“He did it to get revenge on someone else”… Frenchman Jules Marie, target of a hoax, will file a complaint

The tennis player received an email that led him to believe he was going to play in the US Open qualifiers. He discovered the deception when he was ready to practice on the courts of the New York tournament.

In a few hours, Jules Marie, a professional French tennis player (295th in the world) experienced an emotional rollercoaster that he could have done without on Tuesday, August 20. Having been in New York for a few days because he was hoping to play the US Open qualifiers, the man who is also a content creator (126,000 subscribers on YouTube) thought he had received “the” email announcing that he was entering the tournament following two withdrawals. Before learning that it was all a hoax.

According to the email, Jules Marie, 32, was due to face another Frenchman, Quentin Halys, starting at 4pm on court number 4.I prepare my energy drink, I’m going to book a training session and there, the tour manager [référent pour les joueurs présent sur chaque tournoi] comes to me, puts his hand on my shoulder and says: ‘Listen, I’m sorry, but we didn’t have a player forfeit’“, he explains to franceinfo: sport, from the Big Apple.

Very quickly, the Frenchman tries to understand what happened to him and the trigger quickly comes: he had experienced the same situation at Wimbledon, a few months before.II realize that it’s the same hoax, that potentially, it’s the same guy. And in fact, he did it to get revenge on someone else, a story that would put you to sleep“, he unpacks.

Finally, the author of this bad joke sends him a new email in which he reveals the deception: “Jules, sorry but you won’t be playing tonight. (…) If you want, you can still make a kitty to call the breakers [surnom qu’il donne à ses followers] to the gifts to console you. (…) Until next time (joke).”

With the help of his large community on social networks, Jules Marie is now trying to find the identity of the prankster.I’m not 100% sure. We’re still looking. But I’m going to file a complaint. This is the second time the guy has done this to me. (…) It’s cyberbullying, it’s identity theft with the US Open, there’s damage to my image, moral damage… I announced on my networks that I was doing the US Open, ten minutes later I had to delete the post”he insists..

“I want this to serve as an example for all the cyberbullies who annoy the world.”

Jules Marie, French tennis player

to franceinfo: sport

The Frenchman being hosted free of charge by one of his followers, the financial consequences are quite limited, even if he points out that he could have pocketed a prize money of at least 22,000 dollars (nearly 20,000 euros). A significant sum for a player from the secondary circuit, which would have served him “for the rest of the season“.

It is on a psychological level that the ordeal is the most difficult to get through for Jules Marie. At the end of 2021, after a long break from tennis at the highest level, he had set himself the goal of playing the qualifications for the four Grand Slams. The mission was almost accomplished.

“He doesn’t live the story that I live. It’s my job, my passion. I live tennis every day. I’m totally into it. I changed my life radically two and a half years ago to do this. It was one of my goals, to participate in the US Open. It’s not going to stop me from continuing my life, but it’s a big heartache“, he laments. Jules Marie will nevertheless have to remobilize quickly, since he is expected on August 26 to play a Challenger in Spain, at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor.