Judiciary sources announced on Wednesday that Fiona Ferro’s former coach has been accused of raping and abusing the French tennis star when she was a teenager.
According to her attorney Isabelle Colombani, Ferro, 25, has accused 50-year-old Pierre Bouteyre of rape and sexual assault between 2012 and 2015.
According to Ferro’s attorney, Bouteyre served as her personal coach and travelled with her to events, many of which were held overseas.
According to prosecutor Patrice Camberou, Bouteyre has been charged with “rape of a juvenile by a person having control over the victim” and “sexual assault of a youngster above the age of 15 by a person having authority over the victim.”
Bouteyre, who also served as Alize Cornet’s tennis coach, “recognises the relationship happened but rejects any compulsion, claiming it was a love story,” his attorney Virginie Pin told AFP.
The Belgian-born Ferro has two WTA wins to her credit and peaked at number 39 in March 2021, but she has since dropped to number 259 in the rankings.