French Tennis Player Elliot Benchetrit Switches to Represent Morocco in International Competitions

As of January 1, 2021, there will be a "major change in the tennis history" of Elliot. He announced the color on his Instagram account. "Playing for Morocco, the country of birth of my father, will be an honor! Representing this country in the Davis Cup and the Olympics will be just as much," he wrote, assuring that he remains French. "I remain French, but on a tennis court I will play under the colors of Morocco," he specified. "I thank France for all its help and support in my development, but to go for the ’step’ above, something needs to change."

Born in Nice on October 2, 1998, Elliot has defended the colors of France for years before deciding to now play for Morocco. "It’s a choice that has come to maturity. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, it’s well thought out," he told RMC Sport. "It’s the country of birth of my father, my parents eventually want to come here and I recently came here and really liked it."

"I’ve always been helped, so to speak, to play Grand Slams. Now I’ve noticed that to be in the top 100, you need to have the level. I need different support and try new things," explained the young tennis player.

Ranked 223rd in the world and 22nd French player, he has been on the professional circuit since 2016. In 2019, the Nice star achieved his best result by qualifying for the second round of Roland-Garros. He had defeated the British Cameron Norrie (6-3, 6-0, 6-2) before losing to the Serbian seed Dusan Lajovic (6-3, 6-3, 6-4).