Bouncing From Barcelona To Banja Luka, Abdullah Shelbayh Creates History

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.