“He told us sex stories… He manipulated us”

French tennis player Emmanuelle Girard, 26, made some chilling revelations about her former coach. Girard, without naming the coach, accused him of psychological and verbal abuse as well as repeated cases of humiliation.

Girard, originally from Reunion Island, a French department located in the Indian Ocean, received an offer to perfect it. tennis skills at a Regional Sports Resource, Experience and Performance Center on the French mainland after his talent on the court attracted attention at the French Junior Championship event. Accepting the offer as a 14-year-old, she spent four years training at the center.

However, her time there, she says, turned out to be a nightmare because of an abusive coach. In a revealing interview with the teamoriginally published in March of this year and later updated in December, Emmanuelle Girard recalled a day when the trainer made inappropriate comments about her when she was on her period.

“One day he said to me:”I can feel you are on your period. When you walk, I can feel your pad flex.” I was 15, he was 42 or 43,” Girard told L’Equipe.

She also shockingly revealed that the coach often told her and other girls training at the tennis center about the intimate moments he shared with women.

“He also told us his sex stories… To another girl, he said:” You have to shave your legs and armpits.” She was 14 years old. In fact, he wanted to mold us in his image. He used fear, he manipulated us,” he added.

‘You’re a piece of shit’ – Emmanuelle Girard recalls how abusive coach targeted her at junior tennis event in South America

In the same interview, Emmanuelle Girard recalled a case of verbal abuse she faced from her former coach at a youth tennis event in Guatemala. According to Girard, he was not well during the tournament, but still made it to the quarterfinals. However, she failed to reach the semi-finals, prompting her coach to scold her furiously.

“After the game, he tore me apart:” This is unacceptable! You are a piece of shit! You will have to think about the consequences of your actions.” After that he made me eat alone in my room two nights in a row. They wouldn’t let me out; He was being punished. And for a week he forced me to train alone before the second tournament, without him and without my friend,” he said.

She also claimed that her horrific experience working with the abusive tennis coach led to an eating disorder and subsequent anorexia, adding:

“After he left, I finished high school and went to train in Spain. That’s where I started to develop an eating disorder, something I’d never experienced before. I was anorexic for almost three years. I lost 10kg in two months, I stopped eating, I weighed 54kg, I couldn’t train anymore. I slept and it took me a while to do it consistently. It left both psychological and physical scars.”

On the WTA Tour, Girard is currently unranked in both women’s singles and doubles. His highest position in singles is 813, while in doubles, it is 879.