For several years, Sherazad Benamar lived the demanding daily life of professional tennis: constant travel, the solitude of the circuit, personal sacrifices, and the relentless pressure to perform. A former international player, having notably come through the Wimbledon qualifiers and achieved victories against players who would later become world-class, the Frenchwoman now enjoys a much more peaceful relationship with her sport.

Present in Yaoundé at an event organised around the physical challenge launched by the Cameroonian Minister of the Interior Paul Atanga Nji, she spoke with great sincerity about her journey, her personal injuries, her complicated relationship with tennis, her reconstruction and her desire to now return to the field through transmission and coaching.

"The competitive spirit never goes away."

 Question:  How did you experience those three days in Cameroon?

 Sherazad Benamar:  It was unusual and fun. Honestly, I'd never experienced anything like it before, but I've always wanted to participate in exhibitions like this. So I was thrilled to be invited.

Even after several years away from the circuit, the competitor remains intact.

 Sherazad Benamar:  The competitive spirit always remains. You can stop for ten or fifteen years, it never disappears.

When you return to the pitch, you want to show that you can still play, even if it's not the same as before. You want to live up to expectations and put on a show.

Sherazad Benamar: "Tennis can destroy you mentally. There are worse things than crying after a defeat..."

"Tennis is a love-hate relationship."

Very quickly, the former player talks about her complicated relationship with her sport.

 Sherazad Benamar:  I loved tennis and I hated it at the same time.

It's a very complicated sport because you're often alone. You travel alone, you eat alone. I'm someone who loves being surrounded by people, so that lifestyle didn't necessarily suit me.

But I liked winning, so I kept going.

 Sherazad Benamar:  After a while, I needed to take a break. When you stop playing tennis, everyone grieves in their own way. For me, I needed to completely remove tennis from my life for a while.

Today, Sherazad Benamar is considering a return to tennis, but in a different form.

 Sherazad Benamar:  I obtained my diploma during my last year on the circuit. Afterwards, I did some coaching for Patrick Mouratoglou and also at a club in Paris.

At one point, I needed to discover something other than sport. But today, I want to return to the field to pass on my knowledge and share my passion in a different way.

"I enjoy watching players develop."

 Question:  Do you enjoy coaching more now?

 Sherazad Benamar:  Yes, very much so. I love to share knowledge.

And it doesn't matter what level they are. Whether they're a beginner or an experienced player, seeing someone progress thanks to what you give them is something I love.

The former player then reflects on the reality of professional tennis.

 Sherazad Benamar:  I think that regardless of the level, everyone struggles at some point.

Some get out of difficulties faster than others, but even the top 100 players have their own struggles.

 Question:  Today, is having a partner on the circuit still reserved for certain players?

 Sherazad Benamar:  Yes, because you need to have the means.

Some find sponsors very early on who are able to finance travel, coaches and tournaments. Others come from wealthier families.

And then there are also enthusiasts who invest in players because they believe in them.

Sherazad Benamar: "Tennis can destroy you mentally. There are worse things than crying after a defeat..."
Sherazad Benamar: "Tennis can destroy you mentally. There are worse things than crying after a defeat..."

"Without Walter Gouy, I would never have been able to progress so quickly."

Sherazad Benamar looks back with emotion on the importance of her first coach.

 Sherazad Benamar:  My parents couldn't afford to finance tennis. It's an extremely expensive sport.

I was extremely lucky because very early on, a coach, Walter Gouy, paid for a lot of things out of his own pocket for me.

He believed in me immensely. He wasn't just a coach, he was practically family.

 Sherazad Benamar:  Without him, my parents would have gone into debt. Between travel, hotels, plane tickets and coaches, tennis is extremely expensive.

Then I received help from my club, then from the League, then from the Federation.

A career cut short at 19

 Question:  Was there a real turning point in your career?

 Sherazad Benamar:  Yes. At 19, I stopped playing tennis for almost three years after an injury and the death of my mother.

I no longer wanted to play.

During her break, she works at Roland-Garros.

 Sherazad Benamar:  I was working for Roland-Garros and I saw girls I used to beat in juniors playing on the big courts.

I thought to myself, "Maybe I'm on the wrong side."

 Sherazad Benamar:  When I started again around 22-23 years old, it was a new career.

This time, I was playing for myself. Before, I felt like I was playing for my father, for the coaches, or for the Federation.

When I started playing again, I was finally playing because I wanted to.

 Sherazad Benamar:  That's when I started to really enjoy playing tennis.

