Most people would be star-struck if they met David Beckham and Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard is no exception. The 28-year-old, who was formerly ranked fifth in the world tennis rankings, shared a photo of her and friends standing with Beckham at a sushi restaurant in Miami. “Guess who came to dinner,†she captioned the post on Twitter, alongside the star-struck emoji. Bouchard has struggled on the WTA tour in recent years and hasn’t won a title since 2014. Meanwhile, Beckham is facing challenges of his own right now, with his club Inter Miami yet to win a game in the MLS so far this season.
A former Wimbledon finalist
Bouchard burst onto the tennis scene as a teenager and was tipped to be a multiple major champion early on in her career.
She won the Wimbledon girls’ title in 2012 and was named WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2013.
Then in 2014, Bouchard became a global tennis sensation — reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open and at Roland-Garros, before getting to the final at Wimbledon.
Having been catapulted to stardom, Bouchard’s form slipped and she hasn’t won a title for eight years, though she has reached six more finals during this time.
As of now, she is ranked 1459th in the world and lost in qualifying for this year’s Australian Open.
Return to form?
At one stage last year, it appeared as though Bouchard was returning to form.
The Canadian reached the final of the Abierto Zapopan Open, beating Kaja Juvan, Caty McNally and Elisabetta Cocciaretto along the way. However, she then lost in straight sets to Sara Sorribes Tormo.
Since then, the 28-year-old has not challenged at any high-profile WTA events and will have to rely on coming through qualifying or receiving wildcards for the rest of this year’s Grand Slams.
Beckham’s MLS woes
Inter Miami were founded in 2018 but have found life difficult in the MLS since joining the league.
In their first season, the team finished 10th in the Western Conference, while last year the team ended up 11th, winning just 12 matches across the campaign.
