Abdullah Shelbayh made tennis history in February. Throughout his professional breakthrough, the 2021 Rafa Nadal Academy graduate, who played at the University of Florida for one year before turning pro, has received encouragement and guidance from some well-known names within the sport.

The 19-year-old followed up a run to the final at the Manama Challenger (l. Kokkinakis) by traveling to the ATP 250 event in Doha, where he became the first Jordanian to play a Tour-level match.

“Ben Shelton texted me before the final in Bahrain. He wished me luck,” Shelbayh said. “He’s a great friend, we were at University for one year together. One of my closest friends there actually. He’s doing pretty well for himself.

“Rafa’s team texted me. His coach Carlos Moya and Uncle Toni were reaching out quite often during those two weeks. They’re always in touch when I’m at tournaments.”

At the Challenger 125 in Manama, Bahrain, the Amman native secured his first Top-100 win in the quarter-finals by taking out top seed Jason Kubler. He did not stop there. In just his third Challenger appearance, Shelbayh became the first Jordanian and the youngest Arab to reach a Challenger final.

“It was kind of unexpected,” Shelbayh said. “I knew I was playing well, better and better throughout the year. But, [in my] third Challenger, I didn’t expect to go that far in the tournament. Then to play against [Thanasi] Kokkinakis in the final, one of the players I used to watch on TV, it’s a great opportunity. Something you don’t really expect. It was a big thing for me.

“I represent my country in every tournament I play, so to be able to represent it well is an honour for me. 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.”

In August, Shelbayh was ranked No. 654 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings when he first came onto the scene by securing his maiden Challenger main-draw victory against top seed Dominic Stricker at the Rafa Nadal Open. Shelbayh’s February surge helped lift him to a career-high 276.

Although his first Challenger main-draw win came far from his Jordan home, it was only fitting that it came at the Rafa Nadal Academy, where Shelbayh has trained since 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!’”

All Rafa Nadal Academy students dream of one day getting an opportunity to hit with the 22-time major champion Nadal. Shelbayh, who is left-handed in everything besides tennis like Rafa, admitted he was a little starstruck when he first got a chance to practise with the 92-time tour titlist, but now sees Nadal more as a mentor and friend.

“He always gives me tips in terms of tennis. He also always makes sure that I don’t have too many people around me,” Shelbayh said when asked what advice Nadal has offered to him. “[He tells me that] you have to have a few people that you trust so you don’t get too crazy in your head of who to listen to. If you have too many people around you, they give you different [advice] and you don’t know who to listen to. Surround yourself with the right guys, it doesn’t have to be many, but if you trust them, that’s perfect.”

After pushing World No. 68 Soonwoo Kwon to three sets at the ATP 250 in Doha, Shelbayh is hoping to build upon his strong start to the year with hopes of competing at the three remaining Grand Slams, finishing the year in the Top 200, and qualifying for the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals, which showcases the season’s best 21-and-under players.

Off the court, Shelbayh is a family-oriented person. Despite being far from home, the teen stated that he calls or FaceTimes his parents and three older sisters daily. In 2022, his 15-year-old brother, Zaid, joined him by moving to the Rafa Nadal Academy.

After just a few months as a professional tennis player, Shelbayh has already made history, competed in a Challenger final, and has enjoyed a rapid rise in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Tennis fans out to keep an eye on the teenager this season and for the years to come.

After a long road back, Alexander Zverev is showing plenty of promising signs this week at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The German defeated Lorenzo Sonego 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday at the hard-court ATP 500 to reach his first semi-final since he suffered a serious ankle injury at Roland Garros in 2022. In a clash between two of the biggest servers on Tour, Zverev clinched a decisive single break in both sets for his sixth tour-level win of the year.

“It’s been a very difficult time for me over, I would say, the last nine months,” said Zverev in his on-court interview. “I haven’t played tennis at all for such a long period for the first time in my life. It definitely shows that the hard work is paying off and I’m extremely happy with my progress and how I’m playing right now.

“I’m happy to be in my first semi-final since the injury. Hopefully it won’t be my last and hopefully there’s much more to come here.”