Sherazad Benamar: "Tennis can destroy you mentally. There are worse things than crying after a defeat..."

"I was forced to make enormous sacrifices."

The former player also reflects on the deprivations associated with high-level competition from childhood.

 Sherazad Benamar:  I wasn't allowed to have sleepovers at my friends' houses. I couldn't play football or volleyball with my friends because of the risk of injury.

At one point, I thought to myself, "You didn't make all these sacrifices to give up."

 Sherazad Benamar:  For a long time, people talked to me about the top 100. But deep down, my personal goal was mainly to beat players in the top 100.

Among her strongest memories, Sherazad Benamar mentions several important successes.

 Sherazad Benamar:  I beat Timea Bacsinszky, a player I greatly admired as a person.

I also beat Naomi Osaka and Jessica Pegula, although they weren't at their peak when I faced them.

"The Wimbledon qualifiers remain my greatest memory."

However, the strongest memory of his career remains elsewhere.

 Sherazad Benamar:  The Wimbledon qualifiers.

It was the first time I had gone directly into the qualifying rounds of a Grand Chelem thanks to my ranking.

I saved several match points and in the end, there was almost no one left around the court.

A friend was there and applauded like crazy. That's when I realized I had won.

 Sherazad Benamar:  This match did me a world of good because it was exactly what I'd been fighting for since I was little: to beat top 100 players and play in the qualifiers of a Grand Chelem.

Sherazad Benamar: "Tennis can destroy you mentally. There are worse things than crying after a defeat..."

"Tennis can destroy you mentally."

The former player then discusses the psychological consequences of the professional circuit.

 Sherazad Benamar:  Tennis can put you in terrible states.

You can play the best tennis of your life one day and the next day be unable to put one foot in front of the other. And the tournament is over.

 Sherazad Benamar:  There are worse things than crying after a defeat.

There have been times when I stopped eating altogether, or conversely, when I ate until I vomited.

Tennis can really push you to your limits mentally.

"I felt like I was outside of my own life."

Sherazad Benamar then explains why she eventually distanced herself from the circuit.

 Sherazad Benamar:  My mother was ill for a long time. She told me to keep playing, but today I think that if I hadn't played tennis, I might have been able to enjoy her more.

I also missed a lot of weddings, births, and family moments.

Eventually, you start to feel like you're an outsider to your own life.

"Tennis took everything from me."

 Sherazad Benamar:  Some say that tennis gave them everything. Me, I sometimes feel like it took everything from me.

Yes, it allowed me to travel all over the world and meet extraordinary people. But on a human level, it also cost me dearly.

"The year I played my best was when I stopped depriving myself."

However, a mental shift changed his approach to the circuit.

 Sherazad Benamar:  The year I beat Timea Bacsinszky, I had a four-day wedding in the south.

Before, I would never have gone to that wedding. But this time, I went thinking, "So what if I lose?"

And paradoxically, that was the year I played my best.

Sherazad Benamar: "Tennis can destroy you mentally. There are worse things than crying after a defeat..."

"My sister and I would have liked to play together more."

The discussion then turns to his sister, Schena Benamar.

 Sherazad Benamar:  Yes, I would have loved to play with her more, but we are ten years apart.

When I was already on the professional circuit, she was still a junior.

"The one-handed backhand was a real pain."

Known for her one-handed backhand, Sherazad Benamar also discusses this technical peculiarity.

 Sherazad Benamar:  I struggled with this backhand until I was 15 or 16 years old.

They tried to get me to play with two hands, but it didn't work.

"I didn't like being told I played like a guy."

 Sherazad Benamar:  For a long time, people would tell me, "You play like a guy."

And it annoyed me because I simply had an atypical game with a one-handed backhand and an attacking style of play.

"The Roland-Garros qualifying rounds are where the real gladiators play out."

Finally, the former player shares her perspective on the qualifying rounds of the tournaments. Grand Chelem.

 Sherazad Benamar:  The Roland-Garros qualifiers are the real gladiators.

This is where players really fight for their careers, and for their financial survival as well.

When it works, it's incredible. When it breaks, it hurts a lot.

Off to Poitiers… and maybe some padel with his sister

Today, Sherazad Benamar is gradually rediscovering the joy of being on the field.

 Sherazad Benamar:  Now that we are in the same club with my sister, we will play tennis together and probably also padel (at the Lesigny Club, host club of the FIP Promises Paris by WME).

If I'm going to play again today, I might as well do it with her.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

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