Mayar Sherif has become the first Egyptian female tennis player to feature in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament after beating Giulia Gatto-Monticone in the final round of Roland Garros qualifying on Friday.
The 24-year-old defeated her Italian opponent 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 19 minutes to make history for her country.
On Wednesday, she became the first Egyptian female to win a Grand Slam match after overcoming Colombian teenager Maria Camila Osorio Serrano 6-4, 6-0 in the first round of the French Open qualifying.
She also defeated American Caty McNally in the second round, making headlines back home.
Sherif, who grew up in Cairo, is only the second Arab to break into the top 200 of the world ranking, joining Tunisian Ons Jabeur.
"We don't know the way, how to do it. I used to look at Ons and think, 'Ons made it to the top 200, why can't I?' Ons made it to the top 100 and stayed in the top 200 for a long time, why can't I do that?" Sherif said in an interview with Roland Garros' official website.
"I saw how Ons took it step by step – maybe if we had better resources, or if we had someone to show us how to do it, maybe we would have made it sooner, but that doesn't mean we will not make it, we have the chance.
"For the moment there's only two of us, I hope the future generations can see us and think, ‘well, they have done it, why can't we?"
Sherif will be looking to continue her impressive run and cause an upset when she meets second seed Karolina Pliskova in the first round of the French Open.
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
Short link:
