Sometimes last-minute trips create the best memories.

That is certainly the case for Abdullah Shelbayh, who four days ago had no idea he would be in Banja Luka winning his first tour-level match Tuesday and making Jordanian tennis history.

The 19-year-old had been in Spain preparing for the ATP 500 event in Barcelona, where he signed in as an alternate for the qualifying draw. But when he found himself one spot away from getting a start, he signed in as an alternate for the qualifying draw at the ATP 250 Srpska Open, which started one day later. Then the mad dash began.

“It was crazy,” Shelbayh said. “We got to Barcelona on Thursday. I was practising in Barcelona and everyone thought I was going to get in there. I thought I was going to get in.

“Last minute on Saturday afternoon, we were like, ‘Okay, withdraw from the alternate in Barcelona,’ when we found out I was the first alternate in Banja Luka. I needed [Norbert] Gombos to win a Challenger semi-final match and then I’d get in, otherwise he’d go and play the 250 qualies. He won luckily, and I replaced him as an alternate.”

With his mind made up, the former University of Florida player, who turned pro after his freshman year, needed to cover a two-hour flight and a two-and-a-half hour drive all while preparing for his first-round qualifying match in Bosnia the next day. The clock was ticking.

“Last second, I took a flight from Barcelona to Zagreb,” Shelbayh said. “Then somebody from the tournament came and picked me up. We drove two-and-a-half hours to Banja Luka, arrived at 2 a.m. [Sunday], I had to play that same day, second match on. Turned out to be a good last-second decision.

“We got lucky. I didn’t get much sleep because I was afraid of missing the warm up. I told my coach, ‘With all the things that are happening, I don’t want to screw it up by not waking up!’

“My warm up was supposed to be at 10. We weren’t able to warm up because the courts were covered as it was raining. The matches started at 11:30 a.m. with an extended warm up and then I found a spot to hit for 15, 20 minutes before the match on a half court. That was my hit before the match. The match started around 1 p.m.”

You wouldn’t have been able to tell that Shelbayh just went through a mad dash to get to the Srpska Open. He advanced through qualifying and on Tuesday, he became the first Jordanian to win a tour-level match when he defeated Sweden’s Elias Ymer 6-1, 7-5.

“This one feels special because it’s not a wild card, I qualified for it and had to win a couple matches before winning this one,” Shelbayh said. “It means a lot. With all the things that happened, not expecting to play this tournament. The last second decision, qualifying, and then today a tough match against Ymer. Today, I felt a little extra nerves.”

Making Jordanian tennis history has been a theme for Shelbayh this year. In February, Shelbayh became the first Jordanian and the youngest Arab to reach a Challenger final at the Manama Challenger. Representing his country is something the teen takes pride in.

“I represent my country in every tournament I play, so to be able to represent it well is an honour for me,” Shelbayh said. “Jordan is unfortunately not a country that’s known for tennis. I hope it becomes one of those countries someday. It’s an achievement for myself but we also didn’t have many players before me to have that opportunity.”

Shelbayh has trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy since age 14. How does a teen who lives far away from Mallorca end up training at the prestigious academy? Through a connection between Toni Nadal and Shelbayh’s representative, Princess Lara Faisal, who is part of the royal family of Jordan. ‘Uncle Toni’ flew to Jordan when Shelbayh was 13-years-old to recruit him to the island.

“They built a relationship when they were in Doha together in 2016,” Shelbayh. “Toni invited Princess Lara over to the academy. She also invited him to a festival she had in Jordan. Toni was able to come in 2017. She told him a little bit about me and he wanted to see me. When he saw me there, he very much wanted me to join the academy whenever I was ready to. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy because I was still a kid but he said, ‘Whenever you’re ready!’”

After a well-earned day off Wednesday, Shelbayh will next play fourth-seeded Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.

One year ago, Luca Van Assche was No. 389 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Now the 18-year-old is the youngest player in the world’s Top 100 at No. 87 and will play World No. 1 Novak Djokovic on Wednesday in the second round of the Srpska Open in Banja Luka.

ATPTour.com looks at five things to know about the #NextGenATP Frenchman, who defeated Stan Wawrinka in the first round.

Luca Is A Roland Garros Boys’ Champion
In 2021, Van Assche enjoyed the biggest moment of his career at Roland Garros, where he captured the boys’ singles title. Having just turned 17 when he lifted the trophy, Van Assche became the fifth home favourite to triumph in the event since the start of the millennium, joining Paul-Henri Mathieu, Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils and Geoffrey Blancaneaux. One year ago, Frenchman Gabriel Debru joined them.

