The story of Benjamin Hassan: From having tennis as a hobby to competing in the Olympics

Andrés Tomás Rico | 27 Jul 2024 | 11.43

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Who would have told Benjamin Hassan a month ago, while playing the Challenger circuit, that he would be at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games representing his country, Lebanon, at the Roland Garros facilities surrounded by players like Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, or Carlos Alcaraz. And who would have told him 10 years ago when tennis was just his hobby and he had no intention of making a living out of it. All of this is thanks to the access through a 'university slot' that the organization of the Games grants to nations with lower representation, such as Lebanon, which only has 10 representatives.

Hassan is ranked 145th in the world and does not have any Challenger titles, but he has reached three finals. With this record, his participation in the Games was practically ruled out until it was announced about the aforementioned ‘University Slot’. “I had heard before that they have some slots for players, but I wasn't sure what kind of rule it was or if I could use it. I asked my Federation if they could check, and they told me: 'Look Benjamin, we are very delayed. It probably won't work'”. But it did, to the joy of the Lebanese player: “When I first heard about it, I couldn't believe it. It seemed incredible to me because it was very spontaneous”.

- From having tennis as a hobby to playing professionally

The fact that he can participate in the Games in this way takes on a special nuance, even more so when the 29-year-old player himself had not aimed to become a professional tennis player: “I think from 13 to 22, it was no longer on my mind. I was studying in Germany, I really didn't have it in mind. I was an amateur player who played once a week just for fun. When I was a teenager, I wasn't interested in becoming a professional tennis player. It just didn't appeal to me. I don't know why, but it didn't interest me”, confesses the Lebanese before facing Cristopher Eubanks in his debut.

“I played for fun with friends. I didn’t practice, I didn’t do fitness, these kinds of things. With that amount of practice, I still was very good, but I was far from competing in professional tennis”, continues Hassan, who ignited his professional tennis career playing Futures tournaments: “At the end of 2017, 2018, I started with Futures. I played very well from the beginning, two finals, won a title. And I had the ranking around 400, 500. I wanted to go directly to Challengers”.

It was in this jump to the Challenger level where Hassan found it most challenging to maintain consistency: “It took me many years to adapt to that level because the level was very good. I had tough matches there, I remember fighting for a long time because the level was too high for me, even though I won in Futures. Now there are many good players in the Top 100 who have played many Challengers and continue to do so. The level is not far off from what we see on television".

But now he enjoys an opportunity he will never forget: “In my career, I have never practiced with the greats like Alcaraz, Nadal, Djokovic, Zverev. I have seen them a lot in tournaments, but I have never practiced with them. I would like to do it this time”, says Hassan, who has gone from tennis as a passing enjoyment to participating in the Paris Olympic Games representing his country.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, La historia de Benjamin Hassan: De tener el tenis como hobby a jugar unos Juegos Olímpicos

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