In a year where Hady Habib and Benjamin Hassan made history for Lebanese tennis at the Grand Slam level, competing on home soil in front of their home fans in the Davis Cup would have been the perfect way to celebrate their unprecedented achievements this season.
Unfortunately, that won’t be the case this weekend, as Lebanon get set to “host” Barbados at Palm Hills Sports Club in Cairo, where the two nations will clash in World Group II action.
The Lebanese Davis Cup team, spearheaded by Habib and Hassan, have not been able to play at home for the past two years, due to safety concerns resulting from the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, and have instead been playing their home ties in Egypt.
This weekend will witness the fourth consecutive Davis Cup tie for Lebanon in Cairo, and the players are hoping the Lebanese community residing in the Egyptian capital will turn up for them when the matches against Barbados kick off on Friday.
“It’s tough. We'd love to play at home, especially with what we achieved this year,” Habib told The National in Cairo on Thursday.
“I feel like we'd get more people to come and support us and it'll be good for tennis in Lebanon. Just to get more eyes on the sport, I think, playing a home match is different than playing outside.
“We won't get as much people from Lebanon coming here. Yeah, it's been a tough year-and-a-half, I'd say, not being able to play at home. I hope for the next time we get a chance to play at home and promote tennis and it'll be good for everyone, I think.
“I'm sure there's some Lebanese people living here in Cairo and I hope they come out and support us these next two days.”
Habib started 2025 with a bang, qualifying for the Australian Open and winning his first round to become the first Lebanese player in the Open Era to qualify for a major and to win a match in a Grand Slam singles main draw.
Hassan etched his name in the history books a few months later as he successfully qualified for the French Open, becoming the first Lebanese in the Open Era to achieve that feat.
The pair, who both represented Lebanon at the Paris Olympics last year, are ranked in the top 200 and have ignited unprecedented interest and passion for tennis from fans and young players back home.
“The people are crazy in Lebanon. They're texting us, me and Hady. They're texting us a lot,” said Hassan.
“People in, I don't know, Australia are contacting me or him from everywhere in the world. So it makes us proud, it makes us happy for sure, and we're just proud to represent Lebanon every way we can.”
One young player looking to follow in his compatriots’ footsteps is 19-year-old Fadi Bidan, who started representing Lebanon in the Davis Cup last year, and is part of the team called up for the Barbados tie this weekend.
Bidan was born in Syria but moved to Lebanon because of the civil war at age six. He has been training in an academy in Belgium for the past few years and is getting ready to join the University of Central Florida, where he will be studying and playing college tennis for the school’s team.
Habib was a college tennis standout and towards the end of his time at Texas A & M, was ranked the No 1 collegiate tennis player in the United States.
“I'm pretty excited to go to college. It's a really nice opportunity. One of the coaches there, I know him very well from a young age,” said Bidan. “I spoke to Hady about his experience playing college tennis. He told me the first few months are going to be tough, but I will get used to it. It's fun and it's competitive.”
Habib is one of many examples of former college players who successfully transitioned to the professional tennis circuit and he believes Bidan can indeed follow a similar path.
“He's a really talented player. He's going to college, so I'm really happy for him to get to develop his tennis. And hopefully he'll play for us at higher levels and achieve more things for Lebanon. I think he's going to be the future for our tennis,” Habib said of Bidan.
Habib, 27, is entering the closing stages of what has been a challenging first season of playing Grand Slam tennis. Currently ranked 172 in the world, he says it’s been a year full of adjustments and learning.
“It's my first year playing Slams, obviously getting used to the different scheduling. I probably travelled more this year than I have my entire career,” he said, reflecting on his 205 campaign.
“It's definitely taken a toll mentally as well. So I'm trying to adapt to that and just try to recover between tournaments as much as I can. And, you know, dealing with the pressure that comes with playing bigger events, learning how to manage my emotions better and just getting used to the new environment of the higher-level tennis, I'd say.”
At 30-years-old, Hassan is somewhat of a late bloomer and he says it’s a shift in mindset that helped him step up to a higher level in tennis.
Speaking of the key to his success these past two years, he said: “It's a lot mentally. I'm not playing better than before, I would say. Physical condition is still the same.
“Of course, a little bit more experience, and a lot mentally, how to survive in the tough situations, which I did very good the last couple of years, and not so good in the beginning of my career, because I didn't have the experience actually. But I would say this is the most important part for me.”
Like Habib, Hassan wishes they could be playing this weekend’s tie in Lebanon but he feels comfortable in Cairo, now that they’re frequent visitors to the city.
“We're all sad that we can't play at home. I think we all agree that we would like to have played in Lebanon. It would have been very nice,” said Hassan,” who will open proceedings against Barbados’ Darian King on Friday.
“But we know Egypt better than Lebanon right now, because the last four times we played here. But of course, we always wish to go back to Lebanon and play the Davis Cup there.
“So we're happy, maybe next year we can do it. I don't know how the situation will be, but we really just hope for it.”
This particular tie has been challenging from a logistical perspective because the matches were initially meant to take place in Nicosia, Cyprus. A last-minute change needed to be made and the tie was relocated to Cairo.
“Every time we play outside Lebanon, we say maybe it's the last one before playing back in Lebanon in front of our fans and spectators, especially that we have Benjamin and Hady now, they are internationally well-known and there is a big community in Lebanon, followers and fans of these two guys,” said Louis Baz, who is organising the tie through his company Victoriam Sports on behalf of the Lebanese Tennis Federation.
“Hopefully this will be one of the last ties, if not the last one, outside and the next one will be in Beirut in front of all our community.
“Even though it's very nice here in Cairo organising the tie, both clubs, Palm Hills and Smash Club [which hosted a previous tie], are very helpful and they like to host this type of international event. So hopefully we'll play in front of our Lebanese fans next time.
“Tennis is growing in Lebanon. And hopefully if these players will come to play in Lebanon, it will grow even much more.”
SUNDAY'S ABU DHABI T10 MATCHES
Northern Warriors v Team Abu Dhabi, 3.30pm
Bangla Tigers v Karnataka Tuskers, 5.45pm
Qalandars v Maratha Arabians, 8pm
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
Haemoglobin disorders explained
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
The Birkin bag is made by Hermès.
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Profile
Company name: Jaib
Started: January 2018
Co-founders: Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Taifour
Based: Jordan
Sector: FinTech
Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018
Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Croatia v Hungary, Thursday, 10.45pm, UAE
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Superliminal%20
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20Pillow%20Castle%20Games%0D%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Pillow%20Castle%20Games%0D%3Cbr%3EConsole%3A%20PlayStation%204%26amp%3B5%2C%20Xbox%20Series%20One%20%26amp%3B%20X%2FS%2C%20Nintendo%20Switch%2C%20PC%20and%20Mac%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Schedule
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ENovember%2013-14%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%20World%20Youth%20Jiu-Jitsu%20Championship%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENovember%2015-16%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbu%20Dhabi%20World%20Masters%20Jiu-Jitsu%20Championship%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENovember%2017-19%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abu%20Dhabi%20World%20Professional%20Jiu-Jitsu%20Championship%20followed%20by%20the%20Abu%20Dhabi%20World%20Jiu-Jitsu%20Awards%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
