Five Things to Know: Sherif makes history for Egypt

Mayar Sherif has been making history for Egypt and she's only two years into her WTA career. As the world No. 128 gets set to make her first main draw appearance at the Australian Open, let's learn more about her.

1

College Career

Though born in Cairo, Sharif grew up in Spain with three sisters who all played tennis. After following her older sister to Fresno State, Sherif played her final two years of college for Pepperdine University, graduating in 2018 with a Bachelor's in sports medicine. She'd get as high as No. 10 in the ITA rankings and appear in the NCAA Championships semifinals her senior year.

2

Rapid Ascent

She won her first ITF title back in 2013 before college. Afterwards, in 2019, she picked up six more ITF crowns, including a W100K in Charleston, raising her ranking enough to make her WTA-level debut at the 2020 Australian Open. She'd drop her first qualifying match.

Within a year of committing to the pro game she was ranked inside of the Top 200.

3

Making History

In August of 2020, the 24-year-old made her main-draw debut at the WTA International in Prague. Shortly afterward, she qualified for Roland Garros, becoming the first female Egyptian ever to appear in the main draw in Paris. She didn't drop a set throughout three matches and then took a set off Karolina Pliskova.

She returned to Egypt a hero.

4

Olympic Dreams

In 2019, Sharif had won the gold medal at the Africa Games in Morocco. That achievement secured her a place in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, presuming she was ranked inside of the WTA 300 (which, she is). She and her countryman Mohamed Safwat are set to become the first Egyptians to appear in an Olympic tennis draw.

5

Melbourne

Sharif traveled to Dubai to compete in the Australian Open qualifying event last month, and dropped just one set on her way to securing her place in her first main draw in Melbourne. She has spent the last few weeks preparing in quarantine, losing her first warm-up event opener to Nina Stojanovic.