“I was very happy. I looked to my team, and we were celebrating the victory,” Van Assche said in a press conference at the time. “I was very, very happy to win this big tournament in France in front of our fans, in front of French people. So it was very cool.”

Hometown Hero 🇫🇷

Luca Van Assche is the 2021 Boys’ Singles Champion, defeating friend and countryman Arthur Fils in straight-sets 6-4, 6-2.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/sUz0NPijoU

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 12, 2021

The Frenchman Made ATP Challenger Tour History
Much of Van Assche’s rise into the Top 100 can be credited to his success on the ATP Challenger Tour. He has already won three ATP Challenger Tour titles, including victories this year in Pau, France and Sanremo, Italy.

In Pau, Van Assche made history in the final against countryman Ugo Humbert. The teen triumphed 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(6) after three hours and 56 minutes, marking the longest final in ATP Challenger Tour history.

“It was a crazy match, an amazing fight against Ugo,” Van Assche said. “I’m very happy. A lot of emotions during this match. I was leading, then losing. I was match point up, then match point down. It was a fantastic match with great support from the crowd.”

Since 2016, the only players to win at least three Challenger titles before their 19th birthday are Van Assche, Carlos Alcaraz, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune.

 

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Luca Attends University Virtually
Van Assche is still learning both on and off the court. The Frenchman is studying mathematics virtually through Paris Dauphine University. This semester he is taking multiple classes.

The 18-year-old is able to study remotely, but he returns to Paris to take exams.

“I have a lot of homework when I’m on the road, but of course I manage it,” Van Assche told ATPTour.com. “Sometimes it’s difficult to do both. For the moment, I’m enjoying doing both so I will continue like this. It’s my second year.”

His Idol Was Roger Federer
Roger Federer won his first of 20 major titles in 2003 at Wimbledon. Van Assche was still 10 months from being born.

That did not stop the Frenchman from looking up to the Swiss, whom he calls his hero. Van Assche just missed out on being on Tour at the same time as Federer, who retired at last year’s Laver Cup.

“Now I’m sad that he’s not playing anymore,” Van Assche told ATPTour.com. “I hope in the coming years I can meet him. I watched his final match, it was a very emotional moment.”

Get To Know Luca’s Family
Van Assche was born in Belgium, where he lived for three years.

“I don’t remember because I was too little,” he said.

The family then moved to France. Van Assche’s father is operations director for a shipping company and his mother, who is Italian, is an Italian teacher. Luca has two sisters and one brother.

– Reporting contributed by Grant Thompson

“Basically, every kid wants to win over here, and you have absolute battles.”

Alex de Minaur is in no doubt about the impact his partial upbringing in Spain had on his tennis. The 24-year-old Australian’s renowned competitive spirit was first harnessed on the clay-courts of Alicante.

“I think I learnt how to win matches from a young age here in Spain,” De Minaur told ATPTour.com this week at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. “You play on the clay, you can play matches for three or four hours as a little kid, and whether [your opponent] is moonballing or anything, you’ve got to find a way to win.”

De Minaur credits those early developmental days in Spain for his ability to disarm more powerful opponents with his relentless chasing and variety of shots. Born in Sydney to a Uruguayan father and Spanish mother, De Minaur’s childhood featured two different homes, two different sets of friends, but also two contrasting styles of tennis.

“From a young age, I wasn’t the biggest or the strongest guy, so that allowed me to think outside the box and how to find different ways that I could win tennis matches,” said De Minaur, who spent time in both Australia and Spain throughout his childhood. “That developed a lot of different shots in my game. The drop shot, coming to the net, all these kinds of things.

“In Australia, when I went there, I was able to learn more structure, more work ethic… My move over there was at a time in my life when things became a little bit more serious, so that meant more hours on court, in the gym. It’s always been a healthy balance between the two cultures.”

It is not just on the court where his dual upbringing has helped De Minaur cope with the demands of the ATP Tour. His fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios has spoken about the challenge of spending much of the year far from his homeland. That is less of a problem for De Minaur, who has Alicante as a semi-permanent European base.

“It’s definitely a gamechanger,” said the Australian. “It’s extremely tough on all my fellow Aussie teammates that normally spend nine, 10, 11 months abroad, and barely get to go back home because it’s so far away.

“I’m a bit more fortunate in that sense, I’m able to have a base in Europe where, especially throughout this time of the year, I can go back to it and it’s kind of a home away from home.”

Alicante’s close proximity to Barcelona also makes the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell feel almost like a home tournament for De Minaur. He reached the third round on event debut in 2021 and his 2022 semi-final run was only ended by eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz after the Spaniard had fended off two match points.

