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Selima Sfar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Selima Sfar
Selima Sfar at the 2009 Open GDF Suez
Country (sports) Tunisia
ResidenceBiarritz, France
Born (1977-07-08) 8 July 1977 (age 47)
Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
Height1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Turned pro1999
Retired2011
PlaysRight (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$876,041
Singles
Career record395–383
Career titles11 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 75 (16 July 2001)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (2002, 2005)
French Open2R (2001, 2008)
Wimbledon2R (2001, 2002, 2005)
US Open2R (2001)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games1R (1996, 2008)
Doubles
Career record238–201
Career titles21 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 47 (28 July 2008)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open2R (2006, 2008)
French Open2R (2005, 2007)
WimbledonQF (2008)
US Open2R (2005, 2006, 2007)
Team competitions
Fed Cup41–24

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

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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

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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

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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

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$100,000 tournaments
$75,000 tournaments
$50,000 tournaments
$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 19 (11–8)

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Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 1. 14 August 1994 ITF Carthage, Tunisia Clay France Anne-Gaëlle Sidot 5–7, 6–3, 6–4
Win 2. 26 March 1995 ITF Moulins, France Hard (i) Netherlands Linda Sentis 3–6, 6–3, 6–2
Win 3. 26 November 1995 ITF Le Havre, France Clay (i) France Émilie Loit 0–6, 6–3, 6–4
Win 4. 4 February 1996 ITF Dinan, France Clay (i) France Virginie Massart 6–4, 7–6(8)
Win 5. 11 August 1996 ITF Carthage, Tunisia Clay Netherlands Marielle Bruens 7–5, 6–4
Win 6. 14 December 1997 ITF Ismailia, Egypt Clay Israel Tzipora Obziler 5–7, 7–5, 6–4
Loss 1. 22 June 1998 ITF Sezze, Italy Clay Italy Alice Canepa 5–7, 2–6
Win 7. 30 April 2000 ITF Bournemouth, United Kingdom Clay Serbia and Montenegro Dragana Zarić 7–5, 6–2
Loss 2. 17 July 2000 ITF Le Touquet, France Clay Germany Bianka Lamade 5–7, 4–6
Loss 3. 31 July 2000 Open Saint-Gaudens, France Clay Ukraine Elena Tatarkova 4–6, 4–6
Win 8. 22 September 2002 GB Pro-Series Glasgow, UK Hard (i) United Kingdom Anne Keothavong 7–6(5), 2–6, 7–6(8)
Win 9. 3 November 2002 ITF Nottingham, United Kingdom Hard (i) United States Lilia Osterloh 6–2, 6–2
Loss 4. 26 July 2004 ITF Modena, Italy Clay Germany Anna-Lena Grönefeld 2–6, 4–6
Loss 5. 1 November 2004 ITF Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium Hard (i) Austria Yvonne Meusburger 4–6, 3–6
Win 10. 14 May 2006 ITF Jounieh, Lebanon Clay Belarus Anastasiya Yakimova 6–4, 7–5
Loss 6. 10 April 2007 Open de Biarritz, France Clay France Pauline Parmentier 2–6, 4–6
Win 11. 13 May 2007 ITF Jounieh, Lebanon Clay Ukraine Mariya Koryttseva 6–2, 4–6, 7–6(3)
Loss 7. 7 April 2008 Open de Biarritz, France Clay Germany Kathrin Wörle 1–6, 3–6
Loss 8. 5 July 2009 ITF Mont-de-Marsan, France Clay Greece Anna Gerasimou 5–7, 3–6

Doubles: 33 (21–12)

