Camille Serme: “My Dream Is To Make The Olympics”

“The story started about a year ago when I realised squash was going to make it to the LA28 Olympics Games,” former World No.2 Camille Serme explained after recently coming out of retirement and competing in her home event, Paris Squash 2024. 

“It was funny because it was a few days before I gave birth, and my boyfriend and I were discussing the news, and he told me that I couldn’t not try to make it, as it was my dream for my whole career, and I thought that he was joking with me. 

“I told him, let’s have a baby first and then see how it goes.”

However, just under 12 months later, ‘La Panthère’ is well and truly back, with the LA28 Olympic Games firmly on her mind. 

Serme, now 35 years of age, recently qualified for the main draw of the Platinum-level Paris Squash 2024 after coming through the Wildcard Play-Off event with a pair of impressive victories. 

The 15-time PSA Tour winner defeated World No.47 Marie Stephan and World No.55 Enora Villard in straight games to come through the qualifying event before taking on World No.1 Nour El Sherbini on the stunning all-glass court at Cirque d’Hiver Bouglione. 

Despite this first-round match with ‘The Warrior Princess’ ending in an 11-6, 11-4, 11-6 defeat, Serme was nonetheless overjoyed to back out on court competing with the world’s best. 

“When I was about to get on court with [Nour] El Sherbini, I was like woah,” Serme admitted. “I was nervous again; the adrenalin was going again, and I never thought that I would feel this again. I wish I could have played for longer on court – when I looked at the time on my watch, I thought, come on, try harder!

“But I did try my best. She is the World No.1 and it was a lot of fun. It’s funny because I know I don’t have the same level as her, but I tried to have maybe more shots, different tactics, so it was interesting to try it against her and see what I could do better in the future.”

Having spent almost exactly three years away from competitive squash between her final match before retirement and her return against El Sherbini in Paris, Serme’s journey back to full fitness was by no means an easy route to tread.

Add into the mix the fact that Serme gave birth to her daughter Jude under a year ago, and there was understandably some hesitation about returning to the sport and starting the lengthy four-year journey to the LA28 Olympic Games.

Serme said: “After a few months, when Jude was about three months old, I started playing again. I enjoyed it and I felt like I missed it. I had a good sensation on the court and people around me were saying that I was doing pretty well and if I trained properly, I might have a shot [at making it for the Olympics]. 

“It was not an easy decision, as it was not only me involved. I started to go get a crew, my staff again, around me. And then here we are today. 

“At first, I was like, ‘Guys, I’m 35 and if I want to make it, it will be another four years, so I’ll be 39′. In squash we know that we don’t see that many players of that age. I asked them what they thought about the age, and they said they didn’t think it would be an issue if I built my body up correctly again.”

Serme held a ranking of World No.4 in September 2021 when she sustained a serious Achilles injury in the Egyptian Open quarter-finals before retiring from squash in June 2022, aged 33. Throughout her earlier career, Serme enjoyed an eight-and-a-half-year spell inside the top ten and became the most successful female French player of all time.

The 35-year-old captured multiple major PSA titles, with her breakthrough win coming at the 2015 Allam British Open in Hull, where she defeated England’s Laura Massaro to become the first Frenchwoman to win the prestigious trophy. Further notable successes came at the U.S. Open in 2016 and the J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions in 2017, before she became a two-time ‘ToC’ champion in 2020, beating reigning World Champion El Sherbini under the chandeliers of the iconic Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall. 

However, with the fact that Serme will be 39 by the time the LA28 Olympics takes place, the 12-time French National champion admitted that she will have to manage her workload, and as such, not look to compete on a weekly basis on the PSA Squash Tour.

Serme, currently ranked at World No.143, detailed how she will look to manage her schedule and body to ensure she has a ranking which will enable her to qualify for a position at the LA28 Olympic Games, saying: “As long as I make sure that I am fresh in my mind and my body as well [I think I can compete at LA28].

“At first, maybe I won’t play many tournaments for two years, I’ll just train and make sure I’m strong enough with my new body. But I actually have to have a world ranking [to compete at the Olympics] and therefore have to play some tournaments. So we were like, let’s take our time, start slowly and just play a few tournaments. 

“I’m not going to play fully this season though. I’m not going to play 11 tournaments. If I’m honest, my dream scenario is to make it to the Olympics. When I started to get my staff back together though, they were like, ‘We’re going to try and get a medal’. 

“I was like, ‘Slow down!’’’

Commenting on how she might have to adapt her game to adjust to the physical demands of the women’s tour right now, Serme said:  “I feel like the women’s tour is stronger, and anything can happen from round one. 

“It feels like it has got even more physical, that’s why it is interesting. I feel like that is a big challenge for me because, at my age, I won’t be able to be as fit as before. 

“It will be interesting to see how I can adapt my game and it’s exciting to pay a lot of shots, so it’s going to be fun to see how I can manage it.”

Watch the full interview with Camille Serme by clicking here, while more information on the  PSA Squash Tour, follow the PSA on  X, Facebook, Threads, Instagram, WhatsApp, or TikTok.