© Getty Images Sport – Clive Brunskill
Rising star Abdullah Shelbayh reveals he looked up to Roger Federer before seeing Rafael Nadal play and deciding to switch to playing with his left hand. Shelbayh, 20, comes from Jordan and he is currently enjoying a career-high ranking of No 187 in the world.
Ahead of his Next Gen ATP Finals debut in Jeddah, Shelbayh spoke with the ATP website and revealed to them that he is naturally right-handed and that Nadal inspired his switch to playing with the left hand. “My first memory of watching tennis was Roger [Federer].
I used to play with the right and one-hand backhand as well because of Roger. I didn’t know who Rafa was. I saw one guy playing Roger because I only knew Roger back then. Then I saw one guy playing with the left hand [Nadal] and later that day I started to play with the left hand,” Shelbayh told the ATP website.
Shelbayh hopes to do great things for Jordan, Arab tennis
The biggest name in Arab tennis is Ons Jabeur, who became the first Arab to reach a Grand Slam final and enter the top-10. Shelbayh, who won his maiden Challenger title in Charleston recently, admits he is inspired by Jabeur and reveals that the Tunisian tennis…
