Muhammad Shoaib & Abdullah Adnan

Early life and background

Shoaib is from Peshawar and currently lives in Islamabad. His uncle was a national-level tennis player. His brother played tennis tournaments, and the family home held many of his trophies. Adnan is from Lahore. [1]

Education

Shoaib attended a high school in Peshawar and also attended college in Peshawar. He gave up his studies to focus on tennis. He says he would struggle to manage both tennis and studies. [1]

Muhammad Shoaib's career

Shoaib played in Peshawar until he was under 14. He was number one in the under-12 age group for two years and in the under-10 age group. He took part in a tournament and lost the final. He also resolved to start professional tennis. He says that after the under-14 level he realised he could not improve further where he was, and he trained with a level 3 coach. [1]

Shoaib won many ITF tournaments and built a ranking through them. He says he once reached the top five of the men's rankings. His ranking fell to about 15 after an injury. He says he is now ranked number two, and that his ranking points were close to those of a player who has been number one for 20 years. [1]

Shoaib rejected a contract offer because he wants to play only for Pakistan. He says he would probably have reached the world top 50 had he played abroad. [1]

Davis Cup

Shoaib played a Davis Cup match against a world-50 player in the tie against Lithuania. He says he won a set in that match against the world-50 player. He says the clay courts were built by his team because they had not existed before. He says his team had been in camp for 15 to 20 days. [1]

Shoaib says India objected and said it would not go to Pakistan. He says his team had to travel to Kazakhstan. [1]

Abdullah Adnan's career

Adnan trained for three or four years with a coach in Lahore. He became under-12 and under-16 number one. His team travelled to Bangkok for the junior Davis Cup. He says his team beat Kazakhstan, one of the top teams there. [1]

Adnan had a back stress fracture and was out for about one to one and a half years. He was given a scholarship at the NTC. He won five national titles and became number one. [1]

Adnan played an ITF final. He played three sets against a player ranked world number 300. He says he did not play many international tournaments, so his ranking is not high. [1]

Sponsorship and training

Shoaib says he has an academy sponsor, which is the Pakistan Tennis Federation. He says the NTC is the National Training Center. He says food, lodging and training are free for him. He describes a daily routine of an hour of fitness, then academy sessions from 9 to 1. A German company recently sponsored both Shoaib and Adnan. [1]

A sponsor offered a year of strings and grips in exchange for a photo wearing its shirt on Instagram. Shoaib says he is often told that he will be sponsored once he builds a ranking. [1]

Views

Shoaib says that in Pakistan players hardly play more than four to five tournaments. Adnan says there are five or six men's tournaments in a year, which is not enough. Shoaib says players go to the city where a tournament is held, enter themselves and play. He says players need a sponsor to take part in international tournaments because they must enter them. He says Pakistan pays for players when they travel abroad as a team. [1]

Shoaib says courts and other facilities are fully available. He says that what is lacking is tournaments. Adnan says players aged 18 or 19 can go abroad and find scholarships at US universities. [1]

Shoaib says there is no broadcast and no support, so sponsors do not come. He says sponsors come when their banners are shown live. He says matches are not live-streamed on TV or YouTube. He says that when his team played the Davis Cup, it was not shown live. He says that when his team wins, it wins because of the crowd. [1]

Adnan says players globally usually start properly at four, five or six. He says age is not that much of a number in tennis. He says science lets players prolong their careers, even after a late start. [1]

Appearances

Frequently asked questions

References

1. Pakistan's tennis players are winning without support . Thought Behind Things , 2022-10-10.