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About Sophie
Let me introduce myself. By now you must know that I am French and was born in Paris. At
the age of two I decided to move to the South of France on the French Riviera (well, my
parents did). My father Roland who is now a wonderful artist (see
http://membres.lycos.fr/artennis/) was also an amazing athlete and volley ball player. He and
some friends built a tennis court in Antibes (20 miles from Nice) that became my life and Nice
became my hometown.
My first steps on a tennis court were at the age of four. I was surprising everybody with my
abilities to use a badminton racket with plastic strings, and still manage to hit the ball. I
continued playing and following my dream of winning Wimbledon! Well, I am still dreaming. It
is now becoming a fantasy and I will be looking for another chance in my next life! So I
started to play in the junior's events and won the French Junior Championships in singles and
doubles. I was now part of the elite group of up and coming women players in France. I then
won the French Open Junior in doubles with Corinne Vanier (former number one player in
France).
I stepped onto the Women's Professional Tennis Tour in 1980 and was ranked 183 in the
world. I continued playing and reached the top 60 after my quarterfinal match against Chris
Evert in Melbourne, Australia. That was fun! Unfortunately, or the way I look at it today,
fortunately, I got injured in 1987 and was going to quit at age 24. That's when a chance of a
lifetime came to me, working with Billie-Jean King. Billie-Jean, who was directing World Team
Tennis in Chicago, told me, "you don't quit tennis at 24, that's when you start your career."
So I moved to Chicago, and Billie-Jean coached me for two years. My ranking had dropped to
578 in the world due to my injury, and I had to start all over again. Think about starting your
professional career again from zero! It was so hard, but so rewarding. I came back in 18
months and was ranked 110 in the world and remained on the pro tour until 1995. I have
Billie-Jean to thank for all she did for me and for being such a positive influence in my life, not
only as a tennis player, but also as a great person and friend. In 1992, I was still playing on
the tour and knew that my career was coming to its end, and I decided to start my own
company.
My ultimate goal is to have a restaurant (I love to eat!), but traveling and tennis taught me a
lot of what I know. Today, through my travel and tennis experience, I am please to share
with you the joys of sports, food, wine, and world cities. I hope to experience the wonders of
the world with you, and be a part of creating your own memorable adventures in travel. |
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