The first staging of the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup Junior Finals in Africa saw hosts Egypt secure a best-ever finish and a talented 15-year-old boy emerge as the star on his home courts.
The World Cup of tennis for under-16s took place at Smash Sporting Club in Cairo last week, bringing together the best 16 boys’ teams and best 16 girls’ teams from across the globe.
France clinched the Davis Cup Junior title and the Czech Republic claimed the Billie Jean King Cup Junior crown, but it was the Egyptian boys’ team that garnered the most attention, thanks to the efforts of Mohamed Genidy, Youssef Mourid, and Younis Hussien.
Genidy went undefeated in singles and doubles through the round-robin stage, guiding Egypt to impressive victories over Serbia, Australia and Canada, sending the hosts to a first quarter-final as group winners.
Genidy, 15, spent two years training at Smash Sporting Club before relocating to Barcelona earlier this season. He won his singles match against the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals, but he and Mourid succumbed in the deciding doubles.
Singles wins from Mourid and Genidy gave Egypt victory over India the following day before the duo lost narrowly in the deciding doubles against Spain in the fifth-place play-off, ultimately settling for sixth place.
Fans from across Cairo flocked to the club to support the team. The hysteria reached its climax during the quarter-final, which was held on a Friday – a weekend in Egypt – and saw buses of fans arrive from different cities, keen to catch a glimpse of the nation’s young stars.
Genidy, who was already on people’s radar within the Egyptian tennis community, suddenly became a household name across the country. He had the crowd on its feet, chanting his surname every step of the way.
“The crowd was huge. I didn’t imagine that there would be that many people,” Genidy told The National of his impressions on the first day of the tournament.
“But I managed to handle it well; I took the final set 6-4 [against my Serbian opponent].
“The days after that, I started to play much better. My level started to improve match by match. I started to interact better with the crowd. I knew when to keep them behind me and when to use the energy they were giving me. Now, I’m able to see the crowd as something that’s on my side, and not against me at all.”
Genidy admits he never imagined the Davis Cup Junior Finals would ever be held in Egypt, and he’s thrilled he and his teammates were able to perform well on such a grand stage.
“Thank God, we were able to show that we have the level," he said. "We are one of the best six teams in the world.
“This really means a lot to us Egyptians. To show that Egypt has the level to produce great players. For me, this was a great honour.”
Mourid, 16, echoed Genidy’s sentiments and couldn’t believe he got to play the tournament on the same courts where he trains every day.
“This week has been magical; it's been a dream come true, honestly, and we've done something that's never been done before, so I'm really honoured to be able to represent Egypt and do such a great result,” said Mourid after his singles victory against India.
“It gives me a lot of confidence.”
Egypt captain Yehia El Sallaly said the team entered the competition believing in their chances, despite the calibre of the opposition.
He believes exposing the players to an event of this size is essential for their progress.
“It builds up character, it builds up experience, and hopefully the new generations get inspired by it, and hopefully it makes us have better generations year after year,” said El Sallaly.
The hope is that the tournament will leave a lasting legacy in Egypt, one that can help drive the sport forward.
“It's one of the reasons I'm super happy about it; it's something that builds belief in both the parents and the players,” added El Sallaly.
“And for them to see that level, they have something to aspire to and something to work towards, a goal that is backed up by belief, not just a goal that they haven't seen and just dream about, but they've seen it, and they've seen that it can be done. So I'm really hoping the next generations will do even better and hopefully one day bring the title.”
A star in the making
Genidy may be 15, but he is no stranger to playing in front of big crowds. Last year, he made waves at three of the world's most prestigious youth tennis tournaments.
He won the doubles title at Les Petits As, won the U14s singles title at Eddie Herr, and made both the singles and doubles U14 finals at the Orange Bowl.
Those tournaments are where young tennis talents are scouted by academies, agents and the like, and it wasn’t long before Genidy relocated to Barcelona to train at the TEC Carles Ferrer Salat Academy under acclaimed coach Carlos Rodriguez, who previously coached Grand Slam champions Justine Henin and Li Na.
Being away from home at such a young age can be tough, but Genidy had already lived away from his family at age 12.
“I am from Port Said, not from Cairo. I started playing here [at Smash Club] in Cairo when I was 12 or 13 years old. I spent almost two years alone in an apartment, washing, cooking, doing everything myself. So not much has changed for me from Cairo to Barcelona,” he explained.
“I was already away from my family. In Spain, it’s a bit easier because my food and everything is taken care of.
“It is hard to be away from them at such a young age. But it taught me a lot. I became responsible. I feel like I matured at an early age.”
Genidy started training in Barcelona off and on in February this year before moving there full-time in June.
The work he’s been doing there is already paying off, as he scooped up four junior titles (one J200, two J100s, one J60) to crack the top 100 in the world junior rankings for the first time last week. For context, junior rankings are for players aged 13 to 18 competing on the World Tennis Junior circuit. Genidy is already among the best 100 juniors in the world aged 15.
His goal is to maintain a top-60 ranking next season to play the junior Grand Slams, starting with the Australian Open in January.
Genidy lives and breathes tennis and grew up idolising Roger Federer for the fluidity and effortlessness of his game. These days he admires Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. “I like Sinner’s mentality more, because recently I haven’t really liked Alcaraz's mentality,” he adds.
El Sallaly tried his best to encourage him to have other hobbies, to avoid early burnout. “I don't know if I succeeded,” admits the Egyptian coach.
Many young prospects have emerged from Egypt over the years but many struggled with the transition to the pros, with no clear pathways helping players find their footing on the professional circuit.
“This is what made me choose to travel abroad. I was training here and I was getting good results. I had no big reason to think of going abroad. But this is what I was afraid of,” Genidy says.
“As you said, a lot of people stayed in Egypt and didn't continue towards a professional path. Of course, some continued, and they made it.
“But as a percentage, the majority of the people who stayed didn't continue. So I decided to take this decision and move to Spain.”
Egypt’s new strategy
A quick look at the Egyptian tennis calendar will show a noticeable increase in the number of international junior tournaments hosted in the country.
It is a much-needed move made by local tennis authorities that allows young Egyptian players to compete on the World Tennis Junior Tour without needing to travel abroad.
“It's really, really helpful,” said Mourid, who is based in Cairo.
“There's like every single category, J30, J60, J100, J200, J300, J500, so I can play everything in Egypt, no need to go anywhere. That helps so much with everything financially, and playing at home feels amazing as well.”
El Sallaly believes building a bigger base of talent is key for Egypt to produce more tennis champions.
“I read a statistic somewhere that Switzerland has more players registered in tennis than we have in a country as big as ours; so the bigger the base, the more chances you have talented players,” he said.
“That's number one. You need to really build strong competitions internally, so one of the things they did is bring a lot of ITF [now World Tennis] tournaments here in Egypt, and I think that makes a big difference and that will build up year after year.
“So increasing the level of internal competition is important, because travelling is expensive and not everyone can travel right away, so they need to get them that exposure and when they do, everyone gets better and when everyone around you that you're competing with is better, then you yourself will get better too.”
