When Mayar Sherif became the first Egyptian woman to play at Roland Garros

2020 is the year to remember without a doubt and one of those moments many Egyptians remember happily and proudly was this week.

It is the moment when 24-years-old-Egyptian Mayar Sherif was the first Egyptian woman to play at Roland Garros and to win a grand slam match after beating Italian Giulia Gatto-Monticone in the final round of Roland Garros qualifying games.

A moment to remember and to blog about.

Mayar Sherif played her first game in Roland Garros last Tuesday against World No.4 Karolina Pliskova and it is one hell of a game that many Egyptians watched admirably.

Egyptian tennis player Mayar Sherif

Sherif may have lost the game but she made history in a way and made achievements I consider history-making.

I will repeat again that she is the first Egyptian woman to play in Roland Garros.

She played tough and stood her ground in front of Pliskova giving her a hard time

Sports are still one of the things that gather us as Egyptians as we are divided by political, social class and ideologies and that girl united many Egyptians into watching her on TV that Tuesday morning.

I was telling my aunt about her and the first thing she told actually was whether the game was still on.

FYI, younger Egyptians generations do not know that the Egyptian State TV used to air for free all those world-famous tennis tournaments and I would say that this made many in my generation and older generations follow the game and play it in the club.

Already my mom and aunt wondered on Tuesday if Mayar Sherif was related to the famous Egyptian legendary TV tennis commentator Adel Sherif, whom many old generation Egyptians still use his terms to describe the game. 

As far as I know, she is not but this shows how free to watch media played a role in spreading sports and sports culture in society. Now all sorts of games are subscribed and you have to watch it on satellite channels. 

So for my generation to see an Egyptian playing in Roland Garros where tennis legends play and even to lose this is huge.

Here is what Sherif said.

Go Go Mayar.

Currently Maya is the World 172. She is the second Arab woman after Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur to be among the top 200 women players in the world.

It is a good start.

FYI Mayar had been qualified to represent Egypt in the Olympics. She is the first Egyptian to woman to be qualified

Inshallah next time , you will make it.