Malek Jaziri
مالك الجزيري

Jaziri at the 2019 French Open
Country (sports)	Tunisia
Residence	Tunis, Tunisia
Born	(1984-01-20) January 20, 1984 (age 40) Bizerte, Tunisia
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro	2003
Retired	2023
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand) *occasionally uses one-handed backhand
Coach	Dejan Petrović
Prize money	US$4,050,966
Singles
Career record	104–145 (41.8% in ATP World Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 42 (7 January 2019)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R ( 2015, 2017)
French Open	2R ( 2012, 2016, 2018)
Wimbledon	2R ( 2012)
US Open	2R ( 2011, 2017)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games	2R ( 2012)
Doubles
Career record	32–61 (34.4% in ATP World Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 73 (12 August 2019)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	3R ( 2019)
French Open	2R ( 2017)
Wimbledon	2R ( 2015, 2016)
US Open	SF ( 2018)
Medal record Pan Arab Games 2011 Doha Singles 2011 Doha Doubles Mediterranean Games 2013 Mersin Doubles 2013 Mersin Singles

Malek Jaziri ( Arabic: مالك الجزيري, romanized: Mālik al-Jazīrī; born January 20, 1984) is a Tunisian former professional tennis player. Jaziri reached his highest singles ranking on the ATP Tour of World No. 42 in January 2019. He primarily played on the Futures circuit and the Challenger circuit.

He reached the final of the 2018 Istanbul Open, the semifinals in Moscow in 2012, Winston-Salem in 2015, Dubai in 2018 and the quarterfinals in Dubai in 2014.

Jaziri has been a member of the Tunisia Davis Cup team since 2000, posting an 33–15 record in singles and a 10–14 record in doubles in 41 ties.

Jaziri was coached by Tunisian legend Haythem Abid on and off throughout his career. He is currently coaching Vasek Pospisil and is the captain of Tunisia’s Davis Cup team. ^[1]

Career

2010

He appeared in the qualifying draw at the 2010 Australian Open, losing in the first round to Michał Przysiężny of Poland.

2011: Grand Slam debut

Jaziri qualified for the 2011 US Open, defeating Brian Dabul, Michael Ryderstedt, and Guillaume Rufin in the qualifying draw. This was the first time Jaziri played in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. 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.

2012: Top 100 debut

In 2012, he kicked off his year at the ATP 250 event in Doha as a wildcard 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 2012 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-court season, he made the semifinals in the Barletta Challenger and played his first Roland Garros main draw, winning his first-round match over German Philipp Petzschner before losing a tight second-round match to Spaniard Marcel Granollers, missing two match points.

On grass, he reached the second round in his 2012 Wimbledon Championships debut (lost to Kohlschreiber) and also the second round at the London Olympics (lost to John Isner).

He lost in the 2012 US Open first round, but later had his best result on the ATP World Tour when he reached the semifinals of the 2012 Kremlin Cup in Moscow, where he lost to eventual champion Andreas Seppi, to become the first Tunisian male to reach the semifinals of an ATP event.

2013: Loss of form, out of top 200

In 2013, Jaziri started off the year in Dubai as a wildcard, where he faced 17-time Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer and lost in three tight sets.

2015-2017: Two Australian Open third rounds, top 50

Jaziri started off 2015 by making his first appearance at the Australian Open main draw, and beating Mikhail Kukushkin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, making him the first Arab male tennis player to make it to the third round of a Grand Slam in over a decade. Jaziri then lost in the third round to Australian teen Nick Kyrgios.

He reached the top 50 on 3 October 2016. He also reached the third round again at the 2017 Australian Open. ^[2]

2018-2019: First ATP final, Career high ranking in top 45

In 2018, he played against Gilles Müller at the Australian Open.

At the Dubai Tennis Championships, Jaziri as a wildcard, stunned top seed and then world No. 4, Grigor Dimitrov, to register his first win against a top-10 player. ^[3] He reached the semifinals defeating Robin Haase and wildcard Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Jaziri made his first ATP final at the 2018 Istanbul Open, where he played Japanese-American Taro Daniel, who had also reached his maiden final and won the title.

2020-2023: Eight wildcards in Doha and Dubai, Retirement

Before the COVID season, he received a wildcard for the 2020 Qatar ExxonMobil Open and for the 2020 Dubai Tennis Championships.

