In a year where Hady Habib and Benjamin Hassan made history for Lebanese tennis at the Grand Slam level, competing on home soil in front of their home fans in the Davis Cup would have been the perfect way to celebrate their unprecedented achievements this season.
Unfortunately, that won’t be the case this weekend, as Lebanon get set to “host” Barbados at Palm Hills Sports Club in Cairo, where the two nations will clash in World Group II action.
The Lebanese Davis Cup team, spearheaded by Habib and Hassan, have not been able to play at home for the past two years, due to safety concerns resulting from the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, and have instead been playing their home ties in Egypt.
This weekend will witness the fourth consecutive Davis Cup tie for Lebanon in Cairo, and the players are hoping the Lebanese community residing in the Egyptian capital will turn up for them when the matches against Barbados kick off on Friday.
“It’s tough. We'd love to play at home, especially with what we achieved this year,” Habib told The National in Cairo on Thursday.
“I feel like we'd get more people to come and support us and it'll be good for tennis in Lebanon. Just to get more eyes on the sport, I think, playing a home match is different than playing outside.
“We won't get as much people from Lebanon coming here. Yeah, it's been a tough year-and-a-half, I'd say, not being able to play at home. I hope for the next time we get a chance to play at home and promote tennis and it'll be good for everyone, I think.
“I'm sure there's some Lebanese people living here in Cairo and I hope they come out and support us these next two days.”
Habib started 2025 with a bang, qualifying for the Australian Open and winning his first round to become the first Lebanese player in the Open Era to qualify for a major and to win a match in a Grand Slam singles main draw.
Hassan etched his name in the history books a few months later as he successfully qualified for the French Open, becoming the first Lebanese in the Open Era to achieve that feat.
The pair, who both represented Lebanon at the Paris Olympics last year, are ranked in the top 200 and have ignited unprecedented interest and passion for tennis from fans and young players back home.
“The people are crazy in Lebanon. They're texting us, me and Hady. They're texting us a lot,” said Hassan.
“People in, I don't know, Australia are contacting me or him from everywhere in the world. So it makes us proud, it makes us happy for sure, and we're just proud to represent Lebanon every way we can.”
One young player looking to follow in his compatriots’ footsteps is 19-year-old Fadi Bidan, who started representing Lebanon in the Davis Cup last year, and is part of the team called up for the Barbados tie this weekend.
Bidan was born in Syria but moved to Lebanon because of the civil war at age six. He has been training in an academy in Belgium for the past few years and is getting ready to join the University of Central Florida, where he will be studying and playing college tennis for the school’s team.
Habib was a college tennis standout and towards the end of his time at Texas A & M, was ranked the No 1 collegiate tennis player in the United States.
“I'm pretty excited to go to college. It's a really nice opportunity. One of the coaches there, I know him very well from a young age,” said Bidan. “I spoke to Hady about his experience playing college tennis. He told me the first few months are going to be tough, but I will get used to it. It's fun and it's competitive.”
Habib is one of many examples of former college players who successfully transitioned to the professional tennis circuit and he believes Bidan can indeed follow a similar path.
“He's a really talented player. He's going to college, so I'm really happy for him to get to develop his tennis. And hopefully he'll play for us at higher levels and achieve more things for Lebanon. I think he's going to be the future for our tennis,” Habib said of Bidan.
Habib, 27, is entering the closing stages of what has been a challenging first season of playing Grand Slam tennis. Currently ranked 172 in the world, he says it’s been a year full of adjustments and learning.
“It's my first year playing Slams, obviously getting used to the different scheduling. I probably travelled more this year than I have my entire career,” he said, reflecting on his 205 campaign.
“It's definitely taken a toll mentally as well. So I'm trying to adapt to that and just try to recover between tournaments as much as I can. And, you know, dealing with the pressure that comes with playing bigger events, learning how to manage my emotions better and just getting used to the new environment of the higher-level tennis, I'd say.”
At 30-years-old, Hassan is somewhat of a late bloomer and he says it’s a shift in mindset that helped him step up to a higher level in tennis.
Speaking of the key to his success these past two years, he said: “It's a lot mentally. I'm not playing better than before, I would say. Physical condition is still the same.
“Of course, a little bit more experience, and a lot mentally, how to survive in the tough situations, which I did very good the last couple of years, and not so good in the beginning of my career, because I didn't have the experience actually. But I would say this is the most important part for me.”
Like Habib, Hassan wishes they could be playing this weekend’s tie in Lebanon but he feels comfortable in Cairo, now that they’re frequent visitors to the city.
“We're all sad that we can't play at home. I think we all agree that we would like to have played in Lebanon. It would have been very nice,” said Hassan,” who will open proceedings against Barbados’ Darian King on Friday.
“But we know Egypt better than Lebanon right now, because the last four times we played here. But of course, we always wish to go back to Lebanon and play the Davis Cup there.
“So we're happy, maybe next year we can do it. I don't know how the situation will be, but we really just hope for it.”
This particular tie has been challenging from a logistical perspective because the matches were initially meant to take place in Nicosia, Cyprus. A last-minute change needed to be made and the tie was relocated to Cairo.
“Every time we play outside Lebanon, we say maybe it's the last one before playing back in Lebanon in front of our fans and spectators, especially that we have Benjamin and Hady now, they are internationally well-known and there is a big community in Lebanon, followers and fans of these two guys,” said Louis Baz, who is organising the tie through his company Victoriam Sports on behalf of the Lebanese Tennis Federation.
“Hopefully this will be one of the last ties, if not the last one, outside and the next one will be in Beirut in front of all our community.
“Even though it's very nice here in Cairo organising the tie, both clubs, Palm Hills and Smash Club [which hosted a previous tie], are very helpful and they like to host this type of international event. So hopefully we'll play in front of our Lebanese fans next time.
“Tennis is growing in Lebanon. And hopefully if these players will come to play in Lebanon, it will grow even much more.”
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
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Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
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New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
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Company profile
Name: Tratok Portal
Founded: 2017
Based: UAE
Sector: Travel & tourism
Size: 36 employees
Funding: Privately funded
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
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Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
