Egypt's Safwat reaches first career singles Challenger final

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • New milestone: For Mohamed Safwat.

    Mohamed Safwat became the first Egyptian since 1997 to reach a final on the Challenger Tour after he beat Germany’s Jeremy Jahn in the Kenitra semis on Friday.

    His 6-1, 6-2 victory over Jahn saw Safwat enter his first career Challenger final in singles and he now has the chance to be Egypt’s first Challenger title winner since Tamer El Sawy triumphed in Bronx 20 years ago.

    Safwat is also likely to return to the top-200 when the new rankings come out on Monday. His projected ranking right now is 198 and could be higher should he win Saturday’s final.

    The 26-year-old El Mansoura-native won the doubles titles at the Meknes Challenger last week.

    In June, he became the first Egyptian to win a match at Wimbledon – in qualifying or main draw – since Ismail El Shafei in 1976. Safwat made it to the final round of Wimbledon qualifying before falling to Tristan Lamasine.

    He is determined to enter the top-100 – the only other Egyptian to reach that ranking was El Shafei in the 1970s – and has taken a different approach this season, investing more in traveling to Challenger tournaments despite it keeping him on the road for months at a time, away from his family.

    On Saturday, he faces Germany’s Maximilian Marterer for the title in Kenitra.

    “It feels great to be in my first Challenger final in my whole career,” Safwat told Sport360 on Friday.

    “I’m happy to see all the hard work myself and my team have been putting in finally paying off.

    “It just feels great and I’m looking forward to the final.”

    Recommended