At the 2021 Qatar Open, Jaziri recorded as a wildcard, his 100th win on the ATP Tour against Norbert Gombos. ^[4] He received a wildcard for the next 2022 edition in Qatar (his eight overall at this tournament) as well as for Dubai in 2021, 2022, and in 2023 (his eight overall at this tournament) where he officially retired. ^[5] In May, he entered the main draw of his home Challenger tournament, the 2023 Tunis Open as a wildcard and played his last match against compatriot Aziz Dougaz.

Controversies

2013

Jaziri was embroiled in a controversial political incident, in which he withdrew from a tournament rather than play an Israeli player. ^[6] In the October 2013 Tashkent Challenger, tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, he was slated to play Israeli Amir Weintraub in the quarterfinals. ^[7] But the Tunisian tennis federation ordered Jaziri by email to withdraw from the match, and he did so. ^{[7] [6]}

Weintraub said that Jaziri is "a good friend," and that "he really wanted to play." ^[7] 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.” ^[7]

Jaziri was cleared of wrongdoing by the ATP, but the International Tennis Federation (ITF) found that the Tunisian Tennis Federation breached the ITF constitution by ordering him not to compete. The organization barred Tunisia from competing in the 2014 Davis Cup. ^[8] 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." ^[8]

2015

In February 2015, Jaziri was again embroiled in a controversial political incident when he withdrew from a tournament before facing Israeli players. ^{[9] [10]} He withdrew from both the singles and doubles events at the Open Sud de France, citing an elbow injury, after winning his first set in his singles match against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan. ^[9] Had Jaziri won, he would have been scheduled to face Israeli Dudi Sela in the next round. In the doubles event, he and Spanish partner Marc López would have faced Israeli opponent Jonathan Erlich and František Čermák of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. ^[9]

The ATP said that they had confirmed with on-site medical staff that Jaziri's elbow injury was genuine, but opened an inquiry, 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." ^[9] On February 10, the ATP closed its investigation after extensive discussions with Jaziri and medical staff, saying it was satisfied that Jaziri had a legitimate medical reason to retire from the event. ^[11]

ATP career finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	May 2018	Istanbul Open, Turkey	250 Series	Clay	Taro Daniel	6–7(4–7), 4–6

Future and Challenger finals

Singles: 35 (17–18)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Jun 2004	Tunisia F2, Tunis	Futures	Clay	Dimitri Lorin	6–0, 0–6, 6–7(3–7)
Loss	0–2	Nov 2004	Tunisia F4, Sfax	Futures	Hard	Ilija Bozoljac	5–7, 6–3, 5–7
Loss	0–3	May 2005	Italy F13, Grottaglie	Futures	Clay	Andrey Golubev	3–6, 6–7(3–7)
Win	1–3	Jun 2005	Tunisia F3, Nabeul	Futures	Clay	Petar Popović	1–6, 6–2, 6–3
Loss	1–4	Aug 2005	Iran F1, Tehran	Futures	Clay	Philipp Müllner	3–6, 6–7(5–7)
Loss	1–5	Aug 2005	Iran F2, Tehran	Futures	Clay	Benjamin Balleret	4–6, 0–3 RET
Loss	1–6	Feb 2006	France F2, Feucherolles	Futures	Hard (i)	Slimane Saoudi	7–5, 6–7(6–8), 3–6
Win	2–6	Dec 2006	Tunisia F7, Mégrine	Futures	Hard	Blaž Kavčič	4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss	2–7	May 2009	Kuwait F1, Meshref	Futures	Hard	Mohammad Ghareeb	4–6, 4–6
Loss	2–8	May 2009	Kuwait F2, Meshref	Futures	Hard	Mohammad Ghareeb	3–6, 6–7(3–7)
Loss	2–9	Jun 2009	Tunisia F1, Hammamet	Futures	Clay	Reda El Amrani	0–6, 3–6
Win	3–9	Jun 2009	Tunisia F3, Kelibia	Futures	Hard	Mohamed Haythem Abid	7–6(7–3), 5–7, 7–6(7–5)
Win	4–9	Jul 2009	Georgia F2, Tbilisi	Futures	Clay	David Savić	4–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss	4–10	Mar 2010	Italy F2, Rome	Futures	Clay	Andreas Haider-Maurer	3–6, 5–7
Loss	4–11	Jun 2010	Tunisia F1, Tunis	Futures	Clay	Sergio Gutiérrez Ferrol	4–6, 2–6
Win	5–11	Jun 2010	Tunisia F2, Sfax	Futures	Hard	Laurent Rochette	6–4, 6–3
Win	6–11	Oct 2010	Spain F36, Córdoba	Futures	Hard	Pablo Carreño Busta	6–4, 5–7, 6–4
Loss	6–12	Feb 2011	Colombia F1, Cartagena	Futures	Hard	Gastão Elias	3–6, 3–6
Win	7–12	May 2011	Great Britain F7, Newcastle	Futures	Clay	Yannick Mertens	6–3, 6–4
Win	8–12	Jul 2011	Great Britain F8, Manchester	Futures	Grass	Rudy Coco	7–6(7–3), 4–6, 6–2
Win	9–12	Aug 2011	Kazakhstan F4, Almaty	Futures	Hard	Denys Molchanov	6–3, 6–2
Loss	9–13	Aug 2011	Samarkand, Uzbekistan	Challenger	Clay	Denis Istomin	6–7(2–7), 0–0 RET
Win	10–13	Nov 2011	Geneva, Switzerland	Challenger	Hard (i)	Mischa Zverev	4–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss	10–14	Feb 2012	Quimper, France	Challenger	Hard (i)	Igor Sijsling	3–6, 4–6
Loss	10–15	Mar 2012	Kyoto, Japan	Challenger	Carpet (i)	Tatsuma Ito	7–6(7–5), 1–6, 2–6
Loss	10–16	Mar 2012	Pingguo, China	Challenger	Hard	Go Soeda	1–6, 6–3, 5–7
Win	11–16	Nov 2013	Geneva, Switzerland	Challenger	Hard	Jan-Lennard Struff	6–4, 6–3
Loss	11–17	Feb 2014	Dallas, United States	Challenger	Hard (i)	Steve Johnson	4–6, 4–6
Loss	11–18	Sep 2014	İzmir, Turkey	Challenger	Hard	Borna Ćorić	1–6, 7–6(9–7), 4–6
Win	12–18	Oct 2015	Rennes, France	Challenger	Hard (i)	Igor Sijsling	5–7, 7–5, 6–4
Win	13–18	Mar 2016	Guadalajara, Mexico	Challenger	Hard	Stéphane Robert	5–7, 6–3, 7–6(7–5)
Win	14–18	Apr 2016	Le Gosier, Guadeloupe	Challenger	Hard	Stefan Kozlov	6–2, 6–4
Win	15–18	Sep 2016	Istanbul, Turkey	Challenger	Hard	Dudi Sela	1–6, 6–1, 6–0
Win	16–18	Sep 2017	Istanbul, Turkey	Challenger	Hard	Matteo Berrettini	7–6(7–4), 0–6, 7–5
Win	17–18	Mar 2018	Qujing, China	Challenger	Hard	Blaž Rola	7–6(7–5), 6–1

Doubles 21 (14–7)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Feb 2003	Nigeria F1, Benin City	Futures	Hard	Walid Jallali	Andrew Anderson Willem-Petrus Meyer	3–6, 6–4 RET
Win	2–0	May 2003	Morocco F1, Agadir	Futures	Clay	Walid Jallali	Julien Couly Sunil-Kumar Sipaeya	7–6(7–5), 6–2
Win	3–0	Feb 2004	France F3, Bressuire	Futures	Hard (i)	Issam Jellali	Eric Butorac Petar Popović	6–1, 7–6(7–5)
Win	4–0	Dec 2004	Tunisia F6, Mégrine	Futures	Hard	Mohamed Haythem Abid	Boštjan Ošabnik Grega Žemlja	7–6(7–3), 6–3
Win	5–0	Jun 2005	Tunisia F1, Tunis	Futures	Clay	Mohamed Haythem Abid	Colin Fleming Alexander Satschko	6–4, 6–2
Loss	5–1	Jun 2005	Tunisia F2, Hammamet	Futures	Clay	Mohamed Haythem Abid	Wael Kilani Fares Zaier	2–6, 6–4, 5–7
Win	6–1	Jun 2008	Tunisia F1, Sousse	Futures	Clay	Walid Jallali	Frédéric de Fays Germain Gigounon	5–7, 7–6(7–4), [15–13]
Win	7–1	Sep 2008	France F15, Plaisir	Futures	Hard (i)	Rabie Chaki	Thomas Oger Alexandre Penaud	6–4, 7–6(7–2)
Win	8–1	Feb 2009	Morocco F2, Rabat	Futures	Clay	Lamine Ouahab	Omar Erramy Younès Rachidi	6–1, 6–3
Loss	8–2	Feb 2010	Morocco F2, Rabat	Futures	Clay	Lamine Ouahab	David Savić Denis Zivkovