Ismail El Shafei ( ar, إسماعيل الشافعي) (born 15 November 1947) is an Egyptian former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player and president of the Egyptian Tennis Federation. He is currently a member of the board of directors of the

International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there ...

and is chairman of the

ITF Junior Circuit The ITF Junior Circuit is the premier level for worldwide competition among under-18 junior tennis players. Founded in 1977 with only nine tournaments, the 2011 ITF Junior Circuit offered over 350 tournaments in 118 countries. Mirroring the ATP an ...

. He won six career singles titles and reached eleven finals. In doubles, he won nine career titles.

Career

El Shafei played his first tournament in March 1962 at the Egyptian Championships losing in straight sets to Italian player

Giuseppe Merlo Giuseppe "Beppe" Merlo (11 October 1927 – 17 July 2019) was an Italian tennis player. Merlo reached the semifinals of French Championships in 1955 (losing to Sven Davidson) and 1956 (losing to Lew Hoad). In the final of Rome in 1955, Merlo ...

in the round of 32. He reached his first tournament final in Ostordorf, West Germany in 1963 before losing to Harald Elschenbroich. In 1964, he won the boys' singles tournament at Wimbledon. He won his first senior's tournament in San Jose, Costa Rica in January 1966. He won the Egyptian Open in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

three times (1969, 1974–1974). An adaptable player, he competed on all surfaces, (grass, clay, hardcourt, and carpet). El Shafei is the only Egyptian player to make the top 40 in Grand Prix/ATP ranking history. He is one of only four players to beat Björn Borg at Wimbledon, knocking him out in the third round in 1974 (the other three were

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...

, Roger Taylor and

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Un ...

.) He reached his last professional singles final (exhibition) at the Cairo Invitational losing to Bjorn Borg in two sets in December 1979 and played his last singles tournament in June 1982 at the Bristol Open losing to then South African player

Johan Kriek Johan Christiaan Kriek (born April 5, 1958) is a South African-American retired tennis player and founder of the Global Water Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to delivering clean water to the world's neediest communities. He won ...

, he retired in 1983.

Post playing career

Following his playing career El Shafei remained involved in tennis in an administrative role: he was elected president of the Egyptian Tennis Federation on two occasions (1994–96 and 2005–08). In 1998, he was elected to the board of directors of the

until 2001. He would serve a second term as director of the ITF (2003–2013). In September 2015, he was elected for a third term as a director and is currently chairman of coaching and chairman of the juniors circuit.

Personal

He was educated at

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

and is the son of Adli El Shafei and father of Adli El Shafei II.

Career finals

Singles: 17 (6 titles, 11 runner-ups)

Doubles (9 titles)

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Won Wimbledon Championship for Boys 1964 & was runner-up in 1963

Davis Cup

El Shafei participated in 17 ties for Egypt, where he played 42 matches, winning 23, losing 19 he also served as team captain in the 1980s.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shafei, Ismail El 1947 births Living people Egyptian male tennis players Sportspeople from Cairo Wimbledon junior champions Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Egypt Mediterranean Games medalists in tennis Competitors at the 1963 Mediterranean Games Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles African Games medalists in tennis African Games bronze medalists for Egypt Competitors at the 1965 All-Africa Games 20th-century Egyptian people 21st-century Egyptian people