Zverev has been searching for his best level since returning to competitive action after seven months at the United Cup. The former World No. 2 had won just two tour-level matches this season prior to this week, but he has dropped only one set in his opening three rounds against Jiri Lehecka, Christopher O’Connell and Sonego in Dubai.

Although both Zverev and Sonego showcased high-quality volleying throughout their one-hour, 52-minute encounter, the German 19-time ATP Tour titlist was more consistent from the baseline. He hit just eight unforced errors to Sonego’s 16.

Zverev faced six break points — three in his first service game of the match three serving for victory in the final game — but saved all of them to stay perfect on serve. He was pleased with the way he had handled the situation at 5-4, 0/40 in the second set as Sonego threatened a late comeback at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.

“In those moments, you’ve got to go back to the basics,” said Zverev. “You’ve got to play each point by itself, you’ve got to remember what you can control. That is always your serve, that’s the only shot in tennis you can control purely by yourself. It obviously helps that I hit five first-serves in a row and then the match was over.”

With Thursday’s win, Zverev advanced to his maiden semi-final in Dubai on his second appearance at the event. His opponent in the final four will be defending champion Andrey Rublev or World No. 33 Botic van de Zandschulp.

Mackenzie McDonald and Ben Shelton sprung an opening-round upset on Wednesday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, where the American pairing took out fourth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-6(5), 6-4 at the hard-court ATP 500.

McDonald and Shelton converted four of eight break points in Acapulco to notch their maiden ATP Tour win together at the second attempt. They held firm to win a first-set tie-break in which they were never behind before rallying from 2-4 in the second set to clinch an 89-minute victory.

Having played together for the first time at Tour-level in Delray Beach two weeks ago, McDonald and Shelton will now face Andre Goransson and Ben McLachlan in their maiden ATP Tour quarter-final as a team.

In other doubles action in Acapulco on Wednesday, William Blumberg and Casper Ruud downed Nicolas Mahut and Joe Salisbury 6-4, 6-4, while Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow defeated Marseille champions Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4, 7-6(3).

Mektic/Pavic Move On In Dubai
At the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic booked a semi-final spot for the third consecutive year with a 3-6, 6-3, 10-7 win against Tomislav Brkic and Gonzalo Escobar.

The 2021 and 2022 finalists Mektic and Pavic held their nerve in a Match Tie-break to complete an 87-minute triumph at the hard-court ATP 500. Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen also advanced to the final four on Wednesday with a 7-6(4), 7-6(3) victory against Ilya Ivashka and Andrey Rublev.

Gonzalez/Molteni Make Fast Start In Santiago
Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni wasted little time kick-starting their Movistar Chile Open campaign on Wednesday, when they raced past Juan Manuel Cerundolo and Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-1, 6-1 in just 52 minutes.

The top-seeded Argentine duo will next play home wild card pairing Tomas Barrios Vera and Alejandro Tabilo at the clay-court ATP 250, where Gonzalez lifted the trophy in 2020 alongside Simone Bolelli.

There was one upset on Wednesday in the Chilean capital, however — Indian duo N.Sriram Balaji and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan held their nerve in a Match Tie-break to down second seeds Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 7-5, 4-6, 11-9.

Taylor Fritz delivered a clinical display Wednesday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, where the American advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Denis Shapovalov.

The World No. 5 converted three of five break points to defeat Shapovalov in 78 minutes at the ATP 500. He fired 20 winners, including seven aces, to reach the last eight in Acapulco for the third time in five appearances.

“I’m [pleased] with how I played a lot of the big points today,” said Fritz, one of the stars of Netflix’s Break Point, after his victory. “I was very aggressive on the big points. I don’t necessarily love it when I play very tight and safe on big points. I feel really good when I’m being aggressive and taking my chances on those ones.”

Fritz’s quarter-final opponent in Mexico will be Frances Tiafoe, who he leads 5-1 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series. The 25-year-old Fritz admitted that his friendship with Tiafoe added something extra to their on-court meetings, the most recent of which came in the Tokyo final last October.

