Australian Open 2025 – Hady Habib, a (beautiful) story like no other

This is already THE great story of this Australian Open. If Hady Habib were a film, it would be a “feel good movie”. These feature films which are characterized by the presence of endearing characters, whose destiny and personality cannot leave us indifferent. It's a bit like the story of Habib, representative of a country, Lebanon, which did not exist on the world Tennis map. He has already written history. His own, but also that of his country.

In the Open era, never had a Lebanese player appeared in the final draw of a Grand Slam tournament. The last time was in 1962, another time, that of amateur tennis, when Karim Fawaz played the US Open on the lawn of Forest Hills. He had been eliminated from the start. 63 years later, Hady Habib is putting Lebanon back in the spotlight and, as a bonus, he gave it a historic victory by beating the Chinese Bu Yunchaokete (67th in the world) in three sets on Sunday.

Tennis is an individual sport, but for Habib, wearing the colors of Lebanon is anything but trivial. “A lot of people ask me why I chose to represent Lebanon,” he admits. “My father is Lebanesehe explained on Sunday after his victory against Bu in front of a press room which, in the vast majority, was discovering him. From 6 to 12 years old, I lived in Lebanon, I went to school there. I started playing tennis in Lebanon. And I still have a lot of friends there. My parents still live there. So I chose to represent Lebanon and since I was 15, I have represented it in the Davis Cup.”

Born in 1998 in the United States, in Houston, he could have represented the United States. His family also returned for a time to Uncle Sam's country. Hady was 12 years old. He spent the rest of his youth there, studying in his native Texas at Texas A&M University. “But representing a small country like Lebanon is something important to me and I made this decision very young. It's my father's country and he was the one who wanted to make me a tennis player, even though he never played the sport.“, he said.

At the age of 22, he decided to devote himself fully to tennis. For a long time in the shoes of the galley slave who vegetates between the 400th and 700th place, without much means at his disposal. “The Lebanese Tennis Federation is doing its best to help us, but given the bankruptcy of the Lebanese state, we should not expect miracles“, he explained at the end of 2021.

This Australian Open will mark a before and after for him. Firstly because, whatever happens, he will have his best ranking leaving Melbourne, at worst by making his way among the top 200 in the world for the first time. Financially, the situation will also change. A second round in Australia is $125,000. “This will help me a lothe admits. I will be able to invest in my career, in my staff. Maybe expand the team around me. Yes, I think it will allow me to progress.”

On Wednesday, against Ugo Humbert, he will obviously have nothing to lose, facing a member of the Top 15. It will not be a first for him to face a tenor. At Roland Garros, during the last Olympic Games, Habib had the honor of facing Carlos Alcaraz (6-3, 6-1 defeat). “There were undoubtedly more spectators during the match against Alcaraz, but many more Lebanese people in the crowd today“, he smiled about his duel against Bu.

A match played in an atmosphere truly worthy of the Davis Cup, on a court 13 whose stands were well stocked by the Lebanese diaspora. “I have some family in Sydney who came to see the matchconfie Hadad Habib. It was so special for me to see all the members of the Lebanese community supporting me, I felt this energy. They clearly helped me get the victory. Thank you to the Lebanese people for their support in recent weeks, in Melbourne and elsewhere in the world. It gave me so much energy to keep fighting.”

If everyone is discovering it now, the turning point really came for him at the end of last November, during his victory in Temuco, Chile, as a challenger. “After Chile, I quickly moved on to the short preparation for 2025, so I didn't have time to cut back but it paid off in the end.“, says Hady Habib. Until he discovers ambitions and above all understands that he belongs here, among the elite.

Things are changing for him right now, in a good way. But he doesn't just win for himself. “This is a huge victory for me, especially with everything the country is going through, he reminds. If I can bring a little bit of positive, with everything that happened. There is war, obviously. And we had many other problems. It's good for Lebanon and for the people.” Hady Habib forgets neither who he is nor where he comes from.