# Ismail El Shafei

Ismail El Shafei (Arabic: إسماعيل الشافعي) (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)

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

### Doubles (9 titles, 18 runner-ups)

| Result | W/L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
| Loss | 0–1 | Aug 1970 | Boston, US | Hard | Torben Ulrich | Roy Emerson Rod Laver | 1–6, 6–7 |
| Loss | 0–2 | Sep 1972 | Los Angeles, US | Hard | Brian Fairlie | Pancho Gonzales Jimmy Connors | 3–6, 6–4, 6–7 |
| Loss | 0–3 | Oct 1972 | Alamo WCT, US | Hard | Brian Fairlie | Tom Okker Marty Riessen | 6–7, 4–6 |
| Loss | 0–4 | Nov 1972 | Gothenburg, Sweden | Carpet (i) | Brian Fairlie | Tom Okker Marty Riessen | 2–6, 6–7 |
| Loss | 0–5 | Mar 1973 | Chicago, US | Carpet (i) | Brian Fairlie | Ken Rosewall Fred Stolle | 7–6, 4–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 0–6 | Apr 1973 | Cleveland, US | Carpet (i) | Brian Fairlie | Ken Rosewall Fred Stolle | 2–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 0–7 | Aug 1973 | Tanglewood, U.S. | Clay | Brian Fairlie | Bob Carmichael Frew McMillan | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–7 | Apr 1974 | St. Louis, U.S. | Clay | Brian Fairlie | Geoff Masters Ross Case | 7–6, 6–7, 7–6 |
| Win | 2–7 | Oct 1974 | Christchurch, New Zealand | N/A | Roscoe Tanner | Syd Ball Ray Ruffels | w/o |
| Win | 3–7 | Nov 1974 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Hard | Roscoe Tanner | Jürgen Fassbender Hans-Jürgen Pohmann | 7–5, 6–3 |
| Loss | 3–8 | Jan 1975 | Baltimore, U.S. | Carpet (i) | Frew McMillan | Dick Crealy Ray Ruffels | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 3–9 | Apr 1975 | Charlotte, US | Clay | Brian Fairlie | Patricio Cornejo Jaime Fillol | 3–6, 7–5, 4–6 |
| Loss | 3–10 | Mar 1976 | Mexico City, Mexico | Clay | Brian Fairlie | Brian Gottfried Raúl Ramírez | 4–6, 6–7 |
| Loss | 3–11 | Oct 1976 | Brisbane, Australia | Grass | Brian Fairlie | Syd Ball Kim Warwick | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 4–11 | Oct 1976 | Sydney, Australia | Hard (i) | Brian Fairlie | Syd Ball Kim Warwick | 7–5, 6–7, 7–6 |
| Loss | 4–12 | Oct 1976 | Perth, Australia | Hard | Bob Carmichael | Dick Stockton Roscoe Tanner | 7–6, 1–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 4–13 | Nov 1976 | Tokyo, Japan | Clay | Brian Fairlie | Bob Carmichael Ken Rosewall | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 5–13 | Jul 1977 | Newport, U.S. | Grass | Brian Fairlie | Tim Gullikson Tom Gullikson | 6–7, 6–3, 7–6 |
| Win | 6–13 | Mar 1978 | Cairo, Egypt | Clay | Brian Fairlie | Lito Álvarez George Hardie | 6–3, 7–5, 6–2 |
| Loss | 6–14 | Jul 1978 | Cincinnati, U.S. | Clay | Brian Fairlie | Gene Mayer Raúl Ramírez | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 6–15 | Aug 1978 | New Orleans, U.S. | Carpet (i) | Brian Fairlie | Erik van Dillen Dick Stockton | 6–7, 3–6 |
| Loss | 6–16 | Mar 1979 | Lagos, Nigeria | Hard | Peter Feigl | Joel Bailey Bruce Kleege | 4–6, 7–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 6–17 | Sep 1979 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | John Feaver | Peter McNamara Paul McNamee | 5–7, 6–7 |
| Win | 7–17 | Mar 1980 | Cairo, Egypt | Clay | Tom Okker | Christophe Freyss Bernard Fritz | 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 |
| Win | 8–17 | Jul 1980 | Gstaad, Switzerland | Clay | Colin Dowdeswell | Mark Edmondson Kim Warwick | 6–4, 6–4 |
| Win | 9–17 | Mar 1981 | Cairo, Egypt | Clay | Balázs Taróczy | Paolo Bertolucci Gianni Ocleppo | 6–7, 6–3, 6–1 |
| Loss | 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
Key :
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | Career SR | Career W–L | Career win % |
| Australian Open | A | A | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | A | 0 / 2 | 2–2 | 33.33 |
| French Open | A | 3R | A | A | A | 1R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2R | 1R | A | A | 0 / 7 | 4–7 | 36.36 |
| Wimbledon | 2R | 1R | 3R | 1R | A | A | QF | 2R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 11 | 10–11 | 47.61 |
| US Open | A | 3R | 1R | 1R | A | 3R | 4R | A | 2R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 6 | 8–6 | 53.33 |
| Win–loss | 1–1 | 4–3 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 8–3 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0 / 26 | 24–26 | 48.00 |

## 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.