Emmanuelle Girard, a 26-year-old French tennis player, has revealed chilling details about her coach, accusing him of verbal and psychological abuse. The tennis player, who had wanted to become a professional and build her WTA career since childhood.
At the age of 14, she had the opportunity to develop her career at the Regional Center for Sports Resources, Expertise and Performance.
After accepting this opportunity, 14-year-old Emmanuelle faced one of the most difficult periods of her life. Namely, her coach was quite rude and harsh, sometimes choosing words to insult the girls, even though they expected this to be an opportunity for development. It was shocking that he often told stories about other women, and the daily manipulation created fear in her and the other girls.
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"One day, he said to me, "I can hear you're on your period. When you walk, I can hear your pad flexing." I was 15, he was 42 or 43," Girard told L'Equipe.
"He also told us his se*stories... To another girl, he said, " You should shave your legs and armpits." She was 14. In fact, he wanted to mold us in his own image. He used fear, he manipulated us." she added.
Difficult moments
Emmanuelle Girard revealed a specific moment when, after one of the tournaments, her coach was particularly rude, telling her that it was unacceptable for her to lose and that she would now have to feel the consequences of her actions. Not long after, she had to eat alone in her room two nights in a row and was not allowed to leave the room.
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In addition, she trained independently before the main tournament, without anyone, both without a coach and without friends. After finishing high school, she went to train in Spain, and not long after, she became anorexic. A difficult experience from her childhood left her with mental consequences, and it took her a long time to recover from everything.
