PARIS: When Mohamed Safwat was a young aspiring tennis player living in Mansoura, Egypt, he watched stars such as Gustavo Kuerten and Roger Federer on TV competing at Roland Garros and recorded their matches.
He recalls Rafael Nadal’s first French Open success in 2005; from the color of the Spaniard’s sleeveless shirt to the clay-covered white capris he donned, while making history at the tender age of 19.
Like countless tennis players worldwide, Safwat drew inspiration from such legends and wanted to follow suit, even though he knew that the odds were heavily stacked against him in his pursuit of a professional career of his own. After all, how does a young player from the Nile Delta make it to a Grand Slam with little to no support from a nation with limited resources?
Fast-forward to Sunday, a 27-year-old Safwat stepped on Philippe Chatrier stadium — the main center court at Roland Garros — to face No. 4 seed Grigor Dimitrov in the first round, thanks to a lucky loser spot. In the process he became the first Egyptian in 22 years — and fourth in the country’s history — to contest a Grand Slam main draw.
“I used to watch all these legends on TV compete at Roland Garros when I was younger. I never ever imagined I’d be playing on Philippe Chatrier against Grigor or anyone like that. It never crossed my mind. But when I came here, I had a feeling that somehow I would play, and it happened,” Safwat told Arab News.
Safwat had lost in the third and final round of Roland Garros qualifying last week, and when the tournament announced the order of players that could get lucky loser spots, he was seventh in line.
When you find out you are seventh, you usually pack your bags and leave, but Safwat had a hunch that he could make it and stuck around. And indeed, seven players pulled out of the tournament and Safwat secured a main-draw slot. He found out at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday that he would play Dimitrov at 11:00 on Philippe Chatrier.
He had 30 minutes to prepare for history.
Despite a gallant fight in the last set, Safwat fell 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 to Dimitrov, but not before he left his mark on the French crowd, who were chanting his name and gave him a standing ovation as he walked off court.
His Paris debut did not go as well as he would have hoped, but Safwat believes it will have a positive impact back home.
“For sure I think this is going to be a positive thing, not for me, but for tennis, whether in Egypt or the Arab world. If we look at Malek Jaziri (of Tunisia), he made us all believe that someone like us can reach a semifinal of an ATP event. Malek beat Grigor (in Dubai in February). He opened the road for us, and made us believe that our dreams can come true and it’s not just words,” Safwat said of the 34-year-old Jaziri, who has been the top-ranked Arab for the past several years.
“So this is something for the young tennis players, the upcoming generation in our region. Yes, we don’t necessarily follow a direct path, because we lack the knowledge of how to make it in our part of the world, but with our individual effort, and without many people behind us and supporting us, we can still achieve great things.”
Safwat, ranked 182 in the world, believes the key to success is to leave behind the culture of excuses that often hinders athletes in the Arab region and admits he himself was guilty of such behavior in the past.
“We shouldn’t act like victims because of our circumstances and feel that the world is against us,” he explained.
“I lived that role for a while, and when I snapped out of it, I realized that we aren’t the only players in the world that don’t have support.
“There are so many players who have no support, and they are better than us and ranked better than us. They have no support, but they keep working. They have no money, no sponsorships, no wildcards, nothing.”
Safwat considers his Slam debut as an important “milestone” but he’s already looking ahead.
“I had chances in the match, maybe now I wasn’t able to capitalize on these chances but I can work on myself,” he said. “I believe this won’t be the last time for me to play in the main draw here, or on center court anywhere else.”
Egypt’s Mohamed Safwat sets his sights on inspiring next generation of Arab players after French Open debut
Egypt’s Mohamed Safwat sets his sights on inspiring next generation of Arab players after French Open debut
- Safwat become the first Egyptian to play in a Grand Slam in 22 years.
- Having lost to world No. 4 Grigor Dimitrov, the 27-year-old admitted he was hungry for more top-level action.
T20 World Cup: England rout Sri Lanka for 95 to win Super Eights opener
- England were asked to bat first, scored what looked like below-par 146-9
- Archer, Will Jacks took five wickets to leave Sri Lanka top order in tatters
KANDY: England routed Sri Lanka for 95 to give captain Harry Brook a perfect birthday present as they opened the T20 World Cup Super Eights phase with a resounding 51-run win in Kandy on Sunday.
After England were asked to bat first and scored what looked like a below-par 146-9, Jofra Archer and Will Jacks took five wickets during the six-over power play to leave Sri Lanka’s top order in tatters at 34-5.
“That’s a beautiful birthday present,” said Brook, who turned 27 on Sunday.
“I thought we played exceptionally there. To get over the line and bowl them out for less than 100 is an awesome effort.
“I didn’t think there were really any demons on the pitch. I think the spinners on both sides used the pace really well, and that’s what brought a lot of wickets.”
It was England’s 12th win in a row against Sri Lanka and on a pitch that was sticky and slow after rain all week in Kandy.
The margin of victory gives them a healthy net run rate advantage in a Super Eights group that could be further affected by weather, after the New Zealand-Pakistan match was washed out on Saturday in Colombo.
“We’re buzzing with that,” said Jacks who was named player of the match for the third time in five matches in the tournament.
“At the halfway stage, we were pleased to get up to 146, but obviously we knew we were going to have to bowl well and work hard.”
The searing pace of Jofra Archer accounted for both openers, including the in-form Pathum Nissanka (9), who had scored a century and 62 in his last two knocks but failed to clear Jamie Overton at deep mid-wicket.
Archer finished with 2-20 and Jacks 3-22, the latter accounting for Kusal Mendis (4) and Pavan Rathnayake (0) in consecutive balls.
Dunith Wellalage staved off the hat-trick but lasted only 10 balls before also falling to Jacks, for 10.
LONE BATTLE
Dasun Shanaka fought a lone battle scoring 30 off 24 balls before falling to Adil Rashid.
The Sri Lanka captain took on the leg-spinner but Jacks took the catch and tossed the ball to Tom Banton before stepping over the boundary.
“It’s one bad game which is not affordable in a World Cup,” said Shanaka.
“But we need to bounce back in the next couple of games.”
Sri Lanka earlier restricted England to 146-9 with left-arm spinner Wellalage taking 3-26.
Phil Salt scored 62 at the top of the order but Sri Lanka, who are missing three of their frontline bowlers, contained the rest of the England batting line-up with regular wickets.
Wellalage was introduced during the power play and trapped the out-of-form Jos Buttler (7) and Brook (14), both lbw, as England limped to 68-4 at the halfway mark.
Salt was caught in the deep off Wellalage after facing 40 deliveries with six fours and two sixes.
Jacks, with 21, was the only other England batsman to score more than 20.
“Jacksie was pretty annoyed with the way he got out,” said Brook, who then explained why the new ball was tossed to the off-spinner.
“He said to me he always bowls better when he’s angry, and thankfully he got off to a cracking start.”
Left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka took 2-25 while Maheesh Theekshana took 2-21 with his offspin.
