Selima Sfar (Arabic: سليمة صفر Salima Safar; born 8 July 1977) is a Tunisian former tennis player.

Quick Facts Country (sports), Residence ...

Selima Sfar

Selima Sfar at the 2009 Open GDF Suez
Country (sports)	Tunisia
Residence	Biarritz, France
Born	(1977-07-08) 8 July 1977 (age 46) Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
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 (50.8%)
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 (54.2%)
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 (63.1%)

Close

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.

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]

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.

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]