A professional tennis player from France Fiona Ferro has accused her former coach of rape and sexual assault.
Ferro has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour and four singles titles on the ITF Circuit. Her career-high WTA ranking is 39 in singles, which she attained on 8 March 2021.
The French Tennis Federation said in a statement Saturday that it is "standing by" Fiona Ferro, a 25-year-old who lost in qualifying at the U.S. Open last week, "in the proceedings she has initiated against her former coach, Pierre Bouteyre."
The federation added that it "is examining the possibility of filing a civil lawsuit in this case."
Ferro wrote on social media about her accusation against Bouteyre and said, "I did not consent."
"I have full confidence in the justice system of my country and confirm that I do not wish to make any other statement on the criminal investigation," Ferro said.
Ferro is the latest female tennis player to bring attention to the issue of protecting athletes from predatory coaches.
"We applaud Fiona for having the courage to come forward with these allegations. We are pleased to see a full investigation and legal process being pursued," a WTA spokesperson said.
"The WTA is dedicated to ensuring a safe environment across our tour. Safeguarding requires vigilance, and we are continuing to invest in education, training, and resources to improve our efforts."
After winning her third-round match at the U.S. Open on Saturday, two-time Australian Open champion Viktoria Azarenka was asked about the manipulation and exploitation of young players by coaches.
She said the WTA player council, of which she's a member, considers safeguarding a "o. 1 subject ... because we see those vulnerable young ladies that (are) getting taken advantage of in different situations."
Mentioning Ferro, Azarenka said: "I applaud her for being brave. I hope this situation, she's going to come out of it stronger and tennis is not ruined for her because of that. That's, I think, a very, very heavy topic. But it's the topic that has to come out more."
(Inputs from AP)
