Hadi Habib He was born 26 years ago in Houston, United States, but represents Lebanon, where he went to live from a very young age with his family. Until this Saturday he was one of those players who travels the world with the dream, always postponed, of fighting with the best on the circuit. In the early hours of Sunday, on court 13 of Melbourne Park, the home of the Australian Open, he crossed his own Rubicon: by winning and surprising 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 and 7-6 (8- 6) Chinese Bu Yunchaokete (65th) became the first tennis player from his country to win a match in a Grand Slam tournament. And he knows he made history.
“This is probably one of the best days of my career. It is an incredible feeling to achieve this victory, not only for me but also for Lebanon and Lebanese tennis. The crowd was absolutely wild, it was even more special to achieve it in front of them,” said Habib, 216th in the world ranking, in the press conference after the match that, in addition to the pass to the second round, allowed him to guarantee a check for 123 thousand dollarsa figure just below the almost US$ 140 thousand that he accumulated throughout his professional career since 2016. He added: “I felt like I could achieve these kinds of things. I’ve been playing really well at the end of last year. We set some goals for this tournament. Initially it was just qualifying, which I achieved. Today I just went out and played every point, played my best tennis I think. “I am extremely grateful and happy.”
Trained by the Argentine Patricio Heras -he retired after a career that included a three-year suspension for match-fixing- Habib has been growing in recent months.
Not only was he the unknown player that Carlos Alcaraz faced in the first round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games – “When I set foot at Roland Garros I seemed lost, I didn’t know where to go. “If someone had been watching me, they would have thought that I was a tourist and not a player,” he recalled. He closed the year with a title after facing an interesting tour of South America.
He made the quarterfinals in the San Pablo Challenger – he lost to Thiago Tirante – and the following week he was champion of the Temuco Challenger after defeating Camilo Ugo Carabelli in a marathon final. On that occasion He had become the first tennis player from Lebanon to win a tournament under the ATP orbit. Thus, the Asian country became the eighty-fifth nation to win a singles title on the circuit.
The green wave continued in this start of 2025. Supported by his powerful and explosive forehand, he crossed the Australian Open classification after leaving behind the American Patrick Kypson (213°), the Taiwanese Chu Hsin Tseng (119°) and the French Clement Chidekh (192nd) . The victories gave him as much confidence as the support he received from his compatriots who accompanied him from the stands at Melbourne Park.
“The support I have received these last few days has been incredible. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing. I have family in Sydney who came to see me. It has been a very special time for me to have all the people of Lebanon here. I felt the energy, they definitely helped me achieve victory today,” he noted. And, excited about the financial prize he secured, he continued: “It is enormous to receive the financial aid to then invest in myself and my team. I think it’s going to help tremendously. Now I can expand my team, invest more in myself. It will surely help my tennis. I said a million times that I work to be among the best in the world, but also so that my career and my voice inspire other Lebanese athletes.” He won’t have it easy in the next round. Awaiting him is the experienced Frenchman Ugo Humbert (14th), who eliminated the Italian Matteo Gigante 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 and 6-4.