Abdullah Shelbayh

Abdullah Shelbayh
Shelbayh at the 2023 Cary Challenger
ITF nameAbedallah Shelbayh
Country (sports) Jordan
Born (2003-11-16) 16 November 2003 (age 21)
Amman, Jordan
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand)
CollegeUniversity of Florida
CoachFernando Verdasco, Diego Dinomo[1]
Prize money$509,010
Singles
Career record3–11 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 181 (29 January 2024)
Current rankingNo. 233 (8 April 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ3 (2024)
US OpenQ2 (2024)
French Open Junior1R (2021)
Wimbledon Junior2R (2021)
US Open Junior2R (2021)
Doubles
Career record0–1 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 290 (8 January 2024)
Current rankingNo. 369 (8 April 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
French Open Junior1R (2021)
Wimbledon JuniorF (2021)
US Open Junior2R (2021)
Team competitions
Davis Cup10–1
Last updated on: 9 April 2024.

Abedallah Shelbayh (Arabic: عبد الله شلبايه, romanized: eabd allah shalabih; (also known as Abdullah Shelbayh (Arabic: عبدالله شلبايه, romanized: eabdallah shalabih; born 16 November 2003) is a Jordanian tennis player.

Shelbayh has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 181 achieved on 29 January 2024, and is the first Jordanian tennis player to achieve an ATP world ranking. He has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 290, achieved on 8 January 2024. He had a career-high ITF juniors ranking of 27 achieved on 12 July 2021.[2] Shelbayh has won three ITF singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Men's Circuit and one on the ATP Challenger Tour.[3]

Shelbayh represents Jordan at the Davis Cup, where he has a win-loss record of 10–1.[4]

Early life

Shelbayh was introduced to tennis by his father, who was a recreational player. He was training in Jordan until he was 14 years old, switching his tennis play to being left-handed in order to emulate his idol, Rafael Nadal. In 2018, Shelbayh moved to Mallorca to join the Rafa Nadal Academy.[5] Princess Lara Faisal asked Toni Nadal to come to Jordan and see if Shelbayh had what it took to join the academy. Toni Nadal was impressed by his talent, prompting Faisal to establish the Rise for Good Sports Fund to help Shelbayh and other young Jordanian prospects in sports.[6]

During his last junior tennis year, Shelbayh didn't feel himself on court due to personal issues, and wished to change some things and get out of his comfort zone. He enrolled at the University of Florida for a year and played collegiate tennis. In June 2022, Shelbayh went back to Mallorca to work on turning professional.[6] Shelbayh speaks 3 languages: Arabic, English and Spanish.

Career

2022: Historic maiden Challenger win, Top 500, Turned professional

In September 2022, Shelbayh reached the semifinals of the Manacor Challenger after receiving a wildcard into the main draw, defeating the No. 1 seed and world No. 127 Dominic Stricker in his opening match. He became the first player from Jordan to win a match in ATP Challenger Tour history. Following this run, Shelbayh made his debut in the world's top 500.[7]

On December 1, 2022, after one year as part of the Florida Gators men's tennis team at the University of Florida, Shelbayh announced that he would forego his remaining collegiate eligibility in order to turn professional.[8] The following week, Shelbayh won his third ITF singles title in Trnava, Slovakia, defeating Daniel Rincón in the final.[citation needed]

On December 28, 2022, Shelbayh won the second edition of the Arab Masters Tennis Tournament, held in Kuwait City, defeating Benjamin Hassan in the final.[9] In addition to prize money of $25,000, the win gave Shelbayh a wildcard to compete in the main draw of the 2023 Qatar Open in Doha.[citation needed]

2023: Historic maiden Challenger final & title, ATP win, Masters & top 200 debuts

In February, Shelbayh qualified for the 2023 Tenerife Challenger III. He defeated Salvatore Caruso in his opening main draw match, before losing to Ryan Peniston in the second round. The following week, Shelbayh reached his second career semifinal on the ATP Challenger Tour at the 2023 Bahrain Ministry of Interior Tennis Challenger, defeating the No. 1 seed and world No. 79 Jason Kubler in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he again defeated lucky loser Salvatore Caruso, becoming the first Jordanian player in history and the youngest Arab to reach a final at Challenger level. Shelbayh was defeated by Thanasi Kokkinakis in the final. As a result of this run, Shelbayh moved up more than 120 positions in ranking, entering the top 300 for the first time at world No. 276 on 20 February 2023.[10]

Shelbayh made his ATP Tour-level main draw debut at the 2023 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where he received a wildcard. He lost to Kwon Soon-woo in the first round in three sets.[citation needed]

In April, Shelbayh won his first doubles title at Challenger level at the 2023 Murcia Open, partnering Daniel Rincón. The pair received entry into the doubles draw as alternates. He then qualified for the Banja Luka Open in Bosnia and Herzegovina, having received an alternate spot in the qualifying competition. He beat fellow qualifier Elias Ymer in straight sets in the first round, becoming the first Jordanian player to win an ATP Tour-level match.[11][12] Shelbayh received a wildcard at the 2023 Mutua Madrid Open, where he made his Masters 1000 debut. He lost to Pedro Cachin in the opening round.[citation needed]

In October, Shelbayh played in Charleston, where he beat Mark Lajal, Brandon Holt, Ethan Quinn and Ryan Peniston to reach his second Challenger final. He defeated wildcard Oliver Crawford to become the first Jordanian player to win a Challenger title.[citation needed] In November, he qualified for the 2023 Moselle Open in Metz, France, where he defeated Hugo Gaston in the first round, registering his first tour-level win on a hard court and the second of his season and career. As a result, Shelbayh broke into the top 200 of the ATP rankings for the first time in his career.[13] He lost in the second round to defending champion Lorenzo Sonego.[citation needed]

In November, Shelbayh was announced as the wildcard entry into the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals.[14]

ATP Performance Timelines

Singles

Current through the 2024 Miami Open.

