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The National
5 days ago
- Climate
- The National
Rain can't dampen Hady Habib's mood as Lebanese attempts to qualify for Wimbledon
Lebanese tennis player Hady Habib's first experience of playing on grass in England was about as stereotypical as it gets. In preparation for his first crack at Wimbledon qualifying this week, the 26-year-old took part in a Challenger tournament in Ilkley, a leafy spa town some 300km north-west of London, where the fabled Grand Slam takes place from June 30-July 13. Due to bad weather, Habib played a two-hour, three-set match split across two days. He clocked a whopping 27 aces but lost the match. He won two matches in doubles before losing in the semi-finals. For Habib, it was a new adventure. 'The first two days that I got here, I only got an hour and a half of practice because it was raining. And something I didn't know on grass is when it rains, it kind of affects it for a while because you can't play on wet grass,' Habib told The National in an interview over Zoom from Ilkley. 'Some courts are covered, but the practice courts aren't. So even after they stopped my match, because my match took two days, before I stepped on to play the third set [the following day], I almost wasn't even going to warm up. They were going to give us a 10-minute warm-up. 'But I managed to squeeze a warm-up in because the practice courts dried. It's a new experience for me. You hear about the rain delays in Wimbledon and how it's just always raining there. 'It's so sensitive. During our match, it started to drizzle, and then we both started slipping and sliding everywhere. I looked at the ref, I'm like, 'Is this a slip and slide now or what?'' During our match, it started to drizzle, and then we both started slipping and sliding everywhere. I looked at the ref, I'm like, 'Is this a slip and slide now or what?' Hady Habib Rain showers aside, Habib says he enjoyed his first outing on grass at Ilkley and was encouraged by his first experience on the surface. 'It's pretty nice to just see a field of grass courts. You're out in the nature, and there's greenery all around,' he added. 'Going to my first hit, I didn't know what to expect, because I've never played on a real grass court in my life. The closest thing I've actually played on was synthetic grass, but it's not even close to a real grass court. 'But yeah, for my first hits, I just noticed how fast the ball was coming at me, because on grass, the ball skids off the court, so I just had to adjust to that while I was practising.' In Ilkley, Habib fell 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 to 19-year-old Spaniard Martin Landaluce. 'Unfortunately, I lost, but it was a good experience for me, learning to adapt. You just have to stay lower to the ground because the balls are just not bouncing as high. It was fun. I really enjoyed playing on grass. I think it suits my game. The last match, I hit about 27 aces, which is just pretty not normal,' said Habib. 'That's why I think my game would suit grass. I serve well, I kind of hit my spots. And if you hit your spots on grass, and you have good power on the serve, you know, you feel like the best servers do so well on grass court, and now I understand why. Because it's so fast, it's really almost impossible to return. 'So, yeah, there's been a few adjustments I need to make. And I hope this is going to prepare me the best for Wimbledon.' Habib is riding the crest of a wave after securing a first Challenger title at the end of last season. A historic run at the Australian Open earlier this year – where he became the first Lebanese in the Open Era to qualify for a Grand Slam and to win a main draw match in singles – his ranking is now high enough to get him into the qualifying rounds of some of the biggest tournaments in the world, including Wimbledon. The tennis tour makes an abrupt switch from clay to grass after the French Open each June, with just three weeks separating Roland Garros from Wimbledon. The grass swing is short, and features a limited number of tournaments at both the ATP and Challenger levels. Those events can be difficult to get into, and if a player's ranking isn't high enough to at least make it into the Wimbledon qualifying draw, the logical option is to skip the grass season altogether and instead choose to play on clay or hard courts. That has been the case for Habib the past few years; but this season is different. Ranked 163 in the world and rising, Habib has a reason to lace up his grass-court shoes, with an opportunity to fight for a main draw spot at Wimbledon on the line. To make it to the All England Club, he must win three qualifying rounds at the Community Sport Centre Roehampton, the host venue for Wimbledon's qualifying tournament. 'Someone told me the other day that I'm not going to be actually playing at Wimbledon. I was like, 'Oh, what a bummer'. I didn't know qualifying was somewhere else.' Many players have said the fact that the qualifying rounds are played at a location that is a 15-minute drive away from the All England Club provides even extra motivation for them to qualify, in order to gain access to the hallowed lawns at SW19. 'It's going to be the Hunger Games over there,' joked Habib. This time last year, Habib was competing in a series of Challenger Tour events on clay in South America. In 2025, he got to play at tournaments he had only previously watched on TV, like the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Indian Wells, Miami, Doha and Dubai. 'Whenever you're doing something for the first time, you're just kind of learning new things. It was different for me, playing last year tournaments that are not even close to these. So being able to compete at these events, seeing all these top 50 players around you, it's a new thing. And you can learn a lot from those experiences,' he explained. 'And of course, those events, the matches are bigger. You play for bigger points, more prize money. So there's a lot more on the line. And that's something also you need to learn how to manage and deal with. 'So it's a process. And I'm still, it being my first time, I'm still trying to use this experience and get better each time I play these big events.' Wimbledon qualifying will take place from Monday June 23 to Thursday June 26 and will feature three men representing Arab countries: Lebanese duo Habib and Benjamin Hassan, as well as Tunisia's Aziz Dougaz.
