DALLAS, TX - Former tennis standouts Genie Bouchard and Donald Young will officially begin their professional pickleball careers at the PPA Masters in January.

Bouchard reached the Wimbledon final in 2014 and attained her career-high ranking of No. 5 on the WTA Tour that same year, making her the first Canadian-born player representing Canada to do so.

The 29-year-old isn’t quite sure what awaits her in Palm Springs but says that she’s ready to take on a new challenge in pickleball.

“I don’t really have any expectations as this will be my first event,” she shared, in a press release via PPATour.com. “I’m training hard and am excited to compete against the best players in the world.”

Donald Young comes from an impressive background in his own right, making it to the finals in men’s doubles at the 2017 French Open and reaching a top-40 singles ranking on the ATP Tour.

The Masters will be the first official event for Bouchard and Young, and they will join other former North American tennis stars Jack Sock and Sam Querrey competing in pro pickleball.

This is Sock’s first pro event since capturing a gold medal in mixed doubles alongside Anna Leigh Waters at the North Carolina Open in May.

The four-time Grand Slam doubles champion wants to add more hardware to his collection as he commits more time to the sport.

“Competing in the PPA Tour event in North Carolina last summer was a great experience,” he said. “I’m excited to play a full schedule of tournaments in 2024.”

Querrey has yet to medal at the professional level and may face added pressure to win with more and more former tennis players entering into the sport.

Having these new players join the tour also creates opportunities for new partnerships to take the court together.

Bouchard will team up with Tyler Loong, while Sock and World No. 2 Catherine Parenteau announced last week that they will be teaming up for mixed doubles.