“Frances and I are really close friends, but we’re also rivals as well,” said Fritz, who won a pair of tie-breaks to lift the title on that occasion in Japan. ”We’ve played each other a lot and I know I usually approach it like any other match, but I feel like whenever we play there’s probably a little bit of extra pressure. I think both of us really want to beat the other one.”

The other quarter-final in the top half of the Acapulco draw will also feature a pair of Americans. Tommy Paul was leading 6-4, 2-2 when his opponent Michael Mmoh retired from their second-round clash, and the Australian Open semi-finalist will next play Mackenzie McDonald, a 6-2, 6-0 winner against Brandon Nakashima.

Another heavyweight quarter-final was set for Thursday’s schedule in Mexico by Holger Rune and Matteo Berrettini, who both enjoyed comfortable straight-sets wins to book their spot in the last eight.

The fourth-seeded Rune needed just 60 minutes to defeat Portuguese World No. 85 Nuno Borges 6-0, 6-2. The 19-year-old Dane, who is playing in Acapulco for the first time this week, has now won 29 of his past 35 matches dating back to September last year.

Rune’s next opponent Berrettini eased past Elias Ymer 6-3, 6-3. The Italian had not played a competitive match since 17 January prior to this week, but he cruised into the quarter-finals by striking 27 winners and winning 84 per cent (27/32) of points behind his first serve in a 95-minute win.

Rune and Berrettini have played just once before on Tour, with the Italian prevailing 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 at last year’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

It was a night Taro Daniel will never forget.

After Casper Ruud hit a final forehand into the net on the centre court of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado for HSBC, the 30-year-old Japanese player fell to his knees and held his arms out in celebration. The qualifier had saved two match points en route to ousting World No. 4 Ruud 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(5) after two hours and 58 minutes to reach the quarter-finals in Acapulco.

“I think every time these victories feel more like my own. The first time I beat Djokovic, it felt a little bit like he was not playing very well,” Daniel said. “But this time I felt like I was really playing against Casper at a high level. I mean obviously he’s still coming back, he’s a bit rusty and all that. But still, I had to win it.

“It was a very physical battle, great atmosphere, so happy.”

Entering the match, Daniel had upset then-World No. 13 Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells in 2018, but had never earned a win against a Top 10 opponent (previously 0-8). The New York-born righty will face eighth seed Alex de Minaur for a place in the semi-finals. 

Ruud, who before the week had not played since losing in the second round of the Australian Open, never found the rhythm that he did so consistently on hard courts last year. His heavy forehand, which is typically a reliable weapon, proved not to be in Mexico, contributing to the 46 unforced errors he made in the match.

But some of that was because Daniel played fearless tennis and was willing to take the action to his opponent. Even so, the Norwegian earned two match points on the Japanese player’s serve at 5-6 in the third set.

On the second seed’s first opportunity, Daniel hit a Ruud-like inside-out forehand, which the favourite was unable to slice into the court. Later in the game, Ruud mishit a backhand return well out. The qualifier took full advantage of his second life in the match by playing a composed tie-break.

“I’ve always really loved playing here, but I kind of struggled with the conditions because it’s so hot,” Daniel said. “But I think I’ve been working really hard on my fitness and also my mental skills in order to cope with the humidity and cope with the suffering of the physical side of it. It’s definitely paying off and to be able to beat a guy like this, it definitely shows.”

De Minaur’s victory had far less drama. The Australian ousted Italian qualifier Jacopo Berrettini, the younger brother of Matteo Berrettini, 6-1, 6-0. Jacopo earned his first ATP Tour win Tuesday evening against Oscar Otte.

In other action, Frances Tiafoe defeated wild card Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 7-6(6). The 41-year-old Spaniard Lopez was trying to become the oldest ATP Tour quarter-finalist since 42-year-old Jimmy Connors in 1995 at Halle, but the American did not allow him to claw into a final set.

Jaume Munar caused an upset Wednesday at the Movistar Chile Open, where he ousted top seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

The Spaniard had won both his previous meetings with Musetti, but both had come on the ATP Challenger Tour. A change in level did not change the result, as World No. 66 Munar advanced after one hour and 30 minutes.

