Mohammed al Ghareeb

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Mohammed al Ghareeb (born July 22, 1980) is a tennis player from Kuwait, best known for his near-upset of World No. 1 Roger Federer in the second round of the Dubai Championships in 2006. Ranked No. 488 at the time of the match, Al Ghareeb was expected to offer little resistance to Federer, but in a surprisingly competitive match, Al Ghareeb led 4-2 in the first set, and 3-2 in the second, before succumbing 7-6 (5), 6-4.^[1] According to Federer, Al Ghareeb was "definitely the better player and I think only my experience helped me get through."^[2]

Ranked No. 436 as of June 2007, with a career-high ranking of No. 336,^[3] Al Ghareeb is Kuwait's top tennis player by a considerable margin.^[4] He has compiled a 41-15 record in Davis Cup play for Kuwait (30-7 in singles, 11-8 in doubles), and is its longest-standing member.^[5] In 2007, he led the Kuwaiti team in its most successful Davis Cup season to date, reaching the Asia/Oceania Group II final with victories over Iran and Indonesia, before losing the division championship match to the Philippines in a 0-5 sweep.^[6]

Al Ghareeb has yet to make a significant breakthrough at a top-level event, though in the 2007 Dubai Championships he won a set from Top 10 player Tomas Berdych before losing 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.^[7] Al Ghareeb again received a wild card to Dubai in 2008, losing 6-4 6-0 in the first round to the fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko.^[8]

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