Abdullah Shelbayh says it's 'special' to represent Jordan on Arab soil in Dubai

Jordanian wild card Abdullah Shelbayh is relishing the “special” opportunity to compete on Arab soil and is keen to represent his country the best way possible on his Dubai debut on Monday.

The 20-year-old Shelbayh has enjoyed a rapid rise up the rankings, vaulting from 470 in the world at the start of 2023 to a career-high 181 last month.

A crafty lefty, who trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca, Shelbayh is the first Jordanian in history to win a Challenger tournament, an ATP match, and more recently claim a victory at a Grand Slam event.

He made his major debut in Melbourne in January, where he reached the final round of qualifying before falling in three sets to home favourite Omar Jasika.

Shelbayh arrives in Dubai coming off a tight opening round defeat to world No 46 Alexei Popyrin in Doha. He now shifts his focus to his Dubai clash with the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor, which is scheduled last on Court 1 on Monday.

“It’s very special to me to be able to represent my country in the Arab world at such a big event. It’s my first time here so I’m looking forward to being on court already,” Shelbayh told The National on Sunday.

“I’ve been playing great tournaments this year. Maybe not the result I was looking for last week (in Doha) but I think it’s going to be a great match, I’m going to give it my all and see what happens.”

Shelbayh is not the only Arab to be awarded a wild card in Dubai this week. Tunisian Skander Mansouri will be competing in the doubles main draw alongside Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, while his compatriot Aziz Dougaz fought valiantly in the opening round of qualifying before losing to Frenchman Luca van Assche.

“I’m always happy to see a few other guys also from the Arab world playing this