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.
“I remember before it wasn't happening that much, but since we're playing so good, the people got aware, and they're supporting us from everywhere in the world.
“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.”
