Selima Sfar
![]() Selima Sfar at the 2009 Open GDF Suez | |
Country (sports) | ![]() |
---|---|
Residence | Biarritz, France |
Born | Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia | 8 July 1977
Height | 1.66 m (5 ft 5 in) |
Turned pro | 1999 |
Retired | 2011 |
Plays | Right (two-handed backhand) |
Prize money | $876,041 |
Singles | |
Career record | 395–383 |
Career titles | 11 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 75 (16 July 2001) |
Grand Slam singles results | |
Australian Open | 1R (2002, 2005) |
French Open | 2R (2001, 2008) |
Wimbledon | 2R (2001, 2002, 2005) |
US Open | 2R (2001) |
Other tournaments | |
Olympic Games | 1R (1996, 2008) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 238–201 |
Career titles | 21 ITF |
Highest ranking | No. 47 (28 July 2008) |
Grand Slam doubles results | |
Australian Open | 2R (2006, 2008) |
French Open | 2R (2005, 2007) |
Wimbledon | QF (2008) |
US Open | 2R (2005, 2006, 2007) |
Team competitions | |
Fed Cup | 41–24 |
Selima Sfar (Arabic: سليمة صفر Salima Safar; born 8 July 1977) is a Tunisian former tennis player.
She turned professional in 1999 and has been ranked as high as 75th in the world (16 July 2001). Sfar is the second highest ranked female Tunisian and Arab player. She has experienced most of her success in tournaments of the ITF Women's Circuit, winning 11 singles titles and 21 doubles titles.
Biography
[edit]Sfar started playing tennis at age 8 at the Tennis Club of Carthage. She left Tunis at age 12 to live and train with Nathalie Tauziat under coach Régis de Camaret in Biarritz, France. The serve-and-volleyer preferred indoor hardcourts; favorite shots were serve, backhand. Father, Moncef, is a physician; mother, Zeineb, is a dermatologist; older sister is Sonia and younger brother is Hassan. She is a granddaughter of Habib Cheikhrouhou who founded the press group Dar Assabah in 1951.[1]
Tennis career
[edit]As a junior, Sfar won the Arab Junior Singles in 1992 and reached the quarter-finals of the junior tournament at French Open. In 1994, she was African junior champion. She turned professional in 1999. In 2000, she qualified for the US Open, to become the first Tunisian to achieve this feat. In the meantime, she was able to receive wildcards for Middle Eastern tournaments in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. At the Dubai Tennis Championships in 2001, she reached the quarterfinals, beating Silvija Talaja and Barbara Schett before being defeated by Nathalie Tauziat, in three sets. In that year, she became the first Arab woman to break into the top 100 of the WTA rankings.[1][2]
Sfar played for the Tunisia Fed Cup team, going 41–24. She also competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics, losing in the first round to Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, and the 2008 Summer Olympics, losing in the first round to Caroline Wozniacki. Sfar holds the records for the Tunesian in the Fed Cup with the most wins, the most singles wins, the most doubles wins, the most ties played, and the most years played.[3]
At the 2005 African Cup of Nations in Tunis, Sfar won the gold medal at both the singles and mixed teams' competitions.[4]
At the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, Sfar and her partner Ekaterina Makarova reached the quarterfinals of the ladies' doubles, before they were defeated by Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur.
In 2011, Sfar announced her retirement from professional tennis. In the meantime, she became a commentator for Qatari sports channel, beIN Sports.
At the 2015 Wimbledon Championships, Sfar teamed with Martina Navratilova for the Invitational Ladies Doubles, and they won all three of their matches in their group.
Post-retirement
[edit]On 28 August 2023, Sfar had an interview with L'Équipe in which she accused her coach, Régis de Camaret, of rape and sexual abuse, when she was 12 and a half years old.[1] The same coach was accused by Isabelle Demongeot of similar misconduct and later jailed for 8 years in 2012.[5]
ITF finals
[edit]$100,000 tournaments |
$75,000 tournaments |
$50,000 tournaments |
$25,000 tournaments |
$10,000 tournaments |
Singles: 19 (11–8)
[edit]Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1. | 14 August 1994 | ITF Carthage, Tunisia | Clay | ![]() |
5–7, 6–3, 6–4 |
Win | 2. | 26 March 1995 | ITF Moulins, France | Hard (i) | ![]() |
3–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
Win | 3. | 26 November 1995 | ITF Le Havre, France | Clay (i) | ![]() |
0–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
Win | 4. | 4 February 1996 | ITF Dinan, France | Clay (i) | ![]() |
6–4, 7–6(8) |
Win | 5. | 11 August 1996 | ITF Carthage, Tunisia | Clay | ![]() |
7–5, 6–4 |
Win | 6. | 14 December 1997 | ITF Ismailia, Egypt | Clay | ![]() |
5–7, 7–5, 6–4 |
Loss | 1. | 22 June 1998 | ITF Sezze, Italy | Clay | ![]() |
5–7, 2–6 |
Win | 7. | 30 April 2000 | ITF Bournemouth, United Kingdom | Clay | ![]() |
7–5, 6–2 |
Loss | 2. | 17 July 2000 | ITF Le Touquet, France | Clay | ![]() |
5–7, 4–6 |
Loss | 3. | 31 July 2000 | Open Saint-Gaudens, France | Clay | ![]() |
4–6, 4–6 |
Win | 8. | 22 September 2002 | GB Pro-Series Glasgow, UK | Hard (i) | ![]() |
7–6(5), 2–6, 7–6(8) |
Win | 9. | 3 November 2002 | ITF Nottingham, United Kingdom | Hard (i) | ![]() |
6–2, 6–2 |
Loss | 4. | 26 July 2004 | ITF Modena, Italy | Clay | ![]() |
2–6, 4–6 |
Loss | 5. | 1 November 2004 | ITF Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium | Hard (i) | ![]() |
