John McEnroe has never been afraid to make a bold prediction over the years.
McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles in his career, meaning that he knows exactly what it takes to win the biggest prizes in tennis.
Nowadays, the outspoken former world number one acts as both a pundit and commentator at the biggest tournaments, including McEnroe responding to Daniil Medvedev’s actions at the US Open.
McEnroe may have a lot of knowledge from his many years of experience in tennis, but he made a wrong prediction about one WTA player in 2014.
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty ImagesJohn McEnroe thought Eugenie Bouchard would win multiple Grand Slams
The player that McEnroe had high hopes for was Eugenie Bouchard, the Canadian player who had a breakout season in 2014 as a 20-year-old.
Bouchard had already reached the semifinals at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros, before going one better at Wimbledon.
After beating Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep, Bouchard reached her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, where she would play Petra Kvitova.
Ahead of this final, McEnroe spoke to the Wimbledon studio about the two players and predicted that not only would Bouchard beat Kvitova, but also would go on and win numerous Grand Slams.
“Before the event I predicted her to win, so I have a pretty strong belief that she is going to be a multiple Grand Slam champion, I think she’s awesome,” said McEnroe. “She’s just got that winner’s aura and attitude about her.
“She’s extremely serious, but she’s very determined and it seems like she’s willing to dig in that extra gear.”
McEnroe’s Wimbledon final prediction was quickly proven to be wrong, as Bouchard was comfortably beaten by Kvitova, after losing the final 6-3 6-0.
With it being 11 years since that final, both Bouchard and Kvitova have now retired from professional tennis with very different legacies.
How did Eugenie Bouchard perform at Grand Slams after losing in the 2014 Wimbledon final?
McEnroe was not the only person who was high on the young Canadian, with Martina Navratilova also making big predictions about Bouchard.
However, Bouchard did not really get anywhere near winning a major title again, with her best result after the 2014 Wimbledon final coming when she reached the quarterfinals of the 2015 Australian Open.
Bouchard only just won over half of her matches at major tournaments after Wimbledon in 2014, with her last appearance coming at Roland Garros in 2020.
Eugenie Bouchard after losing in the 2014 Wimbledon finalGrand Slam Win-loss Record23-20 (53.5%)Best Grand Slam ResultQuarterfinal (Australian Open 2015)Final Grand Slam AppearanceRoland Garros 2020 – Third Round
There were many factors that contributed to her downfall, including Bouchard having to undergo shoulder surgery after injury struggles.
Bouchard has admitted regrets from her tennis career, before officially announcing that she would be retiring from tennis earlier this year.
At 31 years old, Bouchard retired at the Canadian Open in July after playing her final match against Belinda Bencic.