In 2017, student John Goehrke bet Eugenie Bouchard, during the Super Bowl, that the New England Patriots would defeat the Atlanta Falcons, despite the fact that the Falcons were winning 21 0 at the time. Confident that the result was in the bag, Bouchard took the bet, only for the Patriots to stage one of the great all-time comebacks to win the game in overtime.
The Canadian duly went on two dates with Goehrke, the first of which is set to be made into a romantic comedy by a leading Hollywood movie company.
And now Bouchard is at it again. It also began when the 26 year old published a social media post in which she lamented the fact that she had no boyfriend to share quarantine with during the government lockdown.
In response she replied a flood of replies and offers, more so when she spoke about her message with sports caster Allie LaForce. Amongst the most persistent of those respondents was somebody called Bob, who initially offered US $500 for a date with the tennis star. LaForce then intervened and dared him to up the bid to US $3,000 if the money raised was donated on Bouchards behalf to buy food for frontline healthcare workers involved in the fight against the deadly disease.
Not only did Bob agree, but he upped the ante even further by agreeing to pay a further US $1,000 if Bouchard would adopt a fake British accent during their date. Bouchard has reluctantly agreed because the money is going to charity, although she makes no claims to her acting skill or ability to pull of the imitation accent with any degree of accuracy.
It remains to be seen if Hollywood are going to turn her date with Bob Into a movie as well.
Famously Bouchards tennis career was interrupted when she slipped and fell in the locker room after playing a match at the US Open in 2015. She sued the organisers of the event after she was knocked unconscious, with the lawsuit eventually settled out of court.