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About Sophie
Let me introduce myself. By now you must know that I am French and was born in Paris. I now reside in between Connecticut and Cape Cod, MA and I have been leaving in the United States for 24 years and I am proud to be an American Citizen.
Back to when it all started...
At the age of two I decided to move from Paris to the South of France on the French Riviera (well, my parents did). My father Roland who was a dentist was also an amazing athlete and volleyball 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 has now become 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 C.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 King 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 scratch! 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 King 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 40-LOVE.
My goal through 40-LOVE is to bring a unique travel experience to each of you travelers and to do so I have created trips to different parts of France that I will personally chaperone. Today, through my travel and tennis experience, I am pleased to share with you the joys of sports, food, wine, and many French cities. I hope to experience the wonders of France with you, and be a part of creating your own memorable adventures in travel. |
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