Ismail El Shafei () (born 15 November 1947) is an Egyptian former professional tennis player and president of the Egyptian Tennis Federation. He is currently a member of the board of directors of the International Tennis Federation and is chairman of the ITF Junior Circuit. He won six career singles titles and reached eleven finals. In doubles, he won nine career titles.

Career El Shafei played his first tournament in March 1962 at the Egyptian Championships losing in straight sets to Italian player Giuseppe Merlo in the round of 32. He reached his first tournament final in Ostordorf, West Germany in 1963 before losing to Harald Elschenbroich. In 1964, he won the boys' singles tournament at Wimbledon. He won his first senior's tournament in San Jose, Costa Rica in January 1966. He won the Egyptian Open in Cairo three times (1969, 1974–1974). An adaptable player, he competed on all surfaces, (grass, clay, hardcourt, and carpet). El Shafei is the only Egyptian player to make the top 40 in Grand Prix/ATP ranking history. He is one of only four players to beat Björn Borg at Wimbledon, knocking him out in the third round in 1974 (the other three were John McEnroe, Roger Taylor and Arthur Ashe.) He reached his last professional singles final (exhibition) at the Cairo Invitational losing to Bjorn Borg in two sets in December 1979 and played his last singles tournament in June 1982 at the Bristol Open losing to then South African player Johan Kriek, he retired in 1983.

Post-playing career Following his playing career El Shafei remained involved in tennis in an administrative role: he was elected president of the Egyptian Tennis Federation on two occasions (1994–96 and 2005–08). In 1998, he was elected to the board of directors of the International Tennis Federation until 2001. He would serve a second term as director of the ITF (2003–2013). In September 2015, he was elected for a third term as a director and is currently chairman of coaching and chairman of the juniors circuit.

Personal He was educated at Cairo University and is the son of Adli El Shafei and father of Adli El Shafei II.

Career finals Singles: 17 (6 titles, 11 runner-ups) ResultW/LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss 0–1 Sep 1963 Ostordorf, West Germany Clay Harald Elschenbroich 0–6, 0–6Win 1–1 Jan 1966 San José, Costa Rica Clay Gary Penberthy 6–2, 6–2, 6–4Loss 1–2 Jan 1967 Kalkutta, India Grass Alex Metreveli 3–6, 6–8, 4–6Loss 1–3 Mar 1967 Cairo, Egypt Clay Jan-Erik Lundqvist 4–6, 4–6, 2–6Win 2–3 Jan 1968 Bremen, West Germany Hard (i) Daniel Contet 6–2, 6–2, 9–7Loss 2–4 Mar 1968 Cairo, Egypt Clay Milan Holeček 6–4, 3–6, 1–6, 2–6Loss 2–5 Mar 1968 Le Touquet, France Clay François Jauffret 1–6, 2–6, 3–6Loss 2–6 Feb 1969 Salisbury, U.S. Hard (i) Stan Smith 3–6, 8–6, 4–6, 4–6Win 3–6 Mar 1969 Cairo, Egypt Clay István Gulyás 6–2, 6–2, 9–7Loss 3–7 Mar 1969 Alexandria, Egypt Clay István Gulyás 1–6, 6–3, 3–6, 5–7Loss 3–8 Oct 1969 Perth, UK Carpet (i) Mark Cox 6–3, 12–14, 1–6Loss 3–9 Mar 1971 Cairo, Egypt Clay Alex Metreveli 6–8, 9–7, 4–6Win 4–9 Mar 1973 Cairo, Egypt Clay Patrick Proisy 6–4, 6–8, 6–3, 6–3Win 5–9 Mar 1974 Cairo, Egypt Clay François Jauffret 6–0, 4–6, 6–1, 6–3Win 6–9 Nov 1974 Manila, Philippines Hard Hans-Jürgen Pohmann 7–6, 6–1Loss 6–10 Aug 1975 Brummana, Lebanon Clay Nikola Pilić 6–7, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6, 4–6Loss 6–11 Nov 1977 Taipei, Taiwan Hard (i) Tim Gullikson 7–6, 5–7, 6–7, 4–6

