Selima Sfar ( ; born 8 July 1977) is a Tunisian former tennis player.
She turned professional in 1999 and has been ranked as high as 75th in the world (16 July 2001). Sfar is the second highest ranked female Tunisian and Arab player. She has experienced most of her success in tournaments of the ITF Women's Circuit, winning 11 singles titles and 21 doubles titles.
Biography Sfar started playing tennis at age 8 at the Tennis Club of Carthage. She left Tunis at age 12 to live and train with Nathalie Tauziat under coach Régis de Camaret in Biarritz, France. The serve-and-volleyer preferred indoor hardcourts; favorite shots were serve, backhand. Father, Moncef, is a physician; mother, Zeineb, is a dermatologist; older sister is Sonia and younger brother is Hassan. She is a granddaughter of Habib Cheikhrouhou who founded the press group Dar Assabah in 1951.
Tennis career As a junior, Sfar won the Arab Junior Singles in 1992 and reached the quarter-finals of the junior tournament at French Open. In 1994, she was African junior champion. She turned professional in 1999. In 2000, she qualified for the US Open, to become the first Tunisian to achieve this feat. In the meantime, she was able to receive wildcards for Middle Eastern tournaments in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. At the Dubai Tennis Championships in 2001, she reached the quarterfinals, beating Silvija Talaja and Barbara Schett before being defeated by Nathalie Tauziat, in three sets. In that year, she became the first Arab woman to break into the top 100 of the WTA rankings.
Sfar played for the Tunisia Fed Cup team, going 41–24. She also competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics, losing in the first round to Brenda Schultz-McCarthy, and the 2008 Summer Olympics, losing in the first round to Caroline Wozniacki. Sfar holds the records for the Tunesian in the Fed Cup with the most wins, the most singles wins, the most doubles wins, the most ties played, and the most years played.
At the 2005 African Cup of Nations in Tunis, Sfar won the gold medal at both the singles and mixed teams' competitions.
At the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, Sfar and her partner Ekaterina Makarova reached the quarterfinals of the ladies' doubles, before they were defeated by Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur.
In 2011, Sfar announced her retirement from professional tennis. In the meantime, she became a commentator for Qatari sports channel, beIN Sports.
At the 2015 Wimbledon Championships, Sfar teamed with Martina Navratilova for the Invitational Ladies Doubles, and they won all three of their matches in their group.
Post-retirement On 28 August 2023, Sfar had an interview with L'Équipe in which she accused her coach, Régis de Camaret, of rape and sexual abuse, when she was 12 and a half years old. The same coach was accused by Isabelle Demongeot of similar misconduct and later jailed for 8 years in 2012. Eight weeks later, in September 2023, Sfar gave a further interview to CNN Arabic, in which she described her decision to speak publicly and announced her intention to create a structure dedicated to preventing institutional abuse in sport and supporting survivors: "I decided to create a company with this professional to share this method and to help preventing abuse in sports institutions specifically, and also to help people who got abused to get out of it."
On 13 May 2022, Sfar had co-founded Unus Mundus, a consulting and transformation methodology firm registered in Dubai, alongside Fernando Cavalher, described by L'Équipe as a "spécialiste de l'inconscient et des rêves" (specialist in the unconscious mind and dreams) and creator of the Paradigm of Sense, a post-Jungian system of psychological thought developed over nearly three decades.
Sfar serves as Marraine (Patron) of Université Paris-Dauphine PSL Campus de Tunis. In December 2025, she co-presented "The Shark Mindset Experience" at Université Paris-Dauphine PSL in Paris, an event exploring emotional intelligence and leadership presence.
In 2026, Unus Mundus and Université Paris-Dauphine PSL Campus de Tunis jointly launched The Management Code, described by the university as the first Executive Education programme in the world entirely dedicated to the quality of sovereign leadership presence in organisations. The programme runs over 28 hours across four days and is structured around four pillars: emotional intelligence, immaterial presence and sovereignty, the intelligence of error and the unknown, and Jungian typology as a strategic tool for collective intelligence.
