Who is Angelique Cauchy? All you need to know about the ex-tennis pro who bravely testified against coach who raped her and has now published a book on her assault ordeal

Tennis has faced serious controversies around abusive coaching, with some cases being especially hard to witness. Many players have bravely stood up for themselves, including Angelique Cauchy, whose story won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

Cauchy was a promising talent who could have made it big in tennis. She started playing at six and was ranked as high as No. 2 among France’s junior players by age 12. But destiny had other plans, and her potential was left unfulfilled.

Her development was marred by years of horrific abuse from her coach, Andrew Geddes. At the Sarcelles Club in the northern suburbs of Paris, one of the best in the region, she met Geddes, who spotted her talent and later became her abuser.

The abuse began in 1999 when Cauchy was just 12, involving numerous assaults over two years. Though she stayed silent for years, she came forward in 2021, speaking at Palais Bourbon, part of the French National Assembly, during a parliamentary investigation into child abuse and neglect within sports federations.

The 37-year-old described how Geddes manipulated her into believing that his inappropriate behavior was somehow normal between a coach and his protégé. It escalated during a 15-day training camp in La Baule, western France, where she said he raped her up to three times a day, leaving her so distraught that she even considered ending her life.

"I thought many times about committing suicide. He raped me three times a day. The first night he asked me to go to his room and I didn't do it, then he came into mine. It was worse. I was in prison, I couldn't get out when I wanted to," she said (via Marca).

It reached a point where, from ages 13 to 15, Cauchy lived in constant fear that she had contracted AIDS, as Geddes had told her he was suffering from the disease. 

"I lived between 13 and 18 years old thinking I had AIDS," she said.

Andrew Geddes allegedly raped Angelique Cauchy up to 200 times a day, and he was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2021 after being found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting four girls aged between 12-17. His conviction might have come much sooner if the president of the Sarcelles Tennis Club hadn’t ignored complaints against him, prioritizing his success as a coach and the trophies he brought to the club.

Angelique Cauchy has since become a successful tennis trainer and author

Angelique Cauchy bravely overcame the abuse and harassment she suffered from her former tennis coach, Andrew Geddes, and became a coach herself. She served as the head of mini tennis in Paris for 10 months, from September 2007 to June 2008.

Afterwards, Cauchy worked as a physical education teacher at Lycée La Fontaine for nearly two years, where she also led the school tennis association. She balanced her roles as a physical education teacher and tennis coach until 2017.

From 2013 to 2018, the Frenchman further expanded her role by guiding students with disabilities, academic challenges, and newly arrived non-French-speaking students. She later joined Pantheon-Sorbonne University, continuing her work in education before becoming a founding member of Rebond in 2022.

Cauchy is also a writer. On October 9, 2024, she published her book, 'Si un jour quelqu'un te fait du mal' (translated as 'If One Day Someone Hurts You'). She wrote it to raise awareness among parents about what their children might be facing, urging them not to turn a blind eye and to help prevent potential harm.