Elliot Benchetrit

Last updated
Elliot Benchetrit
Benchetrit RGQ19 (23) (48002727466).jpg
Benchetrit at the 2019 French Open
Country (sports)Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco (2021–current)
Flag of France.svg  France (−2020)
Residence Morocco
Born (1998-10-02) 2 October 1998 (age 26)
Nice, France
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Turned pro2016
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachAurelien Richaud, Jean-Michel Pequery
Prize money$519,952
Singles
Career record5–12 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 198 (10 February 2020)
Current rankingNo. 603 (17 March 2025)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open 1R (2020)
French Open 2R (2019)
US Open 1R (2019)
Doubles
Career record1–4 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 198 (10 June 2019)
Current rankingNo. 680 (4 April 2022)
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open 2R (2019)
Medal record
Mediterranean Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2022 Oran Men's Doubles
Last updated on: 6 March 2023.

Elliot Benchetrit (born 2 October 1998) is a Moroccan tennis player who formerly represented France. Since 1 January 2021 Benchetrit started to represent Morocco. [1] His highest singles ranking was No. 198 on 10 February 2020, and his highest doubles ranking was No. 198 on 10 June 2019. He has won three singles titles on the ITF Men's Circuit, and two doubles titles, as well as another doubles title on the ATP Challenger Tour.

Contents

Tennis career

He won his first ITF singles tournament in 2017 in Tunisia, and his first ITF doubles tournament the same year in Morocco, with Maxime Hamou. [2]

Benchetrit made his Grand Slam main-draw debut at the 2018 French Open, after receiving a wildcard to the singles main draw. [3] He was defeated by fellow Frenchman Gaël Monfils in four sets in the first round. The following year at the 2019 French Open he also received wildcards in both singles and doubles and won his first round matches in both events.

Banana incident at the 2020 Australian Open

On 19 January 2020, while competing in the qualifiers for the 2020 Australian Open, 21-year-old Benchetrit asked a teenage ball girl to get him a banana. Upon being handed the banana, Benchetrit told the ball girl “I can't do it,” indicating that he himself was unable to peel the banana due to his fingers being "heavily taped" due to blisters (or "heavily bandaged" as some outlets reported), and him having put cream on his hands in order not to sweat, and requested that she peel it for him. [4] [5] [6] The chair umpire intervened, ordering Benchetrit to peel the banana himself, and, according to Benchetrit, telling him that the ball girl "was not his slave." [7] [6] Benchetrit went on to defeat his opponent and qualify for the main tournament, where he lost in the first round. [8] The incident triggered debate on social media and within the ranks of tennis about the role of ball girls and ball boys. [9] Benchetrit later expressed his disbelief at the umpire's statement to him, and the social media response "without people knowing what really happened". [6]

Personal life

He was born in Nice, France, and lives in Morocco. [10]

Benchetrit is of Moroccan descent through his father. [11] He is Jewish.

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 10 (6–4)

Legend
ATP Challenger (0–0)
ITF Futures (6–4)
Titles by surface
Hard (4–0)
Clay (2–4)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Jun 2017Tunisia F21, Hammamet FuturesClay Flag of Colombia.svg Cristian Rodríguez 5–7, 4–6
Loss0–2Jul 2017Morocco F2, Mohammedia FuturesClay Flag of Spain.svg Carlos Boluda-Purkiss0–6, 4–6
Win1–2Sep 2017Tunisia F25, Hammamet FuturesClay Flag of Germany.svg Rudolf Molleker 6–4, 2–0 Ret.
Win2–2Sep 2017Tunisia F26, Hammamet FuturesClay Flag of Italy.svg Luca Giacomini6–4, 6–2
Win3–2Feb 2018Tunisia F6, Djerba FuturesHard Flag of France.svg Matteo Martineau 6–3, 6–2
Win4–2Sep 2022M25, Sintra ITF World Tennis TourHard Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jesper de Jong 6–4, 6–1
Win5–2Jan 2023M25, Doha ITF World Tennis TourHardFlag placeholder.svg Bogdan Bobrov 6–4, 6–3
Loss5–3May 2023M15, Kuršumlijska Banja ITF World Tennis TourClay Flag of Germany.svg Marko Topo 3–6, 4–6
Win6–3Oct 2023M15, Monastir ITF World Tennis TourHard Flag of Poland.svg Olaf Pieczkowski6–2, 6–3
Loss6–4May 2024M15, Bucharest ITF World Tennis TourClay Flag of Bulgaria.svg Petr Nesterov 1–6, 2–6

Doubles: 5 (3–2)

Legend
ATP Challenger (1–1)
ITF Futures (2–1)
OutcomeNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Winner1.5 August 2017 Casablanca, Morocco F3Clay Flag of France.svg Maxime Hamou Flag of the United States.svg Nick Chappell
Flag of Tunisia.svg Skander Mansouri 		7–6(7–4), 6–7(2–7), [10–5]
Winner2.10 September 2017 Hammamet, Tunisia F25Clay Flag of Germany.svg Rudolf Molleker Flag of Tunisia.svg Aziz Dougaz
Flag of Tunisia.svg Anis Ghorbel 		7–5, 6–3
Runner-up1.17 September 2017 Hammamet, Tunisia F26Clay Flag of Germany.svg Louis Wessels Flag of Italy.svg Filippo Baldi
Flag of Italy.svg Mirko Cutuli		4–6, 4–6
Winner3.17 June 2018 Lyon, FranceClay Flag of France.svg Geoffrey Blancaneaux Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg Hsieh Cheng-peng
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Luca Margaroli 		6–3, 4–6, [10–7]
Runner-up2.22 August 2020 Todi, ItalyClay Flag of France.svg Hugo Gaston Flag of Uruguay.svg Ariel Behar
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg Andrey Golubev 		4–6, 2–6

References

  1. ↑ Dardar, Jihad (2020-12-26). "Tennis Player Elliot Benchetrit Decides to Represent Morocco". www.moroccoworldnews.com. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
  2. ↑ ""Morocco F3 Futures ITF Men's Circuit Week of 31 JUL 2017 Casablanca"" (PDF).
  3. ↑ "wild-cards announced! – Roland-Garros – The 2018 French Open official site". www.rolandgarros.com.
  4. ↑ McKenzie, Mikael (2020-01-20). "Australian Open ace slammed for making 'creepy' request to ball-kid". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  5. ↑ "'Nasty piece of work': Australian Open player told off over weird ball girl request". au.sports.yahoo.com. 19 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  6. 1 2 3 Marioni, Massimo (21 January 2020). "Australian Open: Ball girl peeling banana blown out of proportion, says Elliot Benchetrit". CNN. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  7. ↑ "Tennis star Elliot Benchetrit branded 'nasty piece of work' for asking ball-girl to peel his banana". Msn.com. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  8. ↑ "Australian Open: Tennis player asks ball-girl to peel banana for him, gets scolded by umpire – WATCH". Hindustan Times. January 21, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Tennis player told off for asking ball girl to peel his banana". CNN. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-01-20.
  10. ↑ "Elliot Benchetrit | Overview". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  11. ↑ Baudu, Jeremy (2020-04-10). "Elliot Benchetrit en 10 questions – Roland-Garros, Roddick, Maroc". Tennis Majors (in French). Retrieved 2020-04-10.
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