Ismail El Shafei

Ismail El Shafei is an Egyptian former professional tennis player and president of the Egyptian Tennis Federation. He is currently a member of the board of directors of the International Tennis Federation and is chairman of the ITF Junior Circuit. 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 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 Championships#Boys' Singles|Wimbledon]. He won his first senior's tournament in San Jose, Costa Rica in January 1966. He won the Egyptian Open in Cairo three times. An adaptable player, he competed on all surfaces,. 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 He reached his last professional singles final 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, 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. In 1998, he was elected to the board of directors of the International Tennis Federation until 2001. He would serve a second term as director of the ITF. 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.