30 Jul. 2015- On Tuesday July 28, we had the chance to sit down with Lebanon’s tennis team head coach captain Hussein Badreddine, to discuss with him the tie against Sri Lanka and the future of the Lebanese team. Check out this interview, in which Hussein answered all of our questions!
Captain Hussein, we saw you taking a relatively young line up to the Davis Cup. Why did you choose those players?
We’ve been playing with Patrick and Karim for a long time now, and both were always up to the expectations. But now, it is time to try new players in order to fulfil the vision I have for tennis in Lebanon, although they might come back if they are ready. We need to see if the new players can play at their best, and improve with time, and that is why a few changes were made to the line up. Now, we are always present in either zone 2 or 3, and many people have been asking why can’t we be in zone 1 like we used to. Well, zone 2 now is like zone 1 10-12 years ago, because the tennis level around the world is improving. Zone 1 is all about top 200 players, while it used to have top 300 and 400 previously. Moreover, Bassam Baidas should have been present with the team, but he needs more rest following his hip surgery. As to picking the players, Ibrahim Abou Chahine used to be the youngest player on the team and now he’s the oldest which means we have a younger team and therefore more potential. Giovanni Samaha was with the team 4 years ago but not as a starter, while now he is with all the improvement in his game. Hady Habib meanwhile is a young top 80 ITF player, living in the states and who chose to play for Lebanon which is a big plus for us. Finally, Jad Ballout is a player who lives in Taiwan, and who excels at doubles game although I was forced to play him in the singles game in this tie due to Giovanni’s injury. Also, for the first time ever with such a young team, chemistry was excellent on and off the court, and the performance was terrific despite the result, especially in such harsh weather conditions.
As you previously said, the result was satisfying especially that the team was very young. Can you enlighten us more about the factors that were against our team like weather, lack of experience… and give us an overview of how things went?
First of all, the temperature average was between 30 and 34, while humidity was around 75%. The players are still young and their bodies are not prepared to face such conditions no matter how hard they work on their fitness. But, the experience that everyone gained was crucial. For instance, Giovanni told me about how different it feels playing a decisive game, as his doubles game was crucial this year, while 4 years ago he played a game after the team was up 2-0 and had already sealed the win. Another problem we suffered from was cramping, as the players were suffering from them around an hour and a half into the game. To avoid this problem, one should be living in Sri Lanka and getting used to the weather. Nevertheless, the result is satisfying as I’ve been telling everyone, but what matters most is that the players realize the importance of the result. We were down 0-2 in this tie, but the strong will and talent of our players allowed a come back, and we won the next 2 games. In the final game a loss was expected though, since Giovanni couldn’t use more than 40% of his serve due to a shoulder injury.
We are in Asia’s third group now, and there is no doubt the line up you pick will be based on young players. Tell us more about your vision and look for the future.
In the third group, 8 countries are present, and are divided into 2 groups of 4 each. The first and second from each group play against the first and second from the other group, and the 2 winning teams will go back to group 2 in 2017. Fortunately, Lebanon always managed to get back to group 2. As to the future, we need to work with the youth who are going to be the core of the team for the years to come. The return of Bassam Baidas will no doubt be essential as he is a big asset to the team, and Karim and Patrick might play for a year or two but they are aware that the chance must be given to the youth now, as it was given to them previously when they were young. The target in the years to come is to try make it to group 2 final, which is like making it to the second round in group 1 in the previous years. Making group 1 is hard, because you need a top 100 player, and we don’t want to put pressure on our players now. They have to develop according to their own rhythm. Tennis is evolving around the world, and the federation has to be ready to help the players accordingly.
Any last words Captain Hussein?
I would like to thanks our sponsor during the competition, Lotto.
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