Archive for the ‘Tennis’ Category
It’s been a very hectic month of July, returned from playing 2 futures in Italy where i played quali for the first time in a very long time, passed both times and reached quarters in the second week, won all my final set matches easy except one that should have won but lost 7/6 in the third, I had this problem last year but not anymore, I discovered that being really fit just helped me mentally and made me stronger, so it was nice to play with no pressure there and play well. I returned to continue my work in my academy and to play Davis Cup. I had a bit of an argument with our new Davis Cup captain who just put me in an unnecessary situation that result in me leaving the team and not participating for the first time since 98. I really felt bad about it not that I didn’t play because anyway it was easy as we played in group three but it seems that my history as a tennis player in Egypt was not put in consideration at all, I was treated from the captain who didn’t participate in any Egyptian event since 98 in the same manner as a junior player on the team, no exceptions for me what so ever. So I decided not to abide to his so called (rules) and leave the team. Well everything happens for a reason, i am glad that i took this decision . Next month will be really tough in Ramadan with the academy and hope that it will be a successful one too.
It’s been a while since I last traveled to play outside Egypt, almost 6 months, especially after starting my own academy. Stars Academy located in Galaa Army Club, Mostafa Naim ex Davis Cup captain, Ramy Saleh fitness coach and ex top tennis player in Egypt, Ahmed Siddik our financial and business planner and myself have opened this academy shortly after the Egyptian revolution.
So I traveled for the first time as a coach and player with one of our top players Bassam Beidas, a college player in one of the top universities in the states, it’s been really an exciting experience for me, as I participated in 2 Futures in Morocco after almost losing all my points and ranking, I actually did pretty well , I reached semi final in the first week with my player so of course as a coach I had to give him the chance to pass me and reach the final to win his first ever future after coming out from the quail. The second week almost the same happened but I had to let him pass in the quarter final so as a result he reached finals but lost which is still great, the first 2 futures to play in almost 2 years , he wins one and reaches final in the second. I am satisfied as a coach and feel good and played good as a player.
Now I have to train for Davis Cup that will be held in July in Cairo so I will be traveling to Italy as a player to play some tournaments over there to get ready for the tie, it’s really nice to play with no pressure and enjoyment, tennis feels good like that when u just focus on performance and not results.
Hi, i just spent the last 2 weeks attending the ITF coaching course, it”s been really very interesting for me to finish the level 1 course, i learned a lot of stuff about helping young juniors and about the game in general, it’s always good to be updated with all whats new in tennis. The best part of it is that my ex coach Davis Cup captain was attending it and the main tutor is our current Davis Cup captain, one of my ex team mates and friends was also a tutor which made it a lot of fun. Although my experience as a top player for many years yet i still learned a lot of things in this course. The other attendants were all working hard and trying to learn from the course but i still wonder why there are a few who can’t play the game insist on becoming coaches?!Looking forward for the next course and i know that taking these courses will help me as a player and as a future coach.
I just arrived from Libya where i played the African Cup of nations, the Egyptian team won the whole tournament, i won the doubles with Safwat and the teams competition, lost in the semi finals in singles, Safwat won the singles which was a great achievement for our team to win the three events. The tournament was on super fast hard courts that has been painted with jotun paint, i didn’t enjoy playing there on these fast courts but i had to adapt. On the other hand i played the Egyptian futures before that and it was not successful for me, i lost almost all my points now, lost in the first round of Solaymaniah due to extremely bad court conditions and quarter final in shooting club 6th of October.Other than that i have some local tournaments to play and club matches till the end of this year then i will see what’s for next year. Cheers
I just came back from Romania; I played the challenger in Brasov and the ATP Bucharest Open. I really played well but I won’t blame it on the mental again. In Brasov, I passed the qualifying rounds then lost first round main draw final set again.. then I lost in the second round of the ATP after winning a first good match against an ex top 150 player which gave me a boost that faded away after a 4-1 lead in the second match. It was really nice to play there, another atmosphere, great courts, nice hotel and everything easy to reach. I am preparing now for the last tournaments of the year including club matches and 2 futures plus some local tournaments. As for the club matches I really want to know when they are going to separate men’s club matches from the juniors. I really think that it would be much better for the Egyptian tennis. Firstly, because there will be more competition and all the good juniors could participate in it to strengthen the men’s team.. well as I said before there are no men playing now so they are all juniors. Secondly there are some clubs that have good men’s team but don’t have a junior team so like that they aren’t able to participate in the league which is really a waste. Thirdly, people are interested to watch high level or men’s tennis more than watching juniors so these matches could be broadcasted on TV with big prize money for the winning team. This leads me to the other point which is the prize money, the biggest incentive for any sportsman is to earn money and since we are wondering why all our players quit at the age of 22, well it’s simple they don’t see how they can earn money from playing in Egypt without traveling and blah blah blah. You can earn money in men’s tennis by separating it from the juniors. There should definitely be more men’s tournaments than juniors, not the opposite, and with money included, which will raise the level of competition and players will play for longer like in France and Italy and Germany. It’s like a job, maybe better than a regular one because u will do what u like and earn good money for it. The prize money in tournaments has been the same since 10 years can u believe that? 3500 Egyptian pounds which is 600$ for the winner for the last ten years if the tournament is full, it’s a joke. Well if u play 3 tournaments a month or more and win 600$ each week then it’s ok and for one year then it’s worth it, but there are like 4 or 5 tournaments a year for that, it takes 2 to 3 weeks to finish a tournament consisting of juniors starting from under 10( I don’t know even why do they make tournaments for this age) until men’s. So as I said club matches should be a tournament on its own with its own prize money for men weather it’s for one week or 5 consecutive weeks. There should be more prize money tournaments, trust me, the players when they find that they earn money from competing they will continue and always try to improve. In France there are so many good players who play money tournaments and their level is even better than a top 400 guy, most of them don’t have even an ATP point but it’s a worthy job. If we take a step towards this Idea, I think that there will be more players continuing to play for a longer period of time not just finish college then quit, and even better coaches in the future because they have played the game.
