Tennis player Fiona Ferro has accused her former coach Pierre Bouteyre of sexual assault and rape ©Getty Images

Tennis player Fiona Ferro has accused her former coach Pierre Bouteyre of sexual assault and rape, with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) backing the athlete as it looks into filing a civil lawsuit against him.

The 25-year-old, who reached a career-high 39th in the world last year in the women's singles, said she had not consented to sexual contact with the 50-year-old Bouteyre.

FFT and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) have supported Ferro for going public with the allegations.

"I take note of Pierre Bouteyre's position on my accusation of acts of rape and sexual assault by a person in authority," said Ferro on Twitter.

"I confirm that I was not consenting and that the rapes and sexual assaults were committed by moral constraint according to Article 222-24 of the Penal Code.

"I place all my trust in the justice system of my country and confirm that I do not wish to make any other statement on the criminal investigation procedure."

FFT said in a statement that it is "standing" by Ferro in the proceedings.

Recently, Ferro lost in a qualifying match for the US Open to Britain's Katie Boulter.

The WTA praised the French player for going public in a statement too.

"We applaud Fiona for having the courage to come forward with these allegations," said a WTA spokesperson. 

"We are pleased to see a full investigation and legal process being pursued.

"The WTA is dedicated to ensuring a safe environment across our tour. 

"Safeguarding requires vigilance, and we are continuing to invest in education, training, and resources to improve our efforts."

Belarusian player Victoria Azarenka, who is on the WTA Player Council, added that safeguarding is "the topic that has to come out more".

American tennis player Kylie McKenzie held a press conference in March after suing the US Tennis Association, who she said failed to protect her from a coach who sexually assaulted her at the age of 19 in one of its training centres.

American tennis great Pam Shriver previously said she had an inappropriate and damaging relationship with "my much older coach" that started when she was 17 and he was 50.

Bouteyre was a tennis player prior to becoming a coach, competing at two Grand Slam tournaments, having a best result of reaching the second round at Wimbledon in 1996.

French player Alizé Cornet - who made the quarter-finals of the 2022 Australian Open - previously was trained by him from 2000 to 2010 from the ages of 10 to 20, before having an eight-month reunification with him in 2019.