Paris Olympics: Benjamin Hassan makes history with victory for Lebanon in tennis

World No 170 defeats former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Christopher Eubanks 6-4, 6-2 at Roland Garros

Benjamin Hassan during his win over Christopher Eubanks in the opening round of the Paris Olympic tennis tournament. Getty Images

Benjamin Hassan became the first Lebanese tennis player to win a match at the Olympics on Sunday after defeating former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Christopher Eubanks in straight sets.

The 29-year-old, ranked 170 in the world, overcame the American – who has reached a career high of No 29 in the rankings – 6-4, 6-2 at Roland Garros.

Eubanks enjoyed a memorable surge on to the tennis scene in 2023 when claimed his maiden ATP Tour title in Mallorca and reached his first major quarter-final on the All England Club grass, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev.

But Eubanks has struggled this season, he is currently No 105 in the world, and was brushed aside by a player who has never been beyond the second round in a Grand Slam.

“I worked a lot with the second serve as a first serve. I think he didn't know what happened, actually,” said 29-year-old Hassan. “Like, he didn't get used to my rhythm because there was no rhythm.”

Hassan was born in Germany after his father Zaki fled the Lebanon civil war in the 1980s.

Despite being German-born, Hassan has represented Lebanon in the Davis Cup since 2018 and on Sunday was carried to victory by loud, passionate support out on Court 11.

“It was an unbelievable atmosphere. I'm just trying to be calm because I don't want to waste too much energy to get with the crowd,” he said.

“I had that in the past where I lost much energy throughout the whole match. I try to be calm, focused, and then when I win I can let it out.”

He will face either Argentina's Sebastian Baez or Thiago Monteiro of Brazil in the next round.

Before that, however, he is on a pin hunt to complete his collection from all the competing nations. “I still need two more, but I'm out of pins because I want one from Thailand and Korea. I think the most special one is Japan because I'm a huge fan of Japan. I like watching a lot of animated mangas,” he added.

Jordan's Zeyad Ishaish made the perfect start to his medal bid in boxing's 71kg division with a stunning victory over Kazakhstan's Aslanbek Shymbergenov. Shymbergenov, the reigning Asian and world champion, was fancied for a medal himself but was taken out by Ishaish, who edged a 3-2 split decision victory on Sunday.

Ishaish, 25, will now face Japan's Sewon Okazawa, the 2021 world gold medal winner at welterweight, for a place in the quarter-finals.

Should he get that far then he will meet either Lewis Richardson of Team GB or Serbia's Vakhid Abbasov.

Ishaish and Okazawa have met three times previously with the Japanese fighter leading the head-to-head 2-1. He won their first fight five years ago but Ishaish has improved markedly since then. Their two most recent bouts were shared one win apiece and both settled by split decision.

Zeyad's older brother Hussein starts his campaign at 80kg on Tuesday.

Speaking to The National before the Games, the brothers talked about how the pursuit of their Olympic dream has created a special bond between them.

“We are more than just brothers, we are friends,” explained Zeyad. “We used to box against each other and our ambition was to qualify for the Olympics. Thank God we made it.

“We are the type of brothers who spent their lifetime together, people think we are friends not brothers.

“It's a great feeling to be qualified for the Olympics. After I saw my brother compete in 2016, I was really motivated to join him one day and book our tickets together.”

The Jordanian boxing team are now two wins from two at the Games following Abada Al Kasbeh's victory over Ireland's Dean Clancy in the 63.5kg division yesterday.

Egyptian duo Doaa Elghobashy and Marwa Abdelhady put up a brave fight before falling to defeat against Brazil in their beach volleyball opener at Eiffel Tower Stadium on Sunday.

Elghobashy and Abdelhady lost the first set 21-14 before the running the Brazilian pair of Ana Patricia and Duda Lisboa even closer in the second but eventually went down 21-19.

Next up for Egypt will be Italy on Tuesday before their final Pool A game against Spain on Thursday.