Lebanese tennis player Benjamin Hassan received the ultimate consolation prize after losing to Stan Wawrinka in his Dubai opener on Monday by meeting Roger Federer after the match.
Federer was watching his friend and Swiss countryman Wawrinka from the stands at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, much to the surprise of Hassan, who grew up idolising the Swiss legend and never imagined he would be playing in front of him one day.
In an opening-round clash between two wildcards, Hassan fell 7-5, 6-3 to three-time Grand Slam champion Wawrinka.
Despite the loss, Hassan stuck around to sign autographs from scores of fans just outside the stadium before Federer walked up to him and congratulated him for playing a good match.
“First of all, I was not realising it at all. I just saw him at the end and then I felt the aura already,” said Hassan, describing the 20-time major champion.
“I'm never washing my hand again. I'm never washing it again. He came to me, said good match. And then I said, ‘thank you’ in German because I speak German. I was born and raised in Germany. He looked a little bit surprised.
“But yes, as I said, this hand, this, I will only shower up from here [pointing to his elbow].”
Hassan is a late bloomer and enjoyed his best results in the last couple of years, competing in the 2024 Olympics, and becoming the first Lebanese in the Open Era to qualify for the main draw at Roland Garros last year.
“I'm 31. But I don't feel like my body is, I think actually my body is better than it was before, especially with the experience I gained over the years,” said Hassan.
“There's always a chance, always a chance. If you keep believing in yourself, this is the toughest part, I think, because with every loss every week, it's tough to believe in yourself. But you have to keep on working, believe in yourself and then hope for the best.”
Wawrinka became the oldest man in Dubai tournament history to win a main draw match and awaits Daniil Medvedev or Shang Juncheng in the second round.
The 40-year-old Swiss is competing in Dubai for the first time since 2017 and won the title in 2016.
“It was a tough match for me. Stan played really good, serving unbelievable,” said Hassan, who has a career-high ranking of 143 but is currently at 289.
“I had my chances here and there to come back in the second set. Unfortunately, I missed some returns and he was serving very clever, mixing it up with second serves as first serves. So it was tough to read his serve, to know what's going on.
“He did that very well. And also his chip return is really ugly to play against. You don't know what to do. You should attack or not. But I'm still happy with my performance. A lot of things to work on, of course.
“Overall, it was just a privilege. Really excited for me to be here, to play my first match and then against Stan in his last season. It's incredible, actually.”
Wawrinka, who was spotted last week supporting his compatriot Belinda Bencic when she was competing in the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai, was thrilled to have the support of Federer, with him he won Olympic gold in doubles back in 2008.
“It's as special as for everybody anyway; Roger is always going to be a legend of the sport and we have so much memory together since I started playing,” said Wawrinka.
“He was there, we played so many tournaments and team events together. Yeah he did tell me he was coming. Of course, it always adds some extra pressure.”
Speaking of his opponent, Wawrinka gave props to Hassan, saying: “I knew him since many years. He's a great player, tough player.
“He has a really nice game, trying to put pressure from the baseline. So it was a tough match today. I had to really play well, be focused and positive on myself, find a way how to win and I'm happy with the performance.”
