Home » Rafael Nadal’s favorite young player makes the main draw at ATP Banja Luka

Abedallah Shelbayh, 19, will take part in the ATP 250 Banja Luka event’s main draw. After competing in Doha in February, a teen won two qualifying matches to enter the main draw and move on to his second ATP tournament.

Abedallah practices at Rafael Nadal‘s tennis facility in Mallorca, where he has the opportunity to train alongside and learn from a 22-time Major champion. The Jordanian player earlier this year made it to his first Challenger final, gaining confidence and looking for more successful runs the rest of the season.

After leaving the Madrid Challenger early, Shelbayh arrived in Banja Luka and participated in the qualifying round as an alternative. In the opening round, Abedallah defeated Fabian Marozsan 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 in one hour and 49 minutes.

The young gun scored early and produced three excellent holds for a 4-2 advantage. In game eight, Marozsan came back with a break to tie the score at 4-4 and serve at 5-5.

Abedallah Shelbayh, 19, has advanced to Banja Luka’s main draw.

A few minutes later, Shelbayh made his second break and finished the set on his serve for a 7-5 victory.

The Hungarian won the second set 6-1 after grabbing three serve breaks to force a decider and build momentum. At the beginning of the final set, a teenager had to work hard, surviving break points and settling into a beautiful rhythm.

Since 2-2, the young gun has played admirably, and at 3-3, he took 12 of the last 15 points to win. In the last qualifying round, the Jordanian faced the fifth seed Lukas Klein and won 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 23 minutes to advance to the main tournament!

The young gun had nine chances to fly over the top but was broken twice while producing five breaks. Shelbayh got off to a great start and won a break in the fifth game to establish a 4-2 lead. Before losing serve in the following game, Klein recovered his break in game eight.

At 5-4 in the final set, Abedallah served and won, holding at 15. At the start of the second set, a teen made two breaks and held at 15 in game six for a 4-2. In game seven, the up-and-comer made another break before winning the match on his serve a few minutes later to advance to the main draw. Shelbayh is the first athlete from Jordan to be accepted into the ATP tournament’s main draw.