It seems that I am going through rough times in tennis; I haven’t won a match in 4 months, but that’s not the problem, the bigger problem is that I lost 9 final set matches either 64 or 75 in a row, so there are either 2 options there, either physical or mental, I go more with option number 2. I don’t know but it’s really getting on my nerves now I lost in total 12 matches final set this year and won only 3. Bad ratio, anyway this became my new challenge, how to win the final set! Any suggestions?
Well another unsuccessful week goes by; we lost to Denmark 5-0 at home. First day, we lost the first match in 5 sets after more than 4 hours of play, we had a lot of chances to win, second match was mine it lasted for another 4 hours as well 67 76 67 16 I had actually 2 chances to finish the third set but as it’s been going on for the last 3 months I just couldn’t take them. Second day was a disaster, we lost in 3 sets the doubles 63 64 76, and again we had chances in the third but no luck. So group 2 ends for us right here and like this we drop down to group 3 next year so good luck for our upcoming players, they will have to take us back again to group 2 because I have spent 10 years bringing us up to group 2 and keeping us there, it’s time for someone else to do it now 
Hi everybody, it’s been a while since I wrote something on my blog, I was busy traveling all around playing challengers in Europe, and unfortunately I was not successful this time. I played 2 challengers in Italy then Poland and Germany, I had to play the qualifying rounds in all 4 of them, passed only once and lost first round main draw, which is kind of frustrating that I lose before the main tournament starts since April until now I lost 6 final set matches in a row, all of them either a 7/6 or a 7/5 in the third, they were all against good players ranging from top 200 to 300 but still I was leading in all these matches . I think it’s all mental that I am losing these close and tight matches, may be also a little bit physical but there is something mental for sure, so of course my ranking dropped a lot after all these losses plus all the futures that were canceled here in Egypt, anyway I am playing Davis Cup in the next 2 weeks against Denmark here in Cairo, it will be a tough match, they have a good team and the weather will be very hot here as well. This match will be a play off whether to stay in group 2 or drop to group 3, so good luck for the Egyptian team this time, at least we are going to play on clay not on fast indoor carpet as usual.
Another unsuccessful week for me, just finished playing the Cairo Challenger, lost first round in both singles and doubles, another 7/5 in the third in singles and super tie break in doubles, I don’t know but lately I lost all my tight matches, it sucks but it happens, I just need to keep on playing and work harder . The challenger was very well organized; everything was great except one thing which we all know, the courts. The courts were fast, slippery and full of bad bounces as usual and the new center court that really looked nice was still not ready for matches as it was too soft so it had lots of bad bounces. When are we ever gonna have a good tennis court, I guess never. Previously to this challenger I participated in a local tournament in Heliopolis Shorouk, I won it again , it was pretty easy actually which is kind of sad that there is no competition in these tournaments as I have mentioned before. So my plans are to compete in four upcoming challengers in Europe starting on the 24th of this month then prepare for Davis Cup against Denmark in July.
I arrived yesterday from playing 2 weeks in Italy, 2 futures 15000+h and 15000, it wasn’t so successful this time, lost second round in the first week after a set and break up and due to some string problems and my stubbornness to change my strings I lost the match. Second week I lost first round after a set and break again and a 5-2 lead in the final set, I lost 7-6 in the end. My match lasted 3 hours and a half, it was the longest match in the last 2 tournaments I guess, at least I tested my fitness..although i got cramps at 5-5 final set, it came and went after 3 minutes, it was strange. I guess it’s more mentally then physically. In doubles i lost in the finals and again I lost the super tie break set, it was annoying but this is how it is. Next week I am playing a challenger here in Cairo, it’s good to play big tournaments at home, I get more motivated, this is the first challenger to be played in Cairo since 2002, I am really looking forward to win in this tournament. Talking about the futures that we had in Egypt last year, they are all canceled now, nothing until September; we had like 10 weeks that were canceled so I have to start traveling again to improve my ranking, I was really glad that we had enough weeks here to play rather than traveling around to get some points but here I am again, doing the same thing, it’s just that it’s tiring and sometimes financially costing. Anyway I will see how it goes this year. So good luck to me!