“It was difficult for me to play today. [The court is] so much faster than on Monday night, and I tried to be focussed very much on my serve, tried to have variety in my game,” Munar said. “I knew that Lorenzo, he’s a great player. Of course he didn’t play his best today, but I tried to use my skills to move the opponent [out of] the comfort zone and I think I did it great today.”

Munar, who won 87 per cent of his first-serve points against the Italian, is pursuing his first ATP Tour title this week. The 25-year-old is not getting ahead of himself, though.

“I’m here to try my best,” Munar said. “I wasn’t feeling ready before the swing here because I wasn’t playing my best. I was not on top of my fitness and I think I’ve been managing day by day by working hard. I think my team is doing also an extremely good job. And I think right now in quarters after these two matches, competing the way I’m competing, let’s hope for the best.”

Musetti struggled to find his best game during the “Golden Swing” in South America, tallying a 1-3 record in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago. The World No. 18, who won four matches for Team Italy at the inaugural United Cup to start the year, will try to discover his top form at the BNP Paribas Open.

Earlier in the day, qualifier Yannick Hanfmann reached his first ATP Tour quarter-final of the season with a 7-6(6), 6-2 win against Roberto Carballes Baena.

The German has made all nine of his tour-level quarter-finals on clay. Like Munar, he is also trying to secure his maiden ATP Tour trophy in Santiago.

“Bwehhhh, it’s Andrey Rublev! Very easy!”

There’s no stumping Casper Ruud when it comes to guessing familiar noises heard on the ATP Tour. The Norwegian became the star of the show in the latest edition of ATP Uncovered’s Head-To-Head series. This week, the players faced off in a ‘Guess The Grunt’ challenge.

Ben Shelton revealed his thought process as he pinned Shapovalov’s grunt: “It’s short and there’s not really an accent to it.”

“It’s Denis [Shapovalov]?” said Shang Juncheng with a large smile across his face. “I didn’t even know he grunts! I should know that one, I’ve hit with him like a million times.”

Diego Schwartzman was quick to recognise a familiar sound. “Me, me, me!” But it wasn’t as easy to nail for Shelton, who revealed he had just practised with the Argentine 30 minutes before the guessing game.

Cameron Norrie, David Goffin, and Andrey Rublev were featured for a second time in the fun series. But how would they compare to their 2019 series debut?

Watch and listen so you too can put your knowledge of ATP Tour grunts to the test!

Novak Djokovic is at the top of the sport, World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for a record 378th week. After advancing to the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday, the Serbian made clear he has no intention of relinquishing his position without a fight.

“New generations are coming,” Djokovic said during his on-court interview. “But I’m not afraid.”

The 35-year-old paused before delivering the end of his message. And once he did, Djokovic cracked a wide smile. Whether the Serbian was joking or not, he has proven his words true.

Djokovic is now 14-0 on the season. Since the start of Rome last May, he has won 49 of his 52 matches, including 22 victories against Top 20 opposition.

During the World No. 1’s post-match press conference in Dubai after defeating Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 6-3, a reporter asked about athletes throughout sports who were born in the 1980s — including himself, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James — succeeding later into their careers.

“I don’t believe in coincidences in life. Everything happens for a reason. It’s great that the big names that you mentioned were all born in the same decade,” Djokovic said. “I’m sure that things that we talk about today, we feel some of the achievements are just not reachable maybe in 10 years’ time or whatever, that we’ll be seeing someone surpassing basketball’s biggest records, or tennis. I would be surprised if that didn’t happen, to be honest, because everything is improving so much.

“One is getting to learn from people that came and have done some great things before them. I’m sure that the young players in tennis are studying Federer, Nadal, my career, how we go about things on and off the court, what made us successful. That’s what I was doing. I mean, if you really want to be No. 1 in the world, best in your craft, so to say, you need to learn from the people that have been in those shoes.”

Meanwhile, Djokovic continues to put his records farther out of reach of his peers and future generations. For example, Roger Federer is second for most weeks at World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings with 310 weeks, more than a year of accrued time less than the Serbian. But Djokovic did not get to this point by believing the records in front of him were too far to strive for.

