Algerian player Ines Ibbou has received widespread praise across the world


Algerian player Ines Ibbou  has received widespread praise across the world

images 2020 05 11T170551.084

The 21 years old Ines Ibbou, where she has mortagaged  her trade for the majority of her professional career and she was struggling week-in, week-out and trying to move up the tennis food chain.

ADVERTISEMENT

She is the only lady travelling the world generally in three-legged trips, always looking for the cheapest tickets. The 620 ranked Ines Ibbou wrote a letter to Dominic Theim and commented that why he does not donate to the player fund relief started by Novak Djokovic.

When the top-ranked Novak Djokovic suggested the all top-100 players should contribute to a relief fund that would go to those ranked 250 to 700. But the Dominic Thiem denied to donate because he felt that Tennis players don’t have much needed.

“I don’t see why I should give money to such people. I would prefer to donate to people or institutions that really need it. No tennis players are fighting for survival, not even the ones down below. Nobody has to starve”, Thiem said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ibbou says she felt “hurt” and “disrespected” by Thiem’s comments. She has decided to share her story in her video. Now her video has gone viral and many footballers and tennis players and there fans applauding her.

“I was expecting some response from some lower-ranked players like me, but not all these people. Wow that was very… I don’t know, I don’t have the words actually. I hope this video makes its way to the ITF, the WTA and the federation. I hope they will change something about the tour, and they really think about it and try to help us players”, Ibbou said in a statement.

In her video she describes about her struggle that she has faced. She was trying to persue her career in a tennis. She discussed a lack of tennis facilities and the sponsors not supported her. She told about the financial burden due to which she could not travel to Tennis Tournaments.

Egyptian player Sandra Samir, another teen prodigy from the region, who peaked at No 13 in the world junior rankings has struggled a lot, she said in her video.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We made a lot of mistakes throughout my career but I kept convincing myself this is normal and pushed myself forward,” Samir said. “We didn’t know any better and the only way to figure it out is by going through it, one experience at a time. Did that slow me down? Yes of course it did.”

Samir told that she was dropped by sponsor when she told them that she was not in the top 250 ranking. At the time she still didn’t even understand anything about the WTA.

“Where we’re from, this is normal. If I were from a different place, maybe things would have been different, but I’m not. End of story. I have moved past all of these feelings of ‘why me?’ or ‘what if?’ and all this ‘I’m a victim’ narrative. I’ve been through this a lot and I moved forward. I also got past the phase of laziness, and hopelessness, and everything else you can imagine. I’ve come out the other side stronger”, samir said in a statement.

Ibbou told that she did not demand the money from Thiem but explains that she took offence from his words about the so-called unprofessionalism of lower-ranked players.

ADVERTISEMENT

Thiem said, the reason Ibbou’s open letter resonated with so many people because she highlights inherent problems in the structure of tennis and a version of her story is shared by countless other players.

We have to change something in the system, the system is wrong. The ITF, the ATP, the WTA, maybe it’s time all of them worked together to make something for the players,” I received many messages from players who are struggling because we cannot make a living with these tournaments. We spend more money than we win”, Ibbou said in a statement.

“I really hope so because we are a very young country, there are a lot of kids and they have to give them their chance,” Ibbou said. “I was lucky enough to have parents that sacrificed a lot for me and also I had people that cared for me when I was at my lowest. I was very lucky on that side. And I really wish and really hope that this makes an impact in Algeria, and try to change things there” she added in a statement. Ibbou might finally get the support she deserves after all. Algerian President aslo stand with her.