Associated Press
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Benjamin Hassan makes history as 1st Lebanese player in Open era to qualify for French Open
PARIS (AP) — Benjamin Hassan made history Friday by becoming the first Lebanese tennis player in the Open era to qualify for the main draw of the French Open. The 30-year-old defeated Japan's James Trotter 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the final round of qualifying. Germany-born Hassan secured his place at Roland-Garros by winning three straight matches in the qualifying tournament on the clay courts of Paris. Ranked No. 177 in the world, Hassan is no stranger to breaking new ground for Lebanese tennis. Last summer, at the Paris Olympics, which also took place on the clay courts of Roland-Garros, Hassan became the first player to represent Lebanon. He defeated American Christopher Eubanks in the first round, claiming the first win in the history of the competition for his country. His qualification is the second major milestone for Lebanese tennis this year. In January, Hady Habib, who is currently ranked 159th, won a first-round match at the Australian Open. This was the country's first Grand Slam match victory. Following Hassan's win on Friday, the Lebanese Tennis Federation congratulated him in a message published on Facebook. 'The journey continues,' said the federation. 'Keep making Lebanon proud.' In the first round of the French Open, which begins Sunday, he is scheduled to face another player who also came through the qualifying round, the Italian Matteo Gigante. ___ AP tennis:
Arab News
24-02-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
Hady Habib eyeing top 100 after historic Australian Open run
DUBAI: Life has been a whirlwind for Lebanese tennis player Hady Habib these past few months, but you would not know that by speaking to him, given his calm and collected demeanor. The 26-year-old moved up the rankings from 320 to 166 in the world in the span of two months, and in the process made history as the first Lebanese in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles main draw match, at the Australian Open a few weeks ago. When he reached the second round in Melbourne, he received an unexpected phone call from the president of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun. 'I was actually at the gym. This was after I won my first round, and I get a call from this random number. They didn't really tell me who was going to talk to you. Some guy from the presidential palace was like, 'I have someone to talk to you,' and then this guy congratulated me,' Habib told Arab News this week at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. 'He said 'congrats'. I'm like, 'sorry, who am I speaking to?' He's like, 'this is the president.' 'I'm like, oh my God. I just had to pause for a moment just to let that sink in. I was like, thank you so much. It means a lot. It was really special to have him congratulate me, being the president of Lebanon. He's also new as well. So I also congratulated him for being newly elected. It was a very cool moment.' After Australia, Habib spent just two days at home with his family before travelling to Dubai for a one-week training block. He then went to Cairo to compete in the Davis Cup for Lebanon against Peru before accepting wildcards into the main draws of the ATP 500 tournaments in Doha and Dubai. Competing at a Grand Slam and at these ATP events in the Middle East has allowed Habib to venture into new territory, sharing draws and locker rooms with the best tennis players on the planet. It has exposed him to a level of tennis he has been striving to reach, and to tournaments he had been dreaming of taking part in. 'It still feels new. I just need to let it sink in,' the Texas-born Lebanese said. 'It feels like you've been watching these tournaments growing up, and just seeing these guys play, and to be able to play in the same draw as them, like Novak (Djokovic) and all the players, it's just a lot to sink in. 'I'm just really happy to be able to experience this level of tennis and to be around all these great players. Hopefully, I'll get to that level. I'm working towards it.' Habib lost his opening matches in Doha and Dubai, but considers this Middle East swing 'a huge learning experience.' His coach, Patricio Heras, has been encouraging him to keep things simple and stick to the fundamentals, even in the face of all these new challenges. 'I think that we need to be very open-minded to learning,' Heras told Arab News on Sunday. 'Not to focus on the things we don't have yet, but on the things we can take from every match, from the players. All these players are new for us, so is being in these tournaments. We have to focus on learning and focusing on what they do good and try to imitate them, rather than think, 'no, I don't have this. No, no, let's focus on the good things and be open-minded.' The top tier of professional tennis can sometimes feel like an exclusive club that is difficult to break into. Getting invited to compete in the ATP events in Doha and Dubai has given Habib a sneak peek into what he hopes will soon be his life on tour. 'Honestly, I feel like I'm the new guy here. I don't really have any friends at this level. Everyone probably has their own circle and cult, so it's difficult in a way because I'm trying to set up practices, and everyone's already set,' Habib said. 'I end up hitting (with) my coach most of the time, but it's a bit of a transition to get used to the new environment, the new players, and trying to get yourself in there in a way, trying to practice with them and stuff like that. It's a learning experience. I'm trying to do the best I can to learn and try to eventually play these events as much as possible.' Between winning a Challenger title in the very last week of tournaments in 2024, and his run to the Australian Open second round, as a qualifier, at the start of 2025, things have escalated quickly for Habib, who finds himself in search of new goals, now that his previous targets have been reached. 'One of my goals is to be in the top 100. Of course, that's every tennis player's dream, is to be able to be in that ranking, to play the main draw of the slams and get in all these big tournaments, but that's my goal for now, to be in the top 100,' Habib said. Heras has total belief in his charge's potential, and says Habib's professionalism is what sets him apart. 'He takes care of himself in a very professional way. He does the things he needs to do. He's a very calm guy,' the Argentinian coach said. 'Sometimes it's hard for him to explain what he's going through and I think that sometimes it's not good because he's not expressing himself with me or with someone else. And he tries to manage everything by himself and it's so tough to hold everything in. In some way he's managing it and I think that is a really good part because it makes him a mature person.' Heras added: 'I think that, tennis-wise, he doesn't have a ceiling. It's everything in his mind and let's see how far he can go. But I think that, tennis-wise, he has all the chances to be top 100, and even top 50, I would say. Not only because I trust him and I have confidence but because I can see from his practices, from the matches he's playing during the tournaments. It's really exciting.'