“Now some achievements look far from reachable, but maybe that was the case also 10 years ago or something for some of the achievements in tennis,” Djokovic said. “But everything is possible.”

With that in mind, Djokovic is not done pushing for more in his career.

“I still have lots of desire to break records, to play. Every match is different, but that’s the beauty of competitive tennis, is that you never know what the next day brings. So you have to always figure out the way by yourself on the court,” Djokovic said. “It’s kind of a little bit symbolic to life, as well. Of course, there’s a team of people around you, but then you have to take responsibility for your actions.”

For now, Djokovic is focussed on claiming a sixth title in Dubai this week. The top seed will play fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals.

Novak Djokovic did not play competitive tennis for a month prior to this week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Yet the World No. 1 appeared near his best in just his second match back on Wednesday, when he dismantled Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP 500.

Djokovic had shown frustration during his three-set battle with Czech qualifier Tomas Machac in the first round on Tuesday, but the 35-year-old struck the ball cleanly from the start on Wednesday against Griekspoor. Djokovic broke the No. 39-ranked Dutchman four times to race to an 82-minute victory against one of the in-form players on the ATP Tour.

“It’s been a great evening for me tonight,” said Djokovic in his on-court interview. “Yesterday I really had to work hard to get a win. Tonight, right from the blocks, I think I was sharp. I played definitely better-quality tennis than I did last night.

“Maybe the last three or four games weren’t the best to close the match, but I managed to find a good serve in the end. I’m very pleased with the performance and with the way I felt on the court, and hopefully things can go in the right direction for tomorrow.”

The five-time Dubai champion crashed 29 winners in a scintillating display of baseline hitting. Griekspoor, who entered the match with a 12-3 record for the season, could do little to counter in the face of Djokovic’s charge, as the Serbian comfortably maintained his record of never having lost before the quarter-finals in 13 appearances in Dubai.

“[My level was] much closer to the best level tonight than it was yesterday,” said Djokovic. “I probably didn’t expect to play that well tonight, considering last night’s match. But here we go, every day is a new day, a new opportunity, and I’m really glad that I played this well tonight.”

With the win, Djokovic improved his ATP Head2Head series lead against Griekspoor to 2-0, after he also defeated the Dutchman in straight sets at the 2021 US Open. The World No. 1 was pleased with the way he handled the challenge of an opponent he had minimal experience against.

“He’s got a lot of firepower in his game,” said Djokovic. “His serve and forehand, those are two of his favourite shots. He tries to dictate the points from the back of the court with the forehand, and I knew that I had to take the time away from him.”

Djokovic on Monday began his 378th week as No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings to overtake WTA legend Stefanie Graf’s record for the most weeks spent at the top of the sport. He will take on fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz or qualifier Pavel Kotov in the last eight.

In the final match of the day on Dubai’s centre court, Daniil Medvedev delivered a rock-solid performance to defeat Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-2 for his 11th straight tour-level victory.

The 27-year-old Medvedev is bidding for his third ATP Tour title in as many weeks after his triumphs in Rotterdam and Doha, and he did not face a break point in his 65-minute victory against Bublik in Dubai. After the match, Medvedev acknowledged that his winning streak is helping him deal with the physical exertions of his busy schedule.

“I think confidence is more important than [fatigue], because you don’t want to stop,” said Medvedev. “Unless of course you feel bad physically. Doha was a little bit tough after coming from Europe. It’s a longer flight, so I feel much better physically here in Dubai. [In Doha] I still managed to run good and play good, so I feel 100 per cent ready and am looking forward to my next matches.”

Medvedev remains unbeaten in five tour-level meetings with Bublik. It is just one of a number of dominant ATP Head2Head records the 27-year-old holds against some of the top players on Tour.

Daniil Medvedev, Unbeaten ATP Head2Head Records (Minimum Four Matches Played)

The 17-time tour-level titlist Medvedev does not have such a convincing record against his next opponent in Dubai, however. Borna Coric, who beat Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday to set a quarter-final clash against the third seed, leads Medvedev 4-2 in their ATP Head2Head series.