Egyptian tennis player Mayar Sherif has praised Mohamed Salah while also talking about his influence on her professional career.
Sherif became the first female representing Egypt in a major tennis tournament (senior-level) to record a win, after beating Colombian tennis prospect, Maria Camila Osorio Serrano at the Roland Garros Series.
The 24-year-old went on to beat US tennis player Katie McNally (6-2, 6-4) in the semi-finals of the tournament on Thursday.
A day later, Sherif overcame Giulia Gatto-Monticone in a comfortable 2-0 (6-1, 6-3) win to reach the Roland Garros main draw.
Due to her historic achievement, Sherif was applauded by Liverpool star Mohamed Salah on Twitter following her win against Katie McNally.
“It’s very, very nice to get this kind of support from someone who is already very, very good, and someone who is very special from Egypt,” Sherif said.
“Salah is someone who is one of a kind. So it’s very nice, it made me feel like, ‘Oh, someone important is following, thank God’.
“Honestly it’s very nice to see that people know who I am, that people know the effort I’m doing, that people know that, ‘Oh, this person is special, this person is doing something different’. This is very, very important, it gives me a lot of mental support.”
“It’s not easy to go outside of your home to take a risk and to be one of the best in the world in something that your country is not really the best in,” she said.
“You have to create that belief in yourself, you have to take that path for yourself and you have to work on yourself so hard. And he did that so fast and he’s now one of the best football players in the world.
“And it’s not like he was there and then he’s going down. He’s there, and he’s up there and he’s staying up there. I mean chapeau, it’s unbelievable,” she added.