4–6, 3–6 |
Win | 10. | 14 May 2006 | ITF Jounieh, Lebanon | Clay | ![]() |
6–4, 7–5 |
Loss | 6. | 10 April 2007 | Open de Biarritz, France | Clay | ![]() |
2–6, 4–6 |
Win | 11. | 13 May 2007 | ITF Jounieh, Lebanon | Clay | ![]() |
6–2, 4–6, 7–6(3) |
Loss | 7. | 7 April 2008 | Open de Biarritz, France | Clay | ![]() |
1–6, 3–6 |
Loss | 8. | 5 July 2009 | ITF Mont-de-Marsan, France | Clay | ![]() |
5–7, 3–6 |
Doubles: 33 (21–12)
[edit]Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 1. | 25 July 1994 | ITF La Coruña, Spain | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
4–6, 6–2, 6–3 |
Win | 2. | 1 August 1994 | ITF Casablanca, Morocco | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
4–6, 6–1, 6–0 |
Loss | 1. | 5 August 1996 | ITF Carthage, Tunisia | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
w/o |
Win | 3. | 21 April 1997 | ITF Guimarães, Portugal | Hard | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–4, 6–2 |
Win | 4. | 8 December 1997 | ITF Ismailia, Egypt | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–3, 7–6(5) |
Loss | 2. | 11 May 1998 | ITF Le Touquet, France | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–7, 0–1 ret. |
Win | 5. | 22 June 1998 | ITF Sezze, Italy | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–3, 6–1 |
Win | 6. | 20 July 1998 | ITF Valladolid, Spain | Hard | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
7–6(5), 7–6(3) |
Loss | 3. | 27 July 1998 | ITF Pamplona, Spain | Hard | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
w/o |
Win | 7. | 10 May 1999 | ITF Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–4, 6–2 |
Loss | 4. | 26 July 1999 | ITF Pamplona, Spain | Hard | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–2, 4–6, 3–6 |
Win | 8. | 2 August 1999 | ITF Perigueux, France | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–4, 6–3 |
Loss | 5. | 6 February 2000 | ITF Jersey, United Kingdom |
Hard (i) | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
3–6, 2–6 |
Win | 9. | 24 April 2000 | ITF Bournemouth, United Kingdom |
Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–1, 6–0 |
Win | 10. | 1 May 2000 | ITF Hatfield, United Kingdom | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
7–6(6), 6–2 |
Loss | 6. | 15 May 2000 | ITF Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–0, 3–6, 4–6 |
Loss | 7. | 3 November 2002 | ITF Nottingham, United Kingdom |
Hard (i) | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
1–6, 2–6 |
Win | 11. | 20 April 2003 | Open de Biarritz, France | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–1, 6–1 |
Loss | 8. | 18 August 2003 | Bronx Open, United States | Hard | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
4–6, 5–7 |
Win | 12. | 13 September 2004 | ITF Bordeaux, France | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
3–6, 6–3, 6–3 |
Loss | 9. | 10 October 2004 | Open de Touraine, France | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
w/o |
Win | 13. | 18 October 2004 | ITF Saint-Raphaël, France | Hard (i) | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
7–6(3), 2–6, 6–4 |
Win | 14. | 1 November 2004 | ITF Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium |
Hard (i) | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–1, 7–6(2) |
Win | 15. | 23 November 2004 | ITF Poitiers, France | Hard (i) | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
7–5, 6–4 |
Win | 16. | 12 April 2005 | Open de Biarritz, France | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–2, 6–1 |
Win | 17. | 15 November 2005 | ITF Deauville, France | Clay (i) | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–3, 6–1 |
Loss | 10. | 26 March 2007 | ITF Latina, Italy | Hard | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
3–6, 6–1, 6–7(2) |
Loss | 11. | 6 April 2008 | ITF Torhout, Belgium | Hard | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
4–6, 6–4, [8–10] |
Win | 18. | 20 July 2009 | ITF Pétange, Luxembourg | Clay | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–2, 3–6, [10–7] |
Win | 19. | 12 October 2009 | Open de Touraine, France | Hard | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
4–6, 6–0, [10–8] |
Win | 20. | 22 February 2010 | Biberach Open, Germany | Hard (i) | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
5–7, 6–1, [10–5] |
Loss | 12. | 17 October 2010 | Open de Touraine, France | Hard (i) | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
4–6, 7–5, [8–10] |
Win | 21. | 24 January 2011 | Open de l'Isère, France | Hard (i) | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
6–1, 6–3 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Selima Sfar se dit victime de Régis de Camaret : « J'ai mis vingt-cinq ans à me l'avouer »" (in French). L'Équipe. 28 August 2023.
- ^ "Selima Sfar". WTA Tennis.
- ^ "Tunisia". Fed Cup teams. ITF. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
- ^ "The News Bulletin of the African Cup of Nations" (PDF). CAT Tennis. November 2005. p. 2.
- ^ "French tennis coach jailed for rapes". 23 November 2012.
External links
[edit]- 1977 births
- Living people
- People from Tunis Governorate
- Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in France
- Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar
- Tunisian female tennis players
- Olympic tennis players for Tunisia
- Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- 20th-century Tunisian women
- 20th-century Tunisian people
- 21st-century Tunisian women
- 21st-century Tunisian people