Doubles (9 titles, 18 runner-ups) ResultW/L DateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 0–1 Aug 1970 Boston, US Hard Torben Ulrich Roy Emerson Rod Laver 1–6, 6–7Loss 0–2 Sep 1972 Los Angeles, US Hard Brian Fairlie Pancho Gonzales Jimmy Connors 3–6, 6–4, 6–7Loss 0–3 Oct 1972 Alamo WCT, US Hard Brian Fairlie Tom Okker Marty Riessen 6–7, 4–6Loss 0–4 Nov 1972 Gothenburg, Sweden Carpet (i) Brian Fairlie Tom Okker Marty Riessen 2–6, 6–7Loss 0–5 Mar 1973 Chicago, US Carpet (i) Brian Fairlie Ken Rosewall Fred Stolle 7–6, 4–6, 2–6Loss 0–6 Apr 1973 Cleveland, US Carpet (i) Brian Fairlie Ken Rosewall Fred Stolle 2–6, 3–6Loss 0–7 Aug 1973 Tanglewood, U.S. Clay Brian Fairlie Bob Carmichael Frew McMillan 3–6, 4–6Win 1–7 Apr 1974 St. Louis, U.S. Clay Brian Fairlie Geoff Masters Ross Case 7–6, 6–7, 7–6Win 2–7 Oct 1974 Christchurch, New Zealand N/A Roscoe Tanner Syd Ball Ray Ruffels w/oWin 3–7 Nov 1974 Jakarta, Indonesia Hard Roscoe Tanner Jürgen Fassbender Hans-Jürgen Pohmann 7–5, 6–3Loss 3–8 Jan 1975 Baltimore, U.S. Carpet (i) Frew McMillan Dick Crealy Ray Ruffels 4–6, 3–6Loss 3–9 Apr 1975 Charlotte, US Clay Brian Fairlie Patricio Cornejo Jaime Fillol 3–6, 7–5, 4–6Loss 3–10 Mar 1976 Mexico City, Mexico Clay Brian Fairlie Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez 4–6, 6–7Loss 3–11 Oct 1976 Brisbane, Australia Grass Brian Fairlie Syd Ball Kim Warwick 4–6, 4–6Win 4–11 Oct 1976 Sydney, Australia Hard (i) Brian Fairlie Syd Ball Kim Warwick 7–5, 6–7, 7–6Loss 4–12 Oct 1976 Perth, Australia Hard Bob Carmichael Dick Stockton Roscoe Tanner 7–6, 1–6, 2–6Loss 4–13 Nov 1976 Tokyo, Japan Clay Brian Fairlie Bob Carmichael Ken Rosewall 4–6, 4–6Win 5–13 Jul 1977 Newport, U.S. Grass Brian Fairlie Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson 6–7, 6–3, 7–6Win 6–13 Mar 1978 Cairo, Egypt Clay Brian Fairlie Lito Álvarez George Hardie 6–3, 7–5, 6–2Loss 6–14 Jul 1978 Cincinnati, U.S. Clay Brian Fairlie Gene Mayer Raúl Ramírez 3–6, 3–6Loss 6–15 Aug 1978 New Orleans, U.S. Carpet (i) Brian Fairlie Erik van Dillen Dick Stockton 6–7, 3–6Loss 6–16 Mar 1979 Lagos, Nigeria Hard Peter Feigl Joel Bailey Bruce Kleege 4–6, 7–6, 3–6Loss 6–17 Sep 1979 Palermo, Italy Clay John Feaver Peter McNamara Paul McNamee 5–7, 6–7Win 7–17 Mar 1980 Cairo, Egypt Clay Tom Okker Christophe Freyss Bernard Fritz 6–3, 3–6, 6–3Win 8–17 Jul 1980 Gstaad, Switzerland Clay Colin Dowdeswell Mark Edmondson Kim Warwick 6–4, 6–4Win 9–17 Mar 1981 Cairo, Egypt Clay Balázs Taróczy Paolo Bertolucci Gianni Ocleppo 6–7, 6–3, 6–1Loss 9–18 Dec 1981 Sofia, Bulgaria Carpet (i) Rick Meyer Thomas Emmrich Jiří Granát 6–7, 6–2, 4–6

Grand Slam singles performance timeline Won Wimbledon Championship for Boys 1964 & was runner-up in 1963

Tournament 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 Career SR Career W–L Career win % Australian OpenAAA3RAAAAAA1RAA0 / 22–233.33 French OpenA3RAAA1R2R1R1R2R1RAA0 / 74–736.36 Wimbledon2R1R3R1RAAQF2R3R1R1R1R1R0 / 1110–1147.61 US OpenA3R1R1RA3R4RA2RAAAA0 / 68–653.33 Win–loss1–14–32–22–30–02–28–31–23–31–20–30–10–10 / 2624–2648.00

Davis Cup El Shafei participated in 17 ties for Egypt, where he played 42 matches, winning 23, losing 19 he also served as team captain in the 1980s.

References

External links