It is an unexpected spotlight for one of the great hopes of Algerian tennis. Inès Ibbou, 21, took care to write a long open letter, in video format, to the Austrian Dominic Thiem. A document which constitutes a response to the media outlet of the player, who had refused at the end of April to participate in the solidarity fund for badly classified players, set up by tennis authorities on the proposal, in particular, of the Serbian champion Novak Djokovic.
In an interview with the Kronen Zeitung, the Austrian player explained that he did not understand why he "should give them money", saying that "none of these poorly ranked players are struggling to survive". According to him, many did not live "professionally" and did "not give everything to tennis". "I prefer to give money to people or organizations that really need it," he concluded.
"Dominique Thiem has the right to give money to whomever he wants, I simply ask respect for me and all the players who sacrifice themselves every day", explains Inès Ibbou in an exclusive interview with Olivier Fiani, journalist from France 24. "I felt really insulted and it touched me deeply," added the player, currently stranded in Tunis.
In her ten-minute video, Inès Ibbou, former top 30 among juniors and today 620th worldwide, gives Dominic Thiem the details of his chaotic journey. She talks about her beginnings, on short courses strewn with pebbles in the suburbs of Algiers, the difficulties she may have had to impose herself as a woman in the world of high-level sport, the eternal challenge of financing a anonymous career which, in the end, costs more than it pays. All, she laments, having to agree to "sacrifice her family life".
My open letter to @ThiemDomi
Some other voices have to be heard also ... #improveTennis #Savetennis @ITF_Tennis @ITFprocircuit @WTA @atp @BBCSport @lequipe @TennisEurosport @ajplusfrancais @ajplus https://t.co/pqy9mOxkmQ
The support of the Algerian president
Unsurprisingly, this detailed presentation has won him many marks of support around the world, including that of Australian Nick Kyrgios or former world number one Venus Williams, who even sent him a "You're my hero ... "(" You are my heroine ... "). Visibly touched, Inès Ibbou sent him the compliment: "You have always been mine, and you are even more so today. Thank you very much, Venus Williams, a legend."
This solidarity comforted the young player who hopes that "the authorities will realize that the system is not working well and that it is time to change some things". Inès Ibbou recalls that all players, whether they belong to the Top 100 or the Top 1000, are part of the tennis world and contribute to its overall functioning. "We are all experiencing a moment of crisis and we must know how to show solidarity. It is not just a question of sport," she insists.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said on Sunday that "Algeria cannot afford to lose a sports talent like Inès Ibbou, who is young and who has a whole career ahead of her in a specialty where few Algerians excel". A word relayed by the Algerian Minister of Youth and Sports, Sid Ali Khaldi, who called Inès Ibbou, confined to Tunisia, to "signify to him all the will of the State to accompany him as well as all the sportsmen of elite and support them in order to achieve their aspirations and ambitions to showcase themselves at international sporting events and honor the national emblem. "
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