# Elliot Benchetrit

Elliot Benchetrit (born 2 October 1998) is a Moroccan tennis player who formerly represented France. Since 1 January 2021 Benchetrit started to represent Morocco. His highest singles ranking was No. 198 on 10 February 2020, and his highest doubles ranking was No. 198 on 10 June 2019. He has won three singles titles on the ITF Men's Circuit, and two doubles titles, as well as another doubles title on the ATP Challenger Tour.

## Tennis career

He won his first ITF singles tournament in 2017 in Tunisia, and his first ITF doubles tournament the same year in Morocco, with Maxime Hamou.
Benchetrit made his Grand Slam main-draw debut at the 2018 French Open, after receiving a wildcard to the singles main draw. He was defeated by fellow Frenchman Gaël Monfils in four sets in the first round. The following year at the 2019 French Open he also received wildcards in both singles and doubles and won his first round matches in both events.

### Banana incident at the 2020 Australian Open

On 19 January 2020, while competing in the qualifiers for the 2020 Australian Open, 21-year-old Benchetrit asked a teenage ball girl to get him a banana. Upon being handed the banana, Benchetrit told the ball girl “I can't do it,” indicating that he himself was unable to peel the banana due to his fingers being "heavily taped" due to blisters (or "heavily bandaged" as some outlets reported), and him having put cream on his hands in order not to sweat, and requested that she peel it for him. The chair umpire intervened, ordering Benchetrit to peel the banana himself, and, according to Benchetrit, telling him that the ball girl "was not his slave." Benchetrit went on to defeat his opponent and qualify for the main tournament, where he lost in the first round. The incident triggered debate on social media and within the ranks of tennis about the role of ball girls and ball boys. Benchetrit later expressed his disbelief at the umpire's statement to him, and the social media response "without people knowing what really happened".

## Personal life

He was born in Nice, France, and lives in Morocco.
Benchetrit is of Moroccan descent through his father.

## ITF Circuit finals
### Singles: 10 (6–4)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (0–0)
* ITF Futures (6–4)
* Titles by surface
* Hard (4–0)
* Clay (2–4)
* Grass (0–0)
* Carpet (0–0)
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Jun 2017 | Tunisia F21, Hammamet | Futures | Clay | Cristian Rodríguez | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Jul 2017 | Morocco F2, Mohammedia | Futures | Clay | Carlos Boluda-Purkiss | 0–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–2 | Sep 2017 | Tunisia F25, Hammamet | Futures | Clay | Rudolf Molleker | 6–4, 2–0 Ret. |
| Win | 2–2 | Sep 2017 | Tunisia F26, Hammamet | Futures | Clay | Luca Giacomini | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Win | 3–2 | Feb 2018 | Tunisia F6, Djerba | Futures | Hard | Matteo Martineau | 6–3, 6–2 |
| Win | 4–2 | Sep 2022 | M25, Sintra | ITF World Tennis Tour | Hard | Jesper de Jong | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Win | 5–2 | Jan 2023 | M25, Doha | ITF World Tennis Tour | Hard | Bogdan Bobrov | 6–4, 6–3 |
| Loss | 5–3 | May 2023 | M15, Kuršumlijska Banja | ITF World Tennis Tour | Clay | Marko Topo | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 6–3 | Oct 2023 | M15, Monastir | ITF World Tennis Tour | Hard | Olaf Pieczkowski | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Loss | 6–4 | May 2024 | M15, Bucharest | ITF World Tennis Tour | Clay | Petr Nesterov | 1–6, 2–6 |

### Doubles: 5 (3–2)

* Legend
* ATP Challenger (1–1)
* ITF Futures (2–1)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Winner | 1. | 5 August 2017 | Casablanca, Morocco F3 | Clay | Maxime Hamou | Nick Chappell Skander Mansouri | 7–6$^{(7–4)}$, 6–7$^{(2–7)}$, [10–5] |
| Winner | 2. | 10 September 2017 | Hammamet, Tunisia F25 | Clay | Rudolf Molleker | Aziz Dougaz Anis Ghorbel | 7–5, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 1. | 17 September 2017 | Hammamet, Tunisia F26 | Clay | Louis Wessels | Filippo Baldi Mirko Cutuli | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Winner | 3. | 17 June 2018 | Lyon, France | Clay | Geoffrey Blancaneaux | Hsieh Cheng-peng Luca Margaroli | 6–3, 4–6, [10–7] |
| Runner-up | 2. | 22 August 2020 | Todi, Italy | Clay | Hugo Gaston | Ariel Behar Andrey Golubev | 4–6, 2–6 |