Eugenie Bouchard Thrilled to Step In for Maria Sharapova as Andre Agassi Revives the Pickleball Slam

Andre Agassi is back with a fresh surprise, and it’s guaranteed to get everyone talking! Just when tennis fans thought they had seen it all, Agassi has stirred up excitement once again—but this time, it’s not on the tennis court. The legendary champion has officially announced the return of The Pickleball Slam! Yes, you heard that right. The Pickleball Slam is back, and the buzz is real. Joining Agassi in his excitement is none other than tennis star Eugenie Bouchard, who’s thrilled to be part of this unique experience.

A video shared by the official Instagram handle of The Pickleball Slam featured Agassi as he announced the 3rd edition of the tournament, which is scheduled to take place on February 16, 2025. For the upcoming season, the tournament will be moving to Las Vegas, Agassi’s hometown, where he has been quite successful in the past tournaments.

Speaking about the latest edition, Agassi said, “This time I will be pairing up with my Pickleball Slam win partner Andy Roddick who will be pairing up with Genie Bouchard. But I have the last laugh as I am pairing up with my legendary wife Steffi Graf!” Remember Agassi won the tournament’s first edition in 2023 with Roddick and in 2024 with his wife Graf. But Agassi isn’t the only one expressing his excitement.

As soon as the video was shared on Instagram, Eugenie Bouchard expressed her enthusiasm for the tournament. Resharing the post on her Instagram story, the Canadian player wrote, “This is gonna be epic! @thepickleballslam in Vegas Feb 16! Me &Andy Roddick Vs @agassi & Steffi Graf 🤩.” The 30-year-old will be replacing Maria Sharapova, who partnered with John McEnroe last year. The tournament will be televised by ESPN, which has seen decent viewership in the last two editions.

When Agassi joined Graf to compete against McEnroe and Sharapova on February 4 this year, the average audience was 596,000 viewers, peaking at 990,000 viewers. Similarly, the viewership of the first edition of the tournament outshined XFL games airing the same day, with an average of 669,000 viewers. Launched in 2023, the tournament is produced by Horizon Sports & Entertainment and InsideOut Sports and Entertainment.

Speaking about the growth of the sport in recent times, Horizon’s co-CEO David Levy shared “Pickleball’s surge in participation, sponsorship investments, and media coverage underscores its rising status in the sports and advertising worlds.” Interestingly, the latest edition of the pickleball tournament comes at a time when the sport is witnessing some sort of resistance from tennis enthusiasts including the likes of Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian questioning the sport. 

When Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian attacked Pickleball’s business analytics

The rapid rise of pickleball has stirred up a lot of conversations in the sports world, with tennis purists frequently voicing their concerns over its growing influence. Players like Novak Djokovic have already expressed how important it is to save tennis from the growing popularity of pickleball and the latest to opine about the sport was Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian.

Speaking in an interview, the ‘Business dad’ questioned, “Can the atomic unit—can its fundamental highlights—go viral?” per Adweek. Continuing further, he elaborated on his own question and said, “Until I see a pickleball highlight go viral, I don’t think it’s a real sport.” Ohanian’s statement not only reflected his fondness for tennis but also his reservations about pickleball.

For now, it will be interesting to see if Eugenie Bouchard and Andy Roddick can outshine the polished duo of Agassi and Graf to clinch the title and win $1 million at the tournament next year.