Sfar is represented as an international keynote speaker by Champions Speakers Agency and has served as a Global Brand Ambassador for Lacoste.
ITF finals $100,000 tournaments $75,000 tournaments $50,000 tournaments $25,000 tournaments $10,000 tournaments
Singles: 19 (11–8) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfaceOpponent ScoreWin 1. 14 August 1994 ITF Carthage, Tunisia Clay Anne-Gaëlle Sidot 5–7, 6–3, 6–4Win 2. 26 March 1995 ITF Moulins, France Hard (i) Linda Sentis 3–6, 6–3, 6–2Win 3. 26 November 1995 ITF Le Havre, France Clay (i) Émilie Loit 0–6, 6–3, 6–4Win 4. 4 February 1996 ITF Dinan, France Clay (i) Virginie Massart 6–4, 7–6(8)Win 5. 11 August 1996 ITF Carthage, Tunisia Clay Marielle Bruens 7–5, 6–4Win 6. 14 December 1997 ITF Ismailia, Egypt Clay Tzipora Obziler 5–7, 7–5, 6–4Loss 1. 22 June 1998 ITF Sezze, Italy Clay Alice Canepa 5–7, 2–6Win 7. 30 April 2000 ITF Bournemouth, United Kingdom Clay Dragana Zarić 7–5, 6–2Loss 2. 17 July 2000 ITF Le Touquet, France Clay Bianka Lamade 5–7, 4–6Loss 3. 31 July 2000 Open Saint-Gaudens, France Clay Elena Tatarkova 4–6, 4–6Win 8. 22 September 2002 GB Pro-Series Glasgow, UK Hard (i) Anne Keothavong 7–6(5), 2–6, 7–6(8)Win 9. 3 November 2002 ITF Nottingham, United Kingdom Hard (i) Lilia Osterloh 6–2, 6–2Loss 4. 26 July 2004 ITF Modena, Italy Clay Anna-Lena Grönefeld 2–6, 4–6Loss 5. 1 November 2004 ITF Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium Hard (i) Yvonne Meusburger 4–6, 3–6Win 10. 14 May 2006 ITF Jounieh, Lebanon Clay Anastasiya Yakimova 6–4, 7–5Loss 6. 10 April 2007 Open de Biarritz, France Clay Pauline Parmentier 2–6, 4–6Win 11. 13 May 2007 ITF Jounieh, Lebanon Clay Mariya Koryttseva 6–2, 4–6, 7–6(3)Loss 7. 7 April 2008 Open de Biarritz, France Clay Kathrin Wörle 1–6, 3–6Loss 8. 5 July 2009 ITF Mont-de-Marsan, France Clay Anna Gerasimou 5–7, 3–6
Doubles: 33 (21–12) ResultNo.DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1. 25 July 1994 ITF La Coruña, Spain Clay Olivia de Camaret Sandra de Rafael Paula Hermida 4–6, 6–2, 6–3Win 2. 1 August 1994 ITF Casablanca, Morocco Clay Olivia de Camaret Cora Hofmann Alexandra Seitarth 4–6, 6–1, 6–0Loss 1. 5 August 1996 ITF Carthage, Tunisia Clay Sandrine Bouilleau Mariëlle Bruens Bahia Mouhtassine w/oWin 3. 21 April 1997 ITF Guimarães, Portugal Hard Élodie Le Bescond Kildine Chevalier Jindra Gabrisová 6–4, 6–2Win 4. 8 December 1997 ITF Ismailia, Egypt Clay Bérangère Karpenschif Bianca Kamper Nicole Remis 6–3, 7–6(5)Loss 2. 11 May 1998 ITF Le Touquet, France Clay Élodie Le Bescond Vanina Casanova Romina Ottoboni 6–7, 0–1 ret.Win 5. 22 June 1998 ITF Sezze, Italy Clay Vanina Casanova Alice Canepa Alessia Lombardi 6–3, 6–1Win 6. 20 July 1998 ITF Valladolid, Spain Hard Gisela Riera Eva Bes Rosa María Andrés Rodríguez 7–6(5), 7–6(3)Loss 3. 27 July 1998 ITF Pamplona, Spain Hard Meike Fröhlich Eva Bes Amanda Hopmans w/oWin 7. 10 May 1999 ITF Edinburgh, United Kingdom Clay Jo Ward Surina De Beer Lorna Woodroffe 6–4, 6–2Loss 4. 