Last Updated on February 23, 2023
An Egyptian who set few records in Egyptian women’s tennis, as first female in a main draw of a Grand Slam, first to win a Grand Slam main-draw match and first woman to qualify for the Olympic Games, is twenty-six years old Mayar Sherif.
Mayar Sherif Ahmed Abdel-Aziz was born on 5th May 1996 in Cairo, Egypt, in a family of Amal Thabet and Sherif Ahmed. She has three siblings: Rana, Dalya and Rawan. Mayar started playing tennis since youngest age, introduced to the sport when she was four, by her older sister Rana who is also a tennis player.
She was winner of the African Championship for U14 and U16 and was tabbed as number one in Africa for most of junior’s time. Was thirteen the first time she played in the Fed Cup and helped Egypt to stay in Group2 for the first time in the history.
After finishing Lycee El Horreya high school in Cairo, she decided to dedicate to her education and went to study in USA, firstly at Fresno State University for two years, afterwards at Pepperdine University where she graduated in 2018.
During her time at Fresno State, she was named Freshman of the Year to both the All-Mountain West Singles and Doubles Team. There she was doubles partner with her sister Rana. As for the period being part of Pepperdine University, she finished one season ranked a career-high no.1 in the Oracle/ITA doubles ranking and was only 4th player from their tennis program to ever reach the NCAA Singles Championship semifinal.
After graduation in 2018 she gets back playing tennis at pro level. Mayar’s favorite tennis player is Kim Clijsters and favorite surface is clay. She loves Mediterranean food; her favorite musical artist is Adele and other than tennis she is fan of basketball.
Who Is Mayar Sherif’s Coach?
Justo Martinez Gonzalez
Since 2012 Mayar’s coach is Justo Martinez Gonzalez.
Justo Martinez Gonzalez was born on 4th September 1982 in Elche, Spain. He was playing tennis at a young age but without any notable results. After high school, he studied at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canarias. Currently, he is the director of the tennis school Club de Campo Elche Tennis.
Mayar and Justo met in 2012 when both coincided in the Equelite Academy of Juan Carlos Ferrero, where Justo was coach. They worked together in her junior stage, when at just 16 years old she was already lurking in the top 500 of the ranking.
During season 2013 coached by Justo, she won three ITF tournaments. There was no doubt that Mayar was different from the others: unlimited potential, an insatiable mentality and a very disciplined way of working for her age. The possibilities were limitless, but Sherif changed her plans when came of age: went to USA to study.
Upon graduation, she reached out to Justo Gonzalez once again. She was coming off of a five-month shoulder injury and was out of shape. She hadn’t played a pro tournament since late 2017 and was fresh out of university.
Under his mentorship, starting season 2019 unranked, in November land at a career-high at that time of no.189 and became first Egyptian woman to crack the top-200 in the World.
During that year she won eight ITF tournaments, two of which playing in doubles. Through winning the African Games 2019, managed to enter the Egyptian team going to Olympics in Tokyo.
“He gives me so much of his time, so much passion, he coaches me from the heart. That’s something hard to find on tour. He doesn’t see his work with me as a business.” said Mayar about her mentor.
Next season she won three more ITF tournaments and made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at Rolland Garros. That year there was no plenty of tennis due to Covid, but she began season 2021 with another record, as the first Egyptian woman to win a match at a Grand Slam tournament, beating Chloe Paquet in the first round of the Australian Open. Later in the season she managed to win her first Challenger at Karlsruhe Open.
Last season was the best of her career so far. Guided by Gonalez, Mayar won four more Challenger tournaments and went all to the end at Emilia-Romagna Open for her maiden WTA title.
The win in the final against Maria Sakkari was her first top-10 win. That led her into the top 50 players and her career-high ranking of World no.44 in July 2022.
According to the potential that she has, this is probably only the beginning of her success in the years to come. Currently, she is competing at another WTA tournament, Lyon Open.
Also Read:
- Who is Alycia Parks Coach?
- Who Is Linda Noskova’s Coach?
- Who Is Claire Liu’s Coach?
- Who Is Marta Kostyuk’s Coach?
- Who Is Martina Trevisan’s Coach?
Mayar Sherif’s Achievements With Different Coaches
We have collected in the table the data about the trophies won by Mayar Sherif under the guidance of various coaches.
Coaches | Years of Completion | Titles |
Justo Gonzalez Martinez | 2012 – ongoing | 2022 WTA Emilia-Romagna Open 2022 Challenger Copa LP Chile 2022 Challenger Karlsruhe Open 2022 Challenger Karlsruhe Open (doubles) 2022 Challenger Marbella Open 2021 Challenger Karlsruhe Open 2020 ITF Antalya 2020 ITF Antalya (doubles) 2020 ITF Charleston Pro 2019 ITF Sharm El Sheikh 2019 ITF Cairo 2019 ITF Tabarka 2019 ITF Tabarka 2019 ITF Madrid 2019 ITF Las Palmas 2019 ITF Tabarka (doubles) 2019 ITF Baja (doubles) 2017 ITF Sharm El Sheikh (doubles) 2013 ITF Sharm El Sheikh (doubles) 2013 ITF Sharm El Sheikh (doubles) 2013 ITF Sharm El Sheikh |