For only her fourth year of tennis, Lilia Drief is one of the best French women in less than twelve years. Number 1 in the Occitanie League, the progression of the USAP Tennis licensee is considered “dazzling” by her coaches.
In the shadow of the Aôtintik brewery, Christian Ramoneda, president of USAP Tennis, recounts the journey of a gifted little yellow ball player. Lilia Drief, only 10 years old, joined the neighborhood club La Réal this summer, after her debut at Moulin à vent. “She was having fun at the beach hitting the ball with her racket, like all the children, but she liked it and she wanted to join a club”says his dad? Sadek who watches over his offspring with kindness.
Today, Lilia Drief has joined the Saint-Louis de Gonzague college, where she excels with her grades, in a class with flexible schedules which allows her to go to the Ligue Occitanie training center in Trèbes, thanks to Céline Andrieu who takes him every Friday, in addition to his three weekly training sessions at USAP Tennis. Judged “High Sports Potential”, it is qualified as “Fighting and with a very big margin for improvement. She is a player who makes few mistakes”said of her, one of her coaches, Anthony Dos Reis (with Nicolas Bally). Spotted by national authorities, Lilia Drief benefits from financial support that Jean-Christophe Torres set up for her. “Her dad was an educator when I was president of the Bages rugby school. He called me to ask for help in getting his daughter into Saint-Louis, in a class with flexible schedules and for “help financially with his travels, Lionel Perez (Rugby-Approved), will help him find his equipment supplier and I am in the process of creating a pool of patrons for the long term.”. Effectively, “It costs parents a lot of money to travel with their children if they want to move them up the rankings, not to mention the international circuits. They need to play tournaments far enough away to earn points”explains Nicolas Bally, about his player, ranked 15/5 and who is one of the 130 USAP Tennis licensees (3-18 years old).
“The road is very long, yes it is a miracle, but we must continue to work. Its margin is there and we know that it can do much better and go further in certain sectors”adds Anthony Dos Reis, about his right-hander who qualifies “background player” and who “cut with tennis”, as soon as she gets home. A sports enthusiast, who loves “swimming, basketball and athletics”, rotating at “19.5 average in sport”in 6th grade, reveals his dad.
“I hope to be selected for the Portugal tournament this summer”explains the young player, if she confirms with the leaders of the ITF (young tennis Europe) and who “dream of one day going to see a match at Roland-Garros”. In the meantime, the 401 members of the USAP tennis (tennis school, adults and schoolchildren), are seeing the evolution of Lilia Drief who will follow the big tournament in the City of Perpignan, organized by the USAP tennis from July 9 to 26 2025.
