By Alberto Amalfi | @Tennis_Now | Friday, December 29, 2023
Genie Bouchard is taking her game back to the beach.
Former Wimbledon finalist Bouchard will play reigning junior Wimbledon champion Clervie Ngounoue in the Women's Tennis Challenge exhibition of the Delray Beach Open set for 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 10th, 2024.
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Tickets for that match and all other sessions are on sale now at DelrayBeachOpen.com.
The women join the February 9-11th opening weekend lineup of the ATP Champions Tour Legends event that features six-time DBO champions Bob and Mike Bryan, the most successful doubles team in the history of the sport, former world No. 2 Tommy Haas, former Delray Beach champions Ivo Karlovic and Sam Querrey, local pros Jesse Levine and Scoville Jenkins, and past French Open champions Luke and Murphy Jensen.
Alongside the legends on Saturday and Sunday will be qualifying matches for the ATP 250 tournament.
The Delray Beach Open main draw begins Monday, February 12, with daily play until the championship match on Sunday, February 18.
Bouchard, 29, had a historic run to the 2014 Wimbledon final to become the first Canadian, male or female, to reach a Grand Slam final. A native of Montreal, she also was the first Canadian to reach a career-high world ranking of No. 5 to cap a 2014 season that also saw her reach the Australian and French Open semifinals and qualify for the year-end WTA Finals.
Last month, Bouchard was a member of Canada's first Billie Jean King Cup championship team. Off court, Bouchard notably has more than 2.4 million Instagram followers.
Ngounoue (pronounced n-GOO-nuh-way), a native of Washington, D.C., was the world’s No. 1 ranked junior in June and won the Wimbledon girls’ title in July. She also owns Australian and French Open girls doubles titles.
The 17-year-old up-and-coming American has a win over the WTA’s No. 37-ranked player and won the 2023 USTA National Championship to earn a wild card into the US Open. She turned pro in September.
Two top-ranked Americans are set to headline the ATP 250 main draw. Delray Beach Open reigning champion and world No. 10 Taylor Fritz will begin his title defense on Wednesday night, February 14, while American compatriot and No. 13 Tommy Paul will open play on Thursday night, February 15.
Night sessions start at 6 p.m., with Fritz and Paul scheduled to play the 8 p.m. matches.
Photo credit: GSE Worldwide/Delray Beach Open