As the only Arab player ranked in the top 200, Malek Jaziri knows how significant his run at the Dubai Tennis Championships is.
The 34-year-old entered the draw with little hope, but has managed to exceed expectations. In the first round, he stunned top seed Grigor Dimitrov in three sets. Recording his first win over a top 10 player. He was able to continue his winning run on Thursday in the quarter-finals. Taking on rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas, he prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, after just over two hours of play.
“It was a big fight today,” Jaziri said. “Was not that easy at all. I finished very late yesterday. I was in bed at 2.30am, so I didn’t sleep a lot. I tried to recover the best.
“I have less than 17 hours, or 16 hours, to prepare for today’s match. It was a tough moment. During the match I was up and down little bit today. But I’m happy to win.”
Jaziri has been adopted as a local favorite in Dubai, despite being based in Tunis. The capital of Tunisia that is located more than 2700 miles away. In the current tennis landscape, it is rare that a Arab player excels on the main stage of the ATP World Tour. The last Arab player to reach the semifinals in Dubai was Younes El Aynaoui back in 2002.
“I enjoy all the moments on court,” Jaziri said. “It was really important for me to enjoy the game, to fight for every point, to feel all these people are watching my match, at my back, to cheer for me every point.
“I feel that moment. When I play, I feel them. They feel me, I feel them. We have that contact.
“Even today, they helped me a lot. When I was little bit down in the third set, when it was not easy, I feel them. They were with me. They push me. This give me more power today.”
Relishing in the support, Jaziri doesn’t just want to make his Dubai success all about him. He wants to shows others that Arab players have the ability to go to the top of the sport as well.
“I was hearing the cheers from a lot of young Arab kids and after I won I saw how happy they all were for me,” he told Sport360 earlier this week. “I hope that this can show them that us Arabs can compete with and defeat the best players in the world, as long we work hard for it.”
Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut will be the next challenge for Jaziri, who will play in his first ATP semi-final. The third seed, who won the ASB Classic earlier this year, dismissed former semifinalist Borna Coric 7-6(4), 6-4.
“I think I played very good tennis,” Bautista Agut said.
“It was not easy to beat Borna… he’s very solid. He was hitting very good serves and playing very aggressively. I didn’t rest all match.”
In the other half of the draw, Lucas Pouille will take on Filip Krajinović in Friday’s semifinals. Pouille battled from a set down to defeat Yuichi Sugita 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Meanwhile, Krajinović thrashed Evgeny Donskoy 6-1, 6-2.
