Next Gen Masters; Pioneer, Rafael Nadal, royal family… 5 things to know about tournament guest Abdullah Shelbayh – Eurosport

Certainly, he was lucky enough to receive a wild card without which he would not have qualified for this Next Gen Masters. But Abdullah Shelbayh is not only in Jeddah to entertain the gallery and artificially represent tennis in the Arab world. His achievements since he turned professional in June 2022 justify our close interest in his case. Beyond 1000th place in the world barely a year and a half ago, still 470th at the start of the season, here he is now 185th player in the world.

At just 20 years old – he had them around ten days ago – he has already made tennis history in his country. In February, he became the first Jordanian and the youngest tennis player in the Arab world to reach a final in a Challenger tournament (on his third try) in Manama, Bahrain. Two months later, he won his first match on the ATP circuit in Banja Luka, again a first for a player of his nationality. And he reached another milestone in Charleston in October, where he won his first Challenger title. No other representative of the Arab world had achieved this so early before him.

But nothing would have been possible for him, as talented as he is, without a welcome helping hand from Princess Lara Faisal. The latter, attached to the Jordanian royal family, changed the destiny of the young man by meeting Toni Nadal with whom she sympathized in 2016. The following year, the latter traveled to Jordan to see Shelbayh at work, then aged 13. Convinced by his potential, he asked him to join the Rafa Nadal Academy, which the Jordanian did in 2018.

Three years later, Shelbayh graduated from the structure located in Mallorca, benefiting from the advice of none other than… Rafael Nadal himself. “Rafa always gives me tennis tipshe told the ATP website. He always makes sure I don’t have too many people around me. He tells me that you need to have a few people you trust around you so that you don’t get scattered and don’t know who to listen to..”

In his tennis training as a child, Abdullah Shelbayh was greatly influenced by his idol Rafael Nadal. And yet, the first one he watched play on television was the Mallorcan’s oldest rival. “My first tennis memory was watching Roger (Federer). I used to play right-handed with a one-handed backhand because of Roger. I didn’t know who Rafa was. Then I saw him playing with his left hand and later that day I started playing with his left hand“, further explained the one who also adopted a two-handed backhand.

It’s as simple as that. In life, Shelbayh does everything with her right hand, a bit like her mentor. But the Jordanian also has another model of choice: the Tunisian Ons Jabeur, a much stronger symbol than him at this stage as a representative of the Arab world. He also has a surprising thing in common with his elder sister: they were both trained tennis by Rafik Bouchlaka, Jabeur for two years in Tunisia and Shelbayh from 9 to 14 years old, before he went into exile in Majorca.

If Ben Shelton hadn’t missed out, they might have crossed swords in Jeddah. But this would not have been a first on a tennis court. Because during his already astonishing journey, Shelbayh made a detour to Florida where he went to university for a year after leaving the Rafa Nadal Academy. There he met the young American with whom the flow went well, so much so that the two have followed their mutual progress since their time among the professionals.

“Ben Shelton wrote to me before the final in Bahrainrevealed the person concerned for the ATP website last February. He wished me good luck. He’s a great friend, we were at University together for a year, he’s one of my closest friends. He’s doing pretty well himself..” Entrusted with a mission as representative of his country and the Arab world, Shelbayh is still far from the level reached by his American counterpart. But if he follows his current trajectory, he should still be talked about. He will be in any case, one to watch from Tuesday in Jeddah where he will challenge Luca Van Assche from the start. The Frenchman will nonetheless remain the favorite, he who is the highest ranked (70th) in the red group, just like Arthur Fils (36th). ) in the green group.