Abdullah Shelbayh
Jordanian tennis player (born 2003)
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Abedallah Shelbayh (Arabic: عبد الله شلبايه, romanized: eabd allah shalabih; also known as Abdullah Shelbayh (Arabic: عبدالله شلبايه, romanized: eabdallah shalabih); born 16 November 2003) is a Jordanian tennis player. Shelbayh has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 181 achieved on 29 January 2024 and is the first Jordanian tennis player to achieve an ATP world ranking. He has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 177 achieved on 2 December 2024.
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JordanShelbayh at the 2023 Cary Challenger | |
| ITF name | Abedallah Shelbayh |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) | Jordan |
| Born | 16 November 2003 Amman, Jordan |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Plays | Left-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| College | University of Florida |
| Coach | Fernando Verdasco, Diego Dinomo[1] |
| Prize money | US $693,003 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 3–12 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 181 (29 January 2024) |
| Current ranking | No. 308 (8 June 2026) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | Q3 (2024) |
| US Open | Q2 (2024) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 1–2 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 177 (2 December 2024) |
| Current ranking | No. 575 (8 June 2026) |
| Team competitions | |
| Davis Cup | 10–1 |
| Last updated on: 11 June 2026. | |
He had a career-high ITF juniors ranking of 27 achieved on 12 July 2021.[2] Shelbayh has won three ITF singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Men's Circuit and one on the ATP Challenger Tour.[3]
Shelbayh represents Jordan at the Davis Cup, where he has a win-loss record of 10–1.[4]
Early life
Shelbayh was introduced to tennis by his father, who was a recreational player. He was training in Jordan until he was 14 years old, switching his tennis play to being left-handed in order to emulate his idol, Rafael Nadal. In 2018, Shelbayh moved to Mallorca to join the Rafa Nadal Academy.[5] Princess Lara Faisal asked Toni Nadal to come to Jordan and see if Shelbayh had what it took to join the academy. Toni Nadal was impressed by his talent, prompting Faisal to establish the Rise for Good Sports Fund to help Shelbayh and other young Jordanian prospects in sports.[6]
During his last junior tennis year, Shelbayh enrolled at the University of Florida for a year and played collegiate tennis. In June 2022, he went back to Mallorca to work on turning professional.[6] Shelbayh speaks three languages: Arabic, English and Spanish.[7]
Career
2022: Top 500
In September, Shelbayh reached the semifinals of the Manacor Challenger after receiving a wildcard into the main draw, defeating the top seed and world No. 127 Dominic Stricker in his opening match. Shelbayh became the first player from Jordan to win a match in ATP Challenger Tour history.[8] Following his run to the semifinals, Shelbayh made his debut in the world's top 500.[9]
On December 1, 2022, after one year as part of the Florida Gators men's tennis team at the University of Florida, Shelbayh announced that he would forego his remaining collegiate eligibility in order to turn professional.[10] The following week, Shelbayh won his third ITF singles title in Trnava, Slovakia, defeating Daniel Rincón in the final.[citation needed]
On December 28, 2022, Shelbayh won the second edition of the Arab Masters Tennis Tournament, held in Kuwait City, defeating Benjamin Hassan in the final.[11] In addition to prize money of $25,000, the win gave Shelbayh a wildcard to compete in the main draw of the 2023 Qatar Open in Doha.[12]
2023: Historic maiden Challenger title
In February, Shelbayh reached his first ATP Challenger Tour final at the 2023 Bahrain Ministry of Interior Tennis Challenger, defeating the No. 1 seed and world No. 79 Jason Kubler en route.[13] He became the first Jordanian player in history and the youngest Arab to reach a final at Challenger level.[12][8] Shelbayh was defeated by Thanasi Kokkinakis in the final.[14] As a result of this run, Shelbayh moved up more than 120 positions in ranking, entering the top 300 for the first time at world No. 276 on 20 February 2023.[15]
Shelbayh made his ATP tour-level main draw debut at the 2023 Qatar ExxonMobil Open as a wildcard, the first Jordanian to play in an ATP Tour match,[7] but lost to Kwon Soon-woo in the first round in three sets.[12] In April, Shelbayh won his first doubles title at Challenger level at the 2023 Murcia Open, partnering Daniel Rincón. The pair received entry into the doubles draw as alternates.[16][8] Later in April, he qualified for the Banja Luka Open in Bosnia and Herzegovina, having received an alternate spot in the qualifying competition. He defeated fellow qualifier Elias Ymer in straight sets in the first round, becoming the first Jordanian player to win an ATP tour-level match.[17][18][7]
Shelbayh received a wildcard at the 2023 Mutua Madrid Open, where he made his Masters 1000 debut. He lost to Pedro Cachin in the opening round.[19]
In October, at the LTP Men's Open in Charleston, Shelbayh defeated wildcard Oliver Crawford to become the first Jordanian player to win a Challenger title.[20][21] In November, he qualified for the 2023 Moselle Open in Metz, France, where he defeated Hugo Gaston in the first round.[22] He lost in the second round to defending champion Lorenzo Sonego.[23] Shelbayh was announced as the wildcard entry into the 2023 Next Gen ATP Finals.[24]
2025: Second Challenger title
In September, Shelbayh won the second singles Challenger title of his career at the 2025 Las Vegas Challenger, defeating Alex Rybakov in the final.[25]
Performance timeline
Singles
Current through the 2024 US Open.