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Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1. 25 July 1994 ITF La Coruña, Spain Clay France Olivia de Camaret Spain Sandra de Rafael
Spain Paula Hermida
4–6, 6–2, 6–3
Win 2. 1 August 1994 ITF Casablanca, Morocco Clay France Olivia de Camaret Germany Cora Hofmann
Germany Alexandra Seitarth
4–6, 6–1, 6–0
Loss 1. 5 August 1996 ITF Carthage, Tunisia Clay France Sandrine Bouilleau Netherlands Mariëlle Bruens
Morocco Bahia Mouhtassine
w/o
Win 3. 21 April 1997 ITF Guimarães, Portugal Hard France Élodie Le Bescond France Kildine Chevalier
Czech Republic Jindra Gabrisová
6–4, 6–2
Win 4. 8 December 1997 ITF Ismailia, Egypt Clay France Bérangère Karpenschif Austria Bianca Kamper
Austria Nicole Remis
6–3, 7–6(5)
Loss 2. 11 May 1998 ITF Le Touquet, France Clay France Élodie Le Bescond France Vanina Casanova
Argentina Romina Ottoboni
6–7, 0–1 ret.
Win 5. 22 June 1998 ITF Sezze, Italy Clay France Vanina Casanova Italy Alice Canepa
Italy Alessia Lombardi
6–3, 6–1
Win 6. 20 July 1998 ITF Valladolid, Spain Hard Spain Gisela Riera Spain Eva Bes
Spain Rosa María Andrés Rodríguez
7–6(5), 7–6(3)
Loss 3. 27 July 1998 ITF Pamplona, Spain Hard Germany Meike Fröhlich Spain Eva Bes
Netherlands Amanda Hopmans
w/o
Win 7. 10 May 1999 ITF Edinburgh,
United Kingdom
Clay United Kingdom Jo Ward South Africa Surina De Beer
United Kingdom Lorna Woodroffe
6–4, 6–2
Loss 4. 26 July 1999 ITF Pamplona, Spain Hard United Kingdom Jo Ward Japan Hiroko Mochizuki
Czech Republic Ludmila Richterová
6–2, 4–6, 3–6
Win 8. 2 August 1999 ITF Perigueux, France Clay United Kingdom Jo Ward Finland Hanna-Katri Aalto
Japan Rika Fujiwara
6–4, 6–3
Loss 5. 6 February 2000 ITF Jersey,
United Kingdom
Hard (i) United Kingdom Jo Ward Russia Elena Bovina
Ukraine Anna Zaporozhanova
3–6, 2–6
Win 9. 24 April 2000 ITF Bournemouth,
United Kingdom
Clay United Kingdom Lorna Woodroffe United Kingdom Hannah Collin
Hungary Zsófia Gubacsi
6–1, 6–0
Win 10. 1 May 2000 ITF Hatfield, United Kingdom Clay United Kingdom Jo Ward Hungary Zsófia Gubacsi
Germany Jasmin Wöhr
7–6(6), 6–2
Loss 6. 15 May 2000 ITF Edinburgh,
United Kingdom
Clay United Kingdom Lorna Woodroffe South Africa Natalie Grandin
South Africa Nicole Rencken
6–0, 3–6, 4–6
Loss 7. 3 November 2002 ITF Nottingham,
United Kingdom
Hard (i) United Kingdom Lucie Ahl South Africa Kim Grant
United States Lilia Osterloh
1–6, 2–6
Win 11. 20 April 2003 Open de Biarritz, France Clay United Kingdom Lucie Ahl Ukraine Yuliya Beygelzimer
Ukraine Anna Zaporozhanova
6–1, 6–1
Loss 8. 18 August 2003 Bronx Open, United States Hard Italy Mara Santangelo Ukraine Yuliya Beygelzimer
Belarus Tatiana Poutchek
4–6, 5–7
Win 12. 13 September 2004 ITF Bordeaux, France Clay France Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Argentina Erica Krauth
Germany Jasmin Wöhr
3–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss 9. 10 October 2004 Open de Touraine, France Clay France Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Czech Republic Květa Peschke
Germany Angelika Rösch
w/o
Win 13. 18 October 2004 ITF Saint-Raphaël, France Hard (i) France Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Czech Republic Barbora Strýcová
Kazakhstan Galina Voskoboeva
7–6(3), 2–6, 6–4
Win 14. 1 November 2004 ITF Sint-Katelijne-Waver,
Belgium
Hard (i) France Virginie Pichet Slovakia Eva Fislová
Slovakia Stanislava Hrozenská
6–1, 7–6(2)
Win 15. 23 November 2004 ITF Poitiers, France Hard (i) France Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Czech Republic Gabriela Chmelinová
Czech Republic Michaela Paštiková
7–5, 6–4
Win 16. 12 April 2005 Open de Biarritz, France Clay France Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Switzerland Timea Bacsinszky
France Aurélie Védy
6–2, 6–1
Win 17. 15 November 2005 ITF Deauville, France Clay (i) France Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Ukraine Alona Bondarenko
Ukraine Kateryna Bondarenko
6–3, 6–1
Loss 10. 26 March 2007 ITF Latina, Italy Hard France Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Italy Sara Errani
Italy Giulia Gabba
3–6, 6–1, 6–7(2)
Loss 11. 6 April 2008 ITF Torhout, Belgium Hard France Stéphanie Cohen-Alor Russia Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Belgium Yanina Wickmayer
4–6, 6–4, [8–10]
Win 18. 20 July 2009 ITF Pétange, Luxembourg Clay France Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Croatia Darija Jurak
Germany Kathrin Wörle
6–2, 3–6, [10–7]
Win 19. 12 October 2009 Open de Touraine, France Hard France Youlia Fedossova France Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro
France Aurélie Védy
4–6, 6–0, [10–8]
Win 20. 22 February 2010 Biberach Open, Germany Hard (i) France Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Germany Mona Barthel
Germany Carmen Klaschka
5–7, 6–1, [10–5]
Loss 12. 17 October 2010 Open de Touraine, France Hard (i) France Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Germany Tatjana Malek
France Irena Pavlovic
4–6, 7–5, [8–10]
Win 21. 24 January 2011 Open de l'Isère, France Hard (i) France Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro France Iryna Brémond
France Aurélie Védy
6–1, 6–3

References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Selima Sfar". WTA Tennis.
  3. ^ "Tunisia". Fed Cup teams. ITF. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  4. ^ "The News Bulletin of the African Cup of Nations" (PDF). CAT Tennis. November 2005. p. 2.
  5. ^ "French tennis coach jailed for rapes". 23 November 2012.
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