Tennis has truly become a global sport. During the Open era, players from 94 countries have battled it out for Grand Slam supremacy.
On Sunday, that number will reach 95.
A sea of red and white saturated the fringes of Court 12 as world No.219 Hady Habib booked his spot in the Australian Open main draw, becoming the first Lebanese player to qualify for the main draw of a major.
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The 26-year-old secured his place in dramatic fashion against Frenchman Clement Chidekh. Despite three match points and two breaks of serve in the final set, Habib stemmed the tide to prevail 6-4 3-6 7-6(8).
“It means the world to me. It’s been one of my goals ever since starting to play tennis to play main draw of a Slam, that is everyone's dream,” he said. “To be able to accomplish that is huge achievement and a huge step in my career.
“I'm so grateful to have the Lebanese community come out. There's a huge population of Lebanese who live in [Australia]. They mostly live in Sydney, but there's some in Melbourne and I have some family that was out there today watching me, and they brought some friends, so it was huge to get that win in front of them."
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Born in Houston, Habib moved to Lebanon as a six-year-old, where he developed his game. Despite tennis not being the most popular sport in Lebanon, Habib pursued the sport with the influence of his father.
“I grew up playing [in Lebanon] and then I fell in love with the sport,” he said. “Funnily enough, my dad always wanted me to be a professional player since I was a small kid. None of my parents played tennis, my sister did, but I'm kind of the only ‘athlete’, I'd say. It's a huge achievement for us.
“It's huge for Lebanese tennis, the younger generation, kids who play the sport to see there's a way to get there and to be able to play and have them watch and support.
“Growing up playing tennis in Lebanon, it's not really a popular thing, I'd say, as in other countries. So hopefully [I] can change that, in my results.”
Brazilian Joao Fonseca also generated pandemonium on Thursday at Melbourne Park. Chants of ‘Fonseca’ rung around Court 7 after the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals champion continued his perfect start to 2025, the 18-year-old defeating Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante 6-4 6-1.
His 13th consecutive triumph bears the fruits of a maiden main-draw appearance at a major, something Fonseca was striving to achieve this season.
“It was one of the goals of this year to qualify and then with the first [Grand Slam] we qualified,” he said. “I’m feeling confident, I’m feeling good, and when we passed here [Australian Open qualifying] just very happy, very comfortable and hopefully we can do some great things in the main draw.
“They were wild, they were crazy. It’s amazing everywhere I go, some Brazilians are watching and cheering for me. I’m super happy with the support.”
Fonseca is one of three male teenagers to stamp their ticket into the main draw – alongside 2024 Next Gen finalist Learner Tien and Martin Landaluce – the biggest tally since the US Open 2015 saw five teenagers qualify.
Fonseca joins fellow Brazilian Thiago Monteiro in the round of 128 after he defeated Belgian Kimmer Coppejans 6-4 6-3.
Other notable qualifiers include No.1 seed Dominik Koepfer and former world No.17 Cristian Garin, who prevailed in straight sets in their final outings against Australian wildcard Blake Ellis and 18th seed Hugo Dellien of Bolivia respectively.