Elliot Benchetrit (born 2 October 1998) is a Moroccan

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player who formerly represented France. Since 1 January 2021 Benchetrit started to represent

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. 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 The ITF Men's World Tennis Tour (formerly ''ITF Men's Circuit'') is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The tour represents the lowest rung of the me ...

, and two doubles titles, as well as another doubles title on the

ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...

Tennis career

He won his first ITF singles tournament in 2017 in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, and his first ITF doubles tournament the same year in

, with Maxime Hamou. Benchetrit made his Grand Slam main-draw debut at the

2018 French Open The 2018 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 27 May to 10 June and consisted of events for players in singles, doubles and m ...

, after receiving a wildcard to the singles main draw. He was defeated by fellow Frenchman

Gaël Monfils Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in November 2016. Mon ...

in four sets in the first round. The following year at the

2019 French Open The 2019 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 26 May to 9 June, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and ...

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. The chair

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

intervened, ordering Benchetrit to peel the banana himself, and, according to Benchetrit, telling him that the ball girl "was not his slave." Benchetrit went on to defeat his opponent and qualify for the main tournament, where he lost in the first round. The incident triggered debate on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

and within the ranks of tennis about the role of ball girls and ball boys. Benchetrit later expressed his disbelief at the umpire's statement to him, and the social media response "without people knowing what really happened".

Personal life

He was born in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and lives in

. Benchetrit is of Moroccan descent through his father. He is Jewish.

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 10 (6–4)

Doubles: 5 (3–2)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benchetrit, Elliot 1998 births 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Moroccan Jews 21st-century Moroccan sportsmen Competitors at the 2022 Mediterranean Games French male tennis players French people of Moroccan-Jewish descent French sportspeople of Moroccan descent Living people Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Morocco Mediterranean Games medalists in tennis Moroccan male tennis players Moroccan people of French descent Tennis players from Nice