26 July 1999 ITF Pamplona, Spain Hard Jo Ward Hiroko Mochizuki Ludmila Richterová 6–2, 4–6, 3–6Win 8. 2 August 1999 ITF Perigueux, France Clay Jo Ward Hanna-Katri Aalto Rika Fujiwara 6–4, 6–3Loss 5. 6 February 2000 ITF Jersey, United Kingdom Hard (i) Jo Ward Elena Bovina Anna Zaporozhanova 3–6, 2–6Win 9. 24 April 2000 ITF Bournemouth, United Kingdom Clay Lorna Woodroffe Hannah Collin Zsófia Gubacsi 6–1, 6–0Win 10. 1 May 2000 ITF Hatfield, United Kingdom Clay Jo Ward Zsófia Gubacsi Jasmin Wöhr 7–6(6), 6–2Loss 6. 15 May 2000 ITF Edinburgh, United Kingdom Clay Lorna Woodroffe Natalie Grandin Nicole Rencken 6–0, 3–6, 4–6Loss 7. ITF Nottingham, United Kingdom Hard (i) Lucie Ahl Kim Grant Lilia Osterloh 1–6, 2–6Win 11. Open de Biarritz, France Clay Lucie Ahl Yuliya Beygelzimer Anna Zaporozhanova 6–1, 6–1Loss 8. Bronx Open, United States Hard Mara Santangelo Yuliya Beygelzimer Tatiana Poutchek 4–6, 5–7Win 12. 13 September 2004 ITF Bordeaux, France Clay Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Erica Krauth Jasmin Wöhr 3–6, 6–3, 6–3Loss 9. 10 October 2004 Open de Touraine, France Clay Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Květa Peschke Angelika Rösch w/oWin 13. 18 October 2004 ITF Saint-Raphaël, France Hard (i) Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Barbora Strýcová Galina Voskoboeva 7–6(3), 2–6, 6–4Win 14. 1 November 2004 ITF Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium Hard (i) Virginie Pichet Eva Fislová Stanislava Hrozenská 6–1, 7–6(2)Win 15. 23 November 2004 ITF Poitiers, France Hard (i) Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Gabriela Chmelinová Michaela Paštiková 7–5, 6–4Win 16. 12 April 2005 Open de Biarritz, France Clay Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Timea Bacsinszky Aurélie Védy 6–2, 6–1Win 17. 15 November 2005 ITF Deauville, France Clay (i) Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Alona Bondarenko Kateryna Bondarenko 6–3, 6–1Loss 10. 26 March 2007 ITF Latina, Italy Hard Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Sara Errani Giulia Gabba 3–6, 6–1, 6–7(2)Loss 11. 6 April 2008 ITF Torhout, Belgium Hard Stéphanie Cohen-Alor Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Yanina Wickmayer 4–6, 6–4, [8–10]Win 18. 20 July 2009 ITF Pétange, Luxembourg Clay Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Darija Jurak Kathrin Wörle 6–2, 3–6, [10–7] Win 19. 12 October 2009 Open de Touraine, France Hard Youlia Fedossova Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Aurélie Védy 4–6, 6–0, [10–8]Win 20. 22 February 2010 Biberach Open, Germany Hard (i) Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Mona Barthel Carmen Klaschka 5–7, 6–1, [10–5]Loss 12. 17 October 2010 Open de Touraine, France Hard (i) Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Tatjana Malek Irena Pavlovic 4–6, 7–5, [8–10]Win 21. 24 January 2011 Open de l'Isère, France Hard (i) Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro Iryna Brémond Aurélie Védy 6–1, 6–3
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