“I think it’s a beautiful venue. I’ve played a couple of years now, and I had a very good run last year,” said De Minaur. “Obviously, it’s closer to home, where the family is and friends, so it’s often a week that I get to see my friends come along. It’s always good to see them.

“It’s a place that I always look forward to. It’s one of the better venues on Tour. It’s a nice old club with a lot of history, and as a player you can cherish that sort of thing when you’re away for a long time in the year.”

De Minaur begins his 2023 Barcelona campaign on Wednesday against Alexander Shevchenko. Once he steps on to Pista Andres Gimeno, the Australian will try to channel the positive vibes he still feels from winning the biggest title of his career in February in Acapulco.

“It gives a lot of confidence,” said De Minaur, who beat Holger Rune and Tommy Paul en route to the ATP 500 crown in Mexico. “Not everyone can say they’re a 500 winner, so it’s a pretty good feeling to have.

“Now it’s about keeping the momentum going, trying to win a lot of matches, staying tough. Making your opponents beat you and keeping that same mentality and mindset that I had there in Acapulco.”

Dominic Thiem advanced to the second round of the BMW Open by American Express on Tuesday in Munich. The former World No. 3 led Constant Lestienne 6-3 and was serving at Ad/40 in the first game of the second set when the Frenchman retired.

“It was a surprising end, not the way I wanted,” Thiem said in his on-court interview. “But it’s okay and on to the next one.”

The Austrian is making his first appearance in Munich since 2016, when he reached the final. Thiem is happy to be back at the ATP 250, where he is pursuing his first title since the 2020 US Open.

“Of course I love to play here. The memory of snow in the first round, the break because of heavy snowfall is very funny. I’ll have it in my head forever, so I really like to remember that and also the week in 2016 was great,” Thiem said. “Just a little bit sad when Philipp Kohlschreiber went by with the winner’s car. It was tough, but obviously I love to play here and very happy to be in the second round.”

Thiem will next play Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler, who battled past Briton Kyle Edmund 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3.

Another Swiss, qualifier Alexander Ritschard, eliminated in-form German Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 7-5. It was the second tour-level victory of the season for Switzerland United Cup team member Ritschard, who nearly had his right arm amputated when he was 22.

In other action, Hungarian Marton Fucsovics rallied past German wild card Max Hans Rehberg 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3. A home favourite reached the second round when Oscar Otte defeated Argentine Sebastian Baez 6-3, 7-5.

Carlos Alcaraz showed scant sign of feeling home pressure on Tuesday in his opening match at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, where the World No. 2 raced past Nuno Borges 6-3, 6-1 at the ATP 500.

The 19-year-old is bidding to successfully defend a tour-level title for the first time this week in Catalunya and took a confident first step towards that goal with a hard-hitting display against the No. 79-ranked Borges. Alcaraz was sharp on return off both wings throughout the 63-minute encounter and converted five of seven break points to improve to 19-2 for the season.

“I feel great. Playing here in Barcelona, [my] first match on clay since Rio [in February],” said Alcaraz. “I feel great. Moving well, hitting the ball really well so I feel a lot of confidence playing here in Barcelona. It’s a really special place for me.”

Prior to their match, Borges had spoken about being impressed by the 16-year-old Alcaraz’s ‘huge hitting’ at a tournament in Spain three years ago. He was soon reacquainted with Alcaraz’s clean ballstriking on Pista Rafa Nadal, where the home favourite quickly opened a 5-1 lead.

Alcaraz had not competed since Miami in March after missing last week’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters due to post-traumatic arthritis in his left hand and muscular discomfort in the spine. There were some signs of rustiness from the Spaniard, and uncharacteristic unforced errors helped Borges reclaim a break in the eighth game. That was as good as it got for the 26-year-old, however. Alcaraz dropped just one more game in the match to improve to 6-1 at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899.

The top seed, who has lifted titles in Buenos Aires and Indian Wells already this year, faces fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round in Catalunya. The 13th seed beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-2, 6-2 for the right to take on the defending champion.

Another Spaniard, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, also progressed to the third round on Tuesday. The 10th seed downed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-3 to claim his first main-draw win in Barcelona at the third attempt. Davidovich Fokina next faces Emil Ruusuvuori, who rallied from 0-3 in the final set to upset fifth seed Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4.

Feliciano Lopez, making his 22nd and final appearance in Barcelona before he retires this year, battled hard but ultimately fell to David Goffin on Pista Rafa Nadal. The Belgian prevailed 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 6-0, and will next take on 16th seed Yoshihito Nishioka.

Dusan Lajovic won a battle of Serbians on Tuesday in Banja Luka, where he defeated Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the second round of the Srpska Open.

