Retired professional Selima Sfar is no stranger to flying the Arab flag solo in the world of women’s tennis.
Today at Wimbledon is no different.
The Tunisian will become the first player from the region to take part in the exclusive Doubles Invitational alongside the legendary Martina Navratilova.
Sfar, who reached a career-high ranking of 75 during her playing days, returns to the Wimbledon courts for the first time since 2008, when she reached the quarter-finals in the doubles with her playing partner, Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova.
The North African and Navratilova open their campaign against 1997 French Open champion Iva Majoli of Croatia and Bulgarian former world No4 Magdalena Maleeva on Court 12.
“I’ve been trying for a few years to get into the legends’ draw,” Sfar told Sport360. "Every time I was close to making it but it was very full and there are many time grand slam winners so it wasn’t easy.
“This year I wasn’t expecting anything but Martina was supposed to play with Marion Bartoli before she pulled out with a shoulder injury and the All England Club invited me to participate with Martina in this event.
“Martina asked me if I wanted to play and I was jumping. It’s unbelievable. It could have happened in any grand slam and somehow it happened here with the queen of Wimbledon, so this is huge.
"It can’t get any better than this. Unless we win, of course.”
Navratilova is a nine-time singles champion in Wimbledon and has just won the Legends’ trophy at Roland Garros last month alongside Kim Clijsters.
“It’s new for me so I’m kind a little bit nervous because I’m going to be playing with somebody who has 18 grand slams, nine here at Wimbledon,” admits Sfar, 36. “But I’m really excited and I’m proud to be the first Arab player to be participating in this event.
"It’s a very private club and as the first Arab player to get into it, I really want to thank the club for that.”
