ranking of world No. 5. This success marked the peak of a 16-year career that also included semi-final runs at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros.
Bouchard explained how the spotlight transformed her routine. "After that final, my life became chaotic: media attention, sponsors, changes on every level," she told the Tennis Insider Club. "Everything around me changed, which didn't help short-term, plus the weight of expectations." Previously, victories felt rewarding and defeats ordinary; afterward, anything less than a final was seen as failure.
The year 2015 proved particularly challenging, as Bouchard struggled with mental health issues at a time when such topics were rarely discussed openly. "It was tough because mental health wasn't discussed like it is today, and back then I was suffering a lot - I simply didn't dare talk about it," she said. Admitting to therapy was then viewed as a sign of weakness.
Seeking self-expression, Bouchard experimented with her appearance during downtime in Miami after a second-round exit at the 2016 Australian Open. She intended a small under-cut but ended up shaving half her head. "I feel like I look like a cancer patient. This is not the look I was going for," she recounted on the Ok Sweetie podcast. This decision reportedly cost her a Rolex sponsorship renewal, with the company emailing her agent that the style did not align with their public image.
Post-Wimbledon, Bouchard topped SportsPro's list of the World's 50 Most Marketable Athletes and appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. She now competes professionally in pickleball and maintains over 2.3 million Instagram followers. However, she resists being defined solely by her looks: "There are layers and layers and layers... Just assuming someone is only surface-level, that's just the feeling I've gotten sometimes."
Bouchard's story highlights the pressures of sudden stardom in sports.