| Tournament | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | SR | W–L | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||
| Australian Open | A | A | Q3 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| French Open | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| US Open | A | A | Q2 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| ATP Masters 1000 | ||||||
| Indian Wells Masters | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Miami Open | A | Q1 | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – |
| Monte-Carlo Masters | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |
| Madrid Open | A | 1R | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% | |
| Italian Open | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |
| Canadian Open | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |
| Cincinnati Masters | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |
| Shanghai Masters | NH | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |
| Paris Masters | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | – | |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Career statistics | ||||||
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Career | |||
| Tournaments | 0 | 8 | 2 | 10 | ||
| Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Finals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Overall win–loss | 0–0 | 3–8 | 0–2 | 3–10 | ||
| Year-end ranking | 470 | 195 | 250 | 23% | ||
ATP Challenger and ITF Tour finals
Singles: 7 (5 titles, 2 runner-ups)
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Jul 2022 | M15 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Daniel Rincón |
2–1 ret. |
| Win | 2–0 | Jul 2022 | M15 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard |  Skander Mansouri |
7–6(7–3), 6–4 |
| Win | 3–0 | Dec 2022 | M15 Trnava, Slovakia | World Tennis Tour | Hard (i) | Daniel Rincón |
6–1, 6–4 |
| Loss | 3–1 | Jan 2023 | M25 Manacor, Spain | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Daniel Rincón |
6–7(0–7), 6–3, 6–7(9–11) |
| Loss | 3–2 | Feb 2023 | Manama, Bahrain | Challenger | Hard |  Thanasi Kokkinakis |
1–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 4–2 | Oct 2023 | Charleston, USA | Challenger | Hard |  Oliver Crawford |
6–2, 6–7(5–7), 6–3 |
| Win | 5–2 | Sep 2025 | Las Vegas, USA | Challenger | Hard | Alex Rybakov |
6–2, 6–4 |
Doubles: 9 (5 titles, 4 runner-ups)
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Nov 2020 | M15 Valldoreix, Spain | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Pedro Vives Marcos |
 Holger Rune Eric Vanshelboim |
7–5, 6–3 |
| Loss | 1–1 | Jul 2021 | M15 Monastir, Tunisia | World Tennis Tour | Hard | Pedro Vives Marcos |
 Arthur Bouquier Santiago Rodríguez Taverna |
7–6(7–2), 3–6, [6–10] |
| Win | 2–1 | Oct 2021 | M15 Naples, United States | World Tennis Tour | Clay | Bruno Kuzuhara |
Johannes Ingildsen Duarte Vale |
6–4, 6–1 |
| Loss | 2–2 | Dec 2022 | M15 Trnava, Slovakia | World Tennis Tour | Hard (i) |  Coleman Wong |
Daniel Rincón Daniel Vallejo |
4–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 3–2 | Apr 2023 | Murcia, Spain | Challenger | Clay | Daniel Rincón |
Sergio Martos Gornés Marco Bortolotti |
7–6(7–3), 6–4 |
| Win | 4–2 | Jan 2024 | Canberra, Australia | Challenger | Hard | Daniel Rincón |
 André Göransson Albano Olivetti |
7–6(7–4), 6–3 |
| Loss | 4-3 | Jun 2024 | Tyler, Texas | Challenger | Hard |  Andres Andrade |
 Hans Hach Verdugo James Trotter |
6-7(3-7), 4-6 |
| Loss | 4-4 | Nov 2024 | Torremolinos, Spain | Challenger | Hard | Daniel Rincón |
 Karol Drzewiecki Piotr Matuszewski |
3-6, 4-6 |
| Win | 5–4 | Feb 2026 | Tenerife, Spain | Challenger | Hard | David Vega Hernández |
Pablo Llamas Ruiz Benjamín Winter López |
6–2, 6–4 |
Junior Grand Slam finals
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2021 | Wimbledon | Grass | Daniel Rincón |  Edas Butvilas Alejandro Manzanera Pertusa | 3–6, 4–6 |
