Malek Jaziri

Malek Jaziri
مالك الجزيري

Malek Jaziri in 2014
Country  Tunisia
Residence Bizerte, Tunisia
Born January 20, 1984
Bizerte, Tunisia
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money $896,770
Singles
Career record 23–31
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 65 (February 2, 2015)
Current ranking No. 65 (February 2, 2015)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open 3R (2015)
French Open 2R (2012)
Wimbledon 2R (2012)
US Open 2R (2011)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games 2R (2012)
Doubles
Career record 3–10
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 196 (April 16, 2012)
Current ranking No. 272 (March 3, 2014)
Last updated on: March 3, 2014.
Malek Jaziri
Medal record
Competitor for  Tunisia
Men's Tennis
Pan Arab Games
Gold 2011 Doha Singles
Silver 2011 Doha Doubles
Mediterranean Games
Silver 2013 Mersin Doubles
Bronze 2013 Mersin Singles

Malek Jaziri (Arabic: مالك الجزيري Mālik al-Jazīrī) (born January 20, 1984 in Bizerte, Tunisia) is a professional Tunisian tennis player. He reached the semifinals of Moscow in 2012 and the quarterfinals of Dubai in 2014.

Career overview

Jaziri reached his highest individual ranking on the ATP Tour of World No. 65 in February 2015. Jaziri dedicated this milestone to Michael Fahimian and Henry Cohanim, his two biggest fans, who he believes helped him achieve this great milestone with their great support. He appeared in the qualifying draw at the 2010 Australian Open, losing in the first round to Michał Przysiężny of Poland. He primarily plays on the Futures circuit and the Challenger circuit. Jaziri qualified for the 2011 US Open, defeating Brian Dabul, Michael Ryderstedt, and Guillaume Rufin in the qualifying draw. This is the first time that Jaziri has played in the main draw of a major. In the first round, Jaziri defeated World No. 159 Thiemo de Bakker in four sets. Jaziri lost to World No. 8 Mardy Fish in the second round. Jaziri has been coached by Tunisian legend Haythem Abid on and off throughout his career. Jaziri is also known to be a fan favorite in all tournaments that he attends.

In 2012, he kicked off his year at the ATP 250 event in Doha and pushed World No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to three sets in the first round. He fell in the first round of qualifying at the Australian Open to Tim Smyczek. He then reached three Challenger finals in Quimper, Kyoto and Pingguo to break into the top-100 for the first time.

In his clay season, he made the semi-finals in the Barletta Challenger and played his first Roland Garros main draw, winning his first round 6–3, 7–5, 7–6(7) over German Philipp Petzschner before losing a tight second round to Spaniard Marcel Granollers, missing 2 match points.

On grass he reached the second round on his Wimbledon debut (lost to Kohlschreiber) and also the second round at the London Olympics (lost to John Isner).

He lost in the US Open first round but later had his best ever result on the ATP World Tour when he reached the semi-finals of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow (lost to eventual champion Andreas Seppi) to become the first Tunisian male to reach the semi-finals of an ATP event.

Jaziri started off 2015 making his first appearance at the Australian Open main draw, and beating Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin and France's Edouard Roger Vasselin, making him the first Arab male tennis player to make it to the third round of a major in over a decade. Jaziri then lost in the third round to Australian teen Nick Kyrgious.

Jaziri has been a member of the Tunisia Davis Cup team since 2000, posting an 18–12 record in singles and a 7–10 record in doubles in 29 ties.

Controversies

2013

In 2013, Jaziri started off the year in Dubai, where he faced 17 time grand slam champion, Roger Federer and took him to distance, after losing in three tight sets. Jaziri was embroiled in a controversial political incident, in which he withdrew from a tournament rather than play an Israeli player.[1]

In the October 2013 Tashkent Challenger, tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, he was slated to play Israeli Amir Weintraub in the quarterfinals.[2] But the Tunisian tennis federation ordered Jaziri to withdraw from the match, and he did so.[2] “Following a meeting this afternoon with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, I have the immense regret to inform you that you are ordered not to play against the Israeli player,” the federation wrote Jaziri in an email made public by Jaziri’s brother, which was published by Tunisia’s state news agency.[1] Tunisian sports ministry spokesman Sadok Touati confirmed that the federation sent the email after consulting the ministry.[1]

Weintraub said that Jaziri is “a good friend,” and that “he really wanted to play.”[2] Israel Tennis Association CEO Shlomo Glickstein said: "It is sad to me that these kinds of things still happen. I feel bad for the athletes who find themselves embroiled in such situations, which end up hurting their careers.”[2]

