Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard has disclosed that an unintended extreme haircut led to the loss of her Rolex sponsorship renewal. The 32-year-old, who retired from professional tennis last year, shared the story from her challenging post-2014 career period. She now competes in professional pickleball.
Eugenie Bouchard, known for reaching the 2014 Wimbledon final at age 20, experienced a surge in fame after facing Czech player Petra Kvitova in her second appearance at the tournament. Although she lost the match, her ranking climbed to fifth in the world, bringing new opportunities and pressures.
Bouchard described 2015 as particularly difficult, telling Tennis Insider Club that mental health issues were not openly discussed at the time. "After an excellent 2014, 2015 was very difficult for me," she said. "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. Even admitting you saw a therapist was strange. People thought you were crazy or weak. I’m happy it’s become a completely normal topic, glad things have changed, but I went through a very difficult period and couldn’t talk about it."
Following a disappointing performance at the 2016 Australian Open, Bouchard sought to make a fashion statement with an undercut haircut. However, in a conversation on the OK Sweetie podcast, she explained it went awry. "To be fair, I wanted a very small under-cut thing, I don’t know what happened, but it was literally half my head," she recounted. "I was like, ‘This is not the look I was going for’. It was way worse than I intended, but it caused me not to get my Rolex deal renewed."
According to Bouchard, Rolex emailed her agent stating that her new style did not align with the company's public image, leading to no extension of the deal. She retired from tennis last year at the Canadian Open and has since transitioned to professional pickleball. With over 2.3 million Instagram followers, she shares glimpses of her glamorous life on and off the court.