Actor Jim Parsons' tribute to Bouchard about more than a meet-and-greet

Actor Jim Parsons recalled his "once-in-a-lifetime" experience Eugenie Bouchard during Wimbledon in 2014 as she now retires from tennis. In a long post to Instagram, Parsons praised Bouchard's focus and resolve, qualities that she hopes her career is remembered for.

One of Eugenie Bouchard's highest-profile fans paid tribute to the former Top 10 player as she retired from the Hologic WTA Tour this week. But actor Jim Parsons' self-described "congratulations/thank you/ode" to the former Wimbledon finalist on social media was more than just a retelling of a celebrity meet-and-greet.

The 52-year-old actor, who plays Sheldon Cooper on the hit primetime comedy "The Big Bang Theory," was introduced to Bouchard through their managers back in 2014 -- when the Canadian was at the peak of her tennis powers.

Parsons, who says he is a "tennis fanatic," said that their schedules didn't align to meet until the summer, when he and his husband Todd Spiewak flew to London to watch Bouchard compete at Wimbledon.

What followed was a fateful fortnight, for both Bouchard and the four-time Emmy winner. Seated in Bouchard's player's box for her second-round win at the All England Club, Parsons said he was "not certain this was reality" as he fulfilled not only a tennis bucket-list item of being at SW19, but from some of the best seats in the house.

And as Bouchard, then 20 years old, kept winning, the couple kept coming back.

"By the time we were scheduled to fly home, Genie and her team asked if we’d like to keep going on this wild ride,” Parsons wrote. “We were told … that we were part of this journey now—why mess with it and change the makeup of the player's box?”

"I don’t believe this was superstition on the part of Genie’s team, I actually think they were just being really sweet to us," he added.

Bouchard's run to the final -- a first for a player from Canada -- ended at the hands of Petra Kvitova. But the whole experience left more than just an impact on tennis' history books, the actor said.

"Genie, I will never forget the steely focus and icy resolve you had as a player, something I may not have understood had you not invited me into your world to witness up close," Parsons wrote. "Congratulations on all you’ve accomplished. Thank you -- and your whole family -- for being so inclusive to us groupies for two weeks in Wimbledon; I knew at the time it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience I was having and that realization actually only grows MORE evident with every year and every major tennis tournament that passes."

"I will be rooting for you in all that you do next," he wrote in concluding the nearly 1,000-word note.

But a Hollywood A-lister wasn't the only fan who was inspired by Bouchard's career -- a fact that the 31-year-old herself noted after her final match concluded on Wednesday: a three-set loss to Belinda Bencic in the second round of the Omnium Banque Nationale.

"I think my fans have really respected and appreciated the hard work I gave to tennis and also the time I spent with them," Bouchard said after seeing her career end in three sets to Belinda Bencic.

"I just hope, I don't know, to be remembered hopefully by a lot of great things, but most importantly, being a good person, giving back as much as I received. Tennis has given me so, so much.

"On the court, [she'd like to be remembered] as being a good player, being a fighter. I hope I showed that in the last couple of matches."

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