MELBOURNE/WASHINGTON, January 10, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)
When World No. 219 Hady Habib secured his spot in the 2025 Australian Open men’s singles draw on Thursday, he became the first player from Lebanon to qualify for the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament.
The 26-year-old Habib, born in Houston, Texas, is a Lebanese American, who played collegiately at Texas A&M University and last month earned a career-high ranking of No. 216. He’s won one ATP Challenger Tour singles and three doubles titles. He moved to Lebanon at age 6 and began developing his skills.
On Thursday, Habib recorded his third win of the week in the Australian Open qualifying draw and became one of 16 men added to the 128-player field for the first major of the new season. Habib fired 21 aces and defeated No. 191 Clement Chidekh of France, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8).
The FIRST Lebanese player in the Open Era to reach a Men’s Singles main draw at a Grand Slam
Congratulations, Hady Habib! #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/VW7q1oczm8
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 9, 2025
Habib began the qualifying draw with earlier wins over No. 208 Patrick Kypson of the United States, 6-4, 7-6 (6), and No. 118 Tseng Chun-Hsin of Taiwan, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
In the first round of the main draw, Habib will play Bu Yunchaokete of China, ranked 65th. He was placed in Alexander Zverev’s quarter of the bottom half of the draw.
After qualifying, Habib told the Australian Open website: “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. 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.”
Besides Habib, other men’s qualifiers include a trio of Next Gen ATP rising stars: No. 113 Joao Fonseca of Brazil, who won the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals title; No. 143 Martin Landaluce of Spain and No. 120 Learner Tien of the United States. Plus, there’s qualifying draw top seed Dominik Koepfer of Germany, ranked 123rd; No. 151 Cristian Garin of Chile and No. 106 Thiago Monteiro of Brazil.
Qualifying: DONE ✅
Dominik Koepfer defeats Blake Ellis in straight sets 7-5, 7-5 to secure the final place in the #AO2025 main draw pic.twitter.com/Nis8QMBaxu
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 9, 2025
Men’s qualifying singles results
Chwalinska hopes to come out from Swiatek’s shadow
In the women’s qualifying draw, among the 16 who qualified was 23-year-old Maja Chwalinska of Poland, who has played in the shadows of her more famous countrywoman Iva Swiatek. Chwalinska went from being a part of the runner-up team in the United Cup, where she played mixed doubles, to earning a spot in the main draw of the year’s first major event. On Thursday, Chwalinska defeated 197th-ranked Czechian teenager Brenda Fruhvirtova, 6-3, 6-4.
Maja’s Milestone
Maja Chwalinska is into the AO main draw for the first time following a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Brenda Fruhvirtova! #AO2025 pic.twitter.com/XGeTyC982O
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 9, 2025
“I’m really happy right now. I will not think about any match for the moment, because I just want to go to the hotel and recover as much as I can,” the 126th-ranked Chwalinska said, quoted by the Australian Open website. “I’ll be ready for the main draw for sure.”
Chwalinska was drawn to play Germany’s Jule Niemeier, ranked 92nd, in the first round. She is in Coco Gauff‘s quarter of the upper half of the draw.
Also qualifying were a pair of Australians: 195th-ranked Destanee Aiava of Melbourne and No. 99 Kimberly Birrell, who was born in Düsseldorf, Germany but now lives in Gold Coast, Australia.
Kim Possible!
An emotional Kimberly Birrell qualifies for the #AO2025 main draw after a resilient performance to defeat Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4 pic.twitter.com/8OCH3GrnJ7
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 9, 2025
Women’s qualifying singles results
Australian Open Sunday order of play
By the numbers
Not since the US Open in 2015 has there been three male teenagers in the men’s draw of a Grand Slam event. In this year’s main draw of the Australian Open, 18-year-old Next Gen ATP Finals champion Joao Fonseca of Brazil, Martin Landaluce, 19, of Spain and 19-year-old Learner Tien of the United States will be part of the 128-player draw.
Smells like teen spirit at #AO2025
Fonseca Landaluce Tien the first time
three teenagers successfully qualify for a Grand Slam main draw since the US Open in 2015! pic.twitter.com/5ZFdhR0Y4Q— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 9, 2025
“Quotable …”
“I grew up playing [in Lebanon] and then I fell in love with the sport. 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.”
– Hady Habib of Lebanon, ranked 219th, as told to the Australian Open website, following his qualifying for the Australian Open men’s singles main draw.
