The teaming up of Jack Sock and Eugenie Bouchard in mixed doubles at this week’s Pickleball Masters is further evidence of how pickleball has gained recognition in a short period of time.
Former world No. 8 Sock and former Wimbledon finalist Bouchard are among the latest tennis players to swap their rackets for pickleball paddles.
In a video posted to the Carvana PPA Tour’s Instagram page, the American-Canadian duo was asked what their tennis friends would say about them teaming up for the Pickleball Masters.
“Oh my god, that’s a tough question. They’ll probably laugh at us,” Bouchard said amidst laughter.
Jack Sock, a two-time Olympic medalist with the United States, added that this is the first time the two have teamed up on a pickleball court.
“We’ve known each other for a long time. It started with tennis and now we’re both 20×44 players and we both enjoy pickleball. We passed each other several times during our tennis tours and played a lot. We had a fun group dinner with the players. Now we’re looking forward to being here and playing in the mix for the first time on the pickle courts, and yeah, it’s going to be a fun week.” he said.
Interestingly, the duo wore all white, Wimbledon’s traditional color combination. Sock joked that he missed Wimbledon so much that he chose the all-white route.
“We both miss Wimbledon so much that we just wanted to play together and wear all white this week,” he said, to which Bouchard replied, “Obviously he asked me. ” he answered.
“I’m going to do some damage” – Jack Sock
Despite this being their first tournament, Jack Sock is confident he and Jeanie Bouchard will do “some damage” and that they need to “represent the tennis world.” spoke.
“We’re going to do some damage and people are going to be very scared of us. I think I’ve played a little bit more than she has, but it’s okay, we’ll get through this. We represent the tennis world. There are,” Sock said.
Bouchard said, “I practiced for about two hours yesterday, so that was preparation. I’m going to practice now.”
Jack Sock and Bouchard started the season convincingly with an 11-1, 11-2 win in the opening game and will be hoping to carry on that winning momentum as they aim for a playoff spot.
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Edited by Hitesh Nigam
