"I wanted to show people who killed my family that I'm able to reach far"- Joseline Umulisa, survivor of 1994 Rwanda genocide, on how tennis saved her

Joseline Umulisa, a former Rwandan tennis player, recently narrated her story of how she stumbled upon tennis and how the sport changed her life.

Umulisa is the co-founder of Tennis Rwanda Children's Foundation (TRCF) and is a seven-time national tennis champion. She was inducted into the International Tennis Club of the United States (USIC) during her 11-day trip to the US.

She also graced the 2024 Indian Wells Open, where Novak Djokovic pledged to visit Umulisa's organization - TRCF in Rwanda.

During the 1994 Rwanda Genocide, the former Rwandan No. 1 tragically lost her parents and five of her 10 siblings. Umulisa fled to Tanzania. When she returned, she was put in an orphanage with help from the Red Cross.

Speaking to Tennis Channel, Umulisa recalled that she met a guy on the street who had a tennis racket, which made her curious.

"I was looking for something which can help me to get better. I was on a street going to school. I met a guy. He was holding a racket, but I didn’t know what a racket is. I asked ‘what do you do with this?’ He said ‘we use it for playing tennis.’ I asked, ‘what is tennis?’," Joseline Umulisa said. (via X)

She mentioned that tennis was a medicine to her and helped her heal from pain and her emotional issues.

"When I was doing some rallies with him, I started feeling that my pain is a bit going. I couldn’t think anything out of that ball, a racket, and a court. So I was happy that tennis can be my medicine. Tennis can help me, healing my back pain and my emotional issues. That’s how I discovered tennis," Umulisa continued.

The Rwandan also talked about the pride she felt when she was called up to represent her country in the national team.

"I remember one day, there was a guy who was working in Rwanda Tennis Federation. He told me, ‘we are going to select you in a national team.’ The first day when I started representing my country, I was very proud. And all the girls in the orphanage was very proud."

While talking about gaining more recognition after being included in the National team, she also said that she wanted to give back to the country.

"All the people started at that time to know about me. Because I wanted to show these people who killed my family that I’m able, that I want to reach far. After being a champion in my heart it was like, I have something to give back to my country."

Joseline Umulisa represented Rwanda at the Billie Jean King Cup

Joseline Umulisa

Joseline Umulisa represented Rwanda in the 2021 Billie Jean King Cup Africa qualifying but was unable to win any match. Nonetheless, she was a force to reckon with in local tournaments. She won the Genocide Memorial Tennis Tournament and Cogebamk Tennis Tournament in 2019 and reached the semifinal of the Rwanda Open in the same year.

In 2020, she clinched the Heroes Tennis Cup and also launched her tennis academy, where she began coaching a group of 30 girls and boys between the ages of 14-17.