"Scraping the bottom of the barrel": Tennis fans react as Bouchard receives Guadalajara Open wildcard after pickleball switch

Tennis fans reacted to the wild card announcement for Eugene Bouchard at the WTA 1000 Guadalajara Open.

On Monday, September 17, a new WTA 1000 tournament will kick off in Guadalajara, featuring several surprises, especially due to the absence of many top-10 players from the rankings. The draw for the event is somewhat weakened by the absence of seven of the top-10 female tennis players globally.

The tournament's main contender is Tunisian world No. 7, Ons Jabeur. Additionally, the main draw does not include any Grand Slam champions or WTA 1000 titleholders from this year.

However, what caught everyone's attention this time was the announcement of the wild card recipients for the tournament. These wild cards were granted to the young Mexican talent, 16-year-old Lya Fernandez, Ajla Tomljanovic, and the Canadian player Eugene Bouchard.

The decision to grant the wild card to Bouchard comes shortly after her announcement that she will be joining the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) next year:

"I thought she retired to play pickleball? Sounds like this tournament is desperate," one fan commented.

"Thankfully most of the top players escaped this sinking ship called Guadalajara Open," one fan posted.

"With most of the WTA Top Ten cancelling last minute..... makes sense," another fan shared.

The Guadalajara Open draw has faced several notable withdrawals in recent weeks, including world No. 2 Iga Swiatek and world No. 4 Jessica Pegula.

With the draw now determined, the 248th-ranked Bouchard knows her opponent and will face local player Renata Zarazua, who is currently ranked 179th in the world. The winner of this match will have a challenging encounter against the 7th seed Veronika Kudermetova, who receives a bye in the first round.

The last time Bouchard participated in the main draw of a WTA 1000 event was at the Madrid Open, where she successfully navigated the qualifiers and then defeated Dayana Yastremska in the first round. However, she ultimately fell to the 18th seed Martina Trevisan with a score of 6-2, 7-5.

Here are some reactions from fans regarding Bouchard's presence in the Guadalajara main draw: