Oceane Dodin hit headlines when she recently returned to competition following a lengthy layoff. But it wasn’t the French star’s comeback – or the inner-ear problem she took time out to address – that caught attention. Instead, Dodin garnered attention for her decision to have a boob job during her time away from the sport.
The former world No.46 became the first active player to undergo breast enhancement surgery, and admitted that some doubters told her she wouldn’t “be able to play”. But that hasn’t been the case, and Dodin has already competed in three ITF events in her home of France with no trouble. Now, the 29-year-old has addressed her decision to have the surgery – and the reaction it sparked.
Dodin shared the news of her breast enhancement when she made her comeback at the W35 tournament in Reims in late September. The French ace spent nine months out of competition to address an inner-ear issue that had plagued her for a decade.
During her time on the sidelines, she took the opportunity to have a boob job, which wouldn’t have been possible while competing week in, week out on the tennis tours. News of her surgery caused a media storm, and Dodin had a mixed reaction.
Asked whether she was surprised by the attention she received for having a breast enlargement, Dodin told the Daily Mail: “Yes, because in this sport, it’s not like usual, nobody has done it before, so I knew people and journalists are gonna talk about it.
“But no, because, I mean, for me, it’s nothing crazy. It’s just boobs, it’s nothing. So I was like, ‘Maybe people are going talk about it because it’s new, and because it’s unusual’ – but not that much.”
Dodin is the first active player to have a breast enlargement, but former world No. 1 Simona Halep famously underwent a breast reduction to help her on the court. It paid off, and she won two Grand Slam titles during her successful career.
It has sparked some questions about whether Dodin’s boob job could affect her career. When she initially shared the news late last month, the current world No. 477 was met with questions, but joked that she didn’t have “watermelons”.
Dodin added: “He asked me, ‘But can you still play?’’ And I was like, ‘Of course, yes. I didn’t put like, everything crazy.’ Of course, (they’re) big, but it’s not like I can’t play, you know? And there are some tennis players who have bigger boobs than me, and they’re still playing. Just mine are fake, that’s it.”
Most importantly, the surgery has allowed Dodin to “feel better in [her] body”, and she’s happy to discuss personal matters away from tennis, but she doesn’t agree with any backlash.
“In normal life, people are doing (the surgery) also, and I don’t understand why we are judging something that normal people are doing,” she said.
For now, Dodin’s full focus is on her comeback. The 29-year-old ran into some trouble when she was forced to retire from her quarter-final match during her comeback in Reims. During her time at the tournament, Dodin opened up on her surgery in an interview with RMC Sport.
“Everyone told me, ‘You’re not going to be able to play’, as if I had put on watermelons. They’re not small, but that doesn’t bother me when I play. There are adapted bras,” she explained.
She has since reached another quarter-final at the W50 Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, and then lost her opening match at the W75 in Poitiers.