Keeping up with the Al Janahis

Dubai: For those yet to hear the surname Al Janahi, prepare to be inundated. They are to UAE tennis what the Al Musharrakh brothers are to local golf and what the Abdul Rahmans are to football in the Emirates.

The only difference is that there are more of them — eight — and they are the unofficial succession plan for local tennis.

Abdul Rahman Al Janahi and his cousin Fatima, both 17, may have crashed out of this week’s UAE Dubai ITF Junior Tennis Championships in the first round, but they captured imaginations as the tournament’s sole Emirati entrants.

Should Abdul Rahman have a bad week, there’s always his older brother Mohammad, 19, or younger brothers Faris, 13, Majid, 11, and sister Shaikha, aged seven, to uphold the family’s honour.

Cousin Fatima, meanwhile, has her brothers Hamad, 22, and Fahd, 14, to carry the baton.

Abdul Rahman is currently third in the senior men’s UAE rankings behind his cousin Hamad and the top-ranked Omar Behroozian, 30, while the rest of the Al Janahi family are never far behind.

“There’s no rivalry,” said Abdul Rahman, who studies at the Rashid School for Boys. “We all try to help each other. We’re more used to winning doubles tournaments together than singles. Doubles is our speciality.

“I would like to challenge my cousin Hamad for second in the UAE rankings, but it would be really tough. He’s older and I’ve always respected him. He’s always had better experience and mentality on court. I’m just grateful to be able to play with people like him.”

Below Abdul Rahman is his brother Faris, who has just become the first Emirati to be chosen to represent West Asia after winning silver at the ITF West Asia Under-13 Development Championship.

Abdul Rahman said: “For Faris to be the first Emirati in a select few taken on tour is a great honour. Hopefully it’s only a matter of time before the UAE has a breakthrough professional tennis player, because there are some really strong youngsters.”

Abdul Rahman’s own future, as he emerges from juniors into senior tennis, is focused on helping the UAE win promotion to Division Two of the Davis Cup next summer. He has just helped the country qualify for Division Three in his first year with the team, earning himself an international ranking in the process.

“The UAE is the only GCC country not to have made it to Division Two and most of my preparation at the moment is for that. We have a strong team and it would be a massive achievement,” he said.

In the meantime he will try to get as much experience from local tournaments as possible. But that’s difficult given the weak local draft and frequency of top level events, which hinders his preparations for internationals.

That situation has left Abdul Rahman pledging his future to studies over sport, despite top-ranked Behroozian’s plan to quit playing and start coaching the family. It means that, while the first Emirati professional may not be Abdul Rahman, there are strong odds an Al Janahi can still progress if a sport in its infancy here can keep pace with the needs of its expanding talent pool.