Lajovic has now won all three of the pair’s clay-court ATP Head2Head meetings and leads their series 3-2. The World No. 70 converted five of his nine break points to triumph after two hours and 14 minutes.

Another Serbian advanced when Laslo Djere eliminated Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-2. The 27-year-old has enjoyed success on clay before, having lifted an ATP 500 trophy in Rio de Janeiro in 2019.

Former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet earned his place in the second round with a 6-3, 6-1 victory against 17-year-old Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic. The 36-year-old claimed his 14th ATP Tour crown earlier this year in Auckland.

In an all-qualifier clash, 19-year-old Jordanian Abdullah Shelbayh defeated Swede Elias Ymer 6-1, 7-5 for his first ATP Tour win. The teen will next try to upset fourth seed Miomir Kecmanovic.

Radu Albot earned his 100th tour-level win. The Moldovan led Federico Coria 6-4 when the Argentine retired.

Fourteen-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal, two-time tournament winner Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz headline the Roland Garros entry list, which was released Tuesday.

Nadal will try to extend his slew of records at the clay-court major, where the Spaniard has tallied a 112-3 record. The lefty claimed his 14th Coupe des Mousquetaires last year, when he defeated four Top 10 players en route to the championship.

Djokovic, currently the No. 1 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, triumphed on the Parisian clay in 2016 and 2021. The Serbian is 85-16 at the tournament.

Alcaraz will pursue his second major title in his third main draw appearance at Roland Garros. The Spaniard made his deepest run at the event last year, when he advanced to the quarter-finals.

Casper Ruud, last year’s finalist, will try to go one step further this year with other players including 2021 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Monte-Carlo champion Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner and 2015 Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka trying to make their mark.

The current cut for the field is World No. 98 Alexander Shevchenko. Two-time finalist and former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem is the third alternate. Former Top 10 star Fabio Fognini is the fifth alternate.

Wild cards are still to be announced.

Casper Ruud kick-started his 2023 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell campaign with a successful revenge mission on Tuesday.

The third-seeded Norwegian held off #NextGenATP American Ben Shelton 6-2, 7-6(1) to book a quarter-final spot at the ATP 500 in Catalunya. Despite Shelton recovering a 3-5 deficit in the second set to force a tie-break, Ruud reasserted his dominance in time to wrap a 70-minute second-round triumph against the 20-year-old lefty.

“He was playing great, and I think I was playing great,” said Ruud. “I played a perfect first set and he was making maybe a few too many mistakes… But I think all throughout the second set was tough games, tough rallies.

“It can be difficult. In the first set you feel like you get a lot of free points, and so on, but then suddenly he starts playing almost like a wall and playing really good from on defence. It’s tough when someone changes in the middle of the match, but I’m very happy that I was able to stay calm and play a very good tie-break.”

With the win, the World No. 3 levelled his ATP Head2Head series against Shelton at 1-1. Last August, the then-No. 229-ranked Shelton upset Ruud in straight sets at the Western & Southern Open. A repeat result on the Barcelona clay appeared unlikely early as Ruud charged to the first set behind some big serving and his powerful forehand, which pulled his opponent around the court to great effect.

Despite Shelton’s second-set comeback, Ruud’s greater experience on clay ultimately showed at key moments on Pista Rafa Nadal. The 24-year-old, a nine-time tour-level titlist on clay, saved four of five break points he faced against a player who was competing on red clay for just the fifth time in his life.

“Obviously I wanted my revenge,” said Ruud when asked about whether his Cincinnati defeat had given him extra motivation. “Different surface, different continent, different tournament… I felt like I had a little bit more time here to build the points on clay, which is normal.

“It was in the back of my mind. I think Cincinnati last year was a breakout tournament for Ben, where things started going so well for him. Obviously, this year as well [at the Australian Open], where he made the quarter-finals, so he’s had an unbelievable progression in a short period of time… I had to be on top of my game and tried to feel more at home than him somehow on the red clay.”

Ruud advances to a quarter-final against 15th seed Francisco Cerundolo or Francesco Passaro in Catalunya. The Norwegian, who also reached the last eight in Barcelona in 2022, is hoping to build on the title he won in Estoril earlier this month after a modest start to the year.

Also on Tuesday, Diego Schwartzman delivered a commanding opening performance at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899. The Argentine dispatched Wu Yibing 6-2, 6-2 to set a second-round showdown against fourth seed Jannik Sinner.

Schwartzman will hope his 79-minute win, during which he converted five of 11 break points against the fast-rising Chinese star Wu, can be the catalyst for further improved results in 2023. The 30-year-old Argentine is now 5-10 for the year and he knows how to win matches in Barcelona: Schwartzman reached the quarter-finals in 2021 and the semi-finals a year ago.