Jaziri's brother said he and his brother were afraid the decision could harm Jaziri's career.[1]

The ATP cleared Jaziri of wrongdoing, but the International Tennis Federation investigated the incident and the ITF Board of Directors found that the Tunisian Tennis Federation had "breached the ITF Constitution by interfering with international sporting practice and ordering Tunisian player Malek Jaziri not to compete against Israeli player Amir Weintraub at the 2013 Tashkent Challenger in October. The Board ... voted to suspend Tunisia from the 2014 Davis Cup competition."[3] ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said: "There is no room for prejudice of any kind in sport or in society. The ITF Board decided to send a strong message to the Tunisian Tennis Federation that this kind of action will not be tolerated by any of our members."[3]

2015

In February 2015, Jaziri was again embroiled in a controversial political incident, in which he withdrew from a tournament before playing Israeli players.[4][5]

Playing in the first round of the Open Sud de France, he quit after winning the first set against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, citing an elbow injury.[6] Had Jaziri won, he would have been scheduled to face Israeli Dudi Sela in the next round.[4]

He also withdrew from the doubles, where he and Spanish partner Marc Lopez would have faced Israeli opponent Jonathan Erlich and Cermak Frantisek of Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.[4]

The ATP sad that Jaziri's withdrawal was due to an elbow injury "as verified by the ATP physiotherapist on-site," but began to investigate the case, stating: "Given a previous incident involving the player's national federation in 2013, we are looking into any wider circumstances of his withdrawal as a matter of prudence."[4]

On February 10, the ATP closed its investigation, saying it was satisfied that Jaziri had a legitimate reason to retire due to elbow injury, after having spoken at length with Jaziri and tournament medical staff in Montpelier.[7]

Tour singles titles – all levels (11)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (0)
Challengers (2)
Futures (9)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
1. 2005 Tunis Clay Serbia and Montenegro Petar Popović 1–6, 6–2, 6–3
2. 2006 Mégrine Hard Slovenia Blaž Kavčič 4–6, 6–1, 6–4
3. 2009 Kelibia Clay Tunisia Haithem Abid 7–6, 5–7, 7–6
4. 2009 Tbilisi Clay Serbia David Savić 4–6, 6–4, 6–4
5. 2010 Sfax Hard France Laurent Rochette 6–4, 6–3
6. 2010 Córdoba Hard Spain Pablo Carreño-Busta 6–4, 5–7, 6–4
7. 2011 Newcastle Clay Belgium Yannick Mertens 6–3, 6–4
8. 2011 Manchester Grass France Rudy Coco 7–6, 4–6, 6–2
9. 2011 Almaty Hard Ukraine Denys Molchanov 6–3, 6–2
10. 2011 Geneva Hard Germany Mischa Zverev 4–6, 6–3, 6–3
11. 2013 Geneva Hard Germany Jan-Lennard Struff 6–4 6–3

Tour singles finals – all levels (18)

Legend (Singles)
Grand Slam (0)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (0)
ATP Tour (0)
Challengers (6)
Futures (12)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
1. 2011 Samarkand Clay Uzbekistan Denis Istomin 6–7(2–7), ret
2. 2012 Quimper Hard Netherlands Igor Sijsling 3–6, 4–6
3. 2012 Kyoto Carpet Japan Tatsuma Ito 7–6(7–5), 1–6, 2–6
4. 2012 Pingguo Hard Japan Go Soeda 1–6, 6–3, 5–7
5. 2014 Dallas Hard United States Steve Johnson 4-6, 4-6
6. 2014 Izmir Hard Croatia Borna Coric 1-6, 7-6(7), 4-6

Singles Performance Timeline

Tournament20112012201320142015SRW–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australia Australian Open A Q1 A Q1 3R 0 / 1 2–1
France French Open A 2R Q2 Q2 0 / 1 1–1
United Kingdom Wimbledon A 2R Q3 1R 0 / 2 1–2
United States US Open 2R 1R Q3 Q2 0 / 2 1–2
Win–Loss 1–1 2–3 0–0 0–1 2–1 0 / 6 5–6

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Tunisia's Malek Jaziri forced to withdraw from match against an Israeli". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Sinai, Allon. "Sela into final, Weintraub out in semis amid turmoil". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Tunisia suspended from Davis Cup over Malek Jaziri order". Sky Sports. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Fox Sports. "Tunisian tennis player withdraws before facing Israeli at French tournament". FOX Sports.
  5. ↑ "Tunisian player Malek Jaziri withdraws before facing Israeli". ESPN.com.
  6. ↑ Fox Sports. "Tunisian tennis player withdraws before facing Israeli at French tournament". FOX Sports.
  7. ↑

External links