Tournament 2022 2023 2024 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A Q3 0 / 0 0–0  – 
French Open A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Wimbledon A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
US Open A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–0 0 / 0 0–0  – 
ATP Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Miami Open A Q1 A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Monte-Carlo Masters A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Madrid Open A 1R 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Italian Open A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Canadian Open A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Cincinnati Masters A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Shanghai Masters NH A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Paris Masters A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Win–loss 0–0 0–1 0–0 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Career statistics
2022 2023 2024 Career
Tournaments 0 8 2 10
Titles 0 0 0 0
Finals 0 0 0 0
Overall win–loss 0–0 3–8 0–2 3–10
Year-end ranking 470 195 23%

ATP Challenger and Futures/ITF World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Legend (singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (1–1)
Futures/ITF World Tennis Tour (3–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (4–2)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Jul 2022 M15 Monastir, Tunisia World Tennis Tour Hard Spain Daniel Rincón 2–1 ret.
Win 2–0 Jul 2022 M15 Monastir, Tunisia World Tennis Tour Hard Tunisia Skander Mansouri 7–6(7–3), 6–4
Win 3–0 Dec 2022 M15 Trnava, Slovakia World Tennis Tour Hard (i) Spain Daniel Rincón 6–1, 6–4
Loss 3–1 Jan 2023 M25 Manacor, Spain World Tennis Tour Hard Spain Daniel Rincón 6–7(0–7), 6–3, 6–7(9–11)
Loss 3–2 Feb 2023 Manama, Bahrain Challenger Hard Australia Thanasi Kokkinakis 1–6, 4–6
Win 4–2 Oct 2023 Charleston, USA Challenger Hard United States Oliver Crawford 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 6–3

Doubles: 6 (4 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Legend (doubles)
ATP Challenger Tour (2–0)
Futures/ITF World Tennis Tour (2–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (3–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Nov 2020 M15 Valldoreix, Spain World Tennis Tour Clay Spain Pedro Vives Marcos Denmark Holger Rune
Ukraine Eric Vanshelboim 		7–5, 6–3
Loss 1–1 Jul 2021 M15 Monastir, Tunisia World Tennis Tour Hard Spain Pedro Vives Marcos France Arthur Bouquier
Argentina Santiago Rodríguez Taverna 		7–6(7–2), 3–6, [6–10]
Win 2–1 Oct 2021 M15 Naples, United States World Tennis Tour Clay United States Bruno Kuzuhara Denmark Johannes Ingildsen
Portugal Duarte Vale 		6–4, 6–1
Loss 2–2 Dec 2022 M15 Trnava, Slovakia World Tennis Tour Hard (i) Hong Kong Coleman Wong Spain Daniel Rincón
Paraguay Daniel Vallejo 		4–6, 2–6
Win 3–2 Apr 2023 Murcia, Spain Challenger Clay Spain Daniel Rincón Spain Sergio Martos Gornés
Italy Marco Bortolotti 		7–6(7–3), 6–4
Win 4–2 Jan 2024 Canberra, Australia Challenger Hard Spain Daniel Rincón Sweden André Göransson
France Albano Olivetti 		7–6(7–4), 6–3

Junior Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 2021 Wimbledon Grass Spain Daniel Rincón Lithuania Edas Butvilas
Spain Alejandro Manzanera Pertusa		 3–6, 4–6

References

  1. ^ "Shelbayh meets Bellingham, Kroos & Vini Jr. at Real Madrid practice; Jordanian reflects on memorable experience arranged by new coach Verdasco". 6 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Abedallah Shelbayh profile on the ITF". ITF. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Abedallah Shelbayh profile on the ATP". ATP. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  4. ^ "Abedallah Shelbayh". Davis Cup. Archived from the original on 8 May 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  5. ^ "THE ROYAL CONNECTION THAT HELPED JORDAN'S SHELBAYH MAKE IT ON TOUR". Archived from the original on 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
  6. ^ a b Abulleil, Reem (20 March 2023). "The meteoric rise of Jordanian teen Abdullah Shelbayh". Arab News. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2023-04-19. Retrieved 2023-04-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ "Abedallah Shelbayh Turns Professional". Florida Gators. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Jordan's Shelbayh Wins Arab Masters In Kuwait". MENAFN. Archived from the original on 2 January 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Kokkinakis Collects Manama Challenger Crown; Finalist Shelbayh Makes History". Archived from the original on 2023-03-15. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
  11. ^ "Lajovic Ousts Fellow Serbian Krajinovic In Banja Luka". Archived from the original on 2024-02-02. Retrieved 2024-02-02.
  12. ^ "Bouncing From Barcelona To Banja Luka, Abdullah Shelbayh Creates History". Archived from the original on 2023-04-19. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  13. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2023-12-12. Retrieved 2023-11-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ^ "Fils, Stricker, Van Assche & Cobolli Qualify For Next Gen ATP Finals". Next Generation ATP Finals. 8 November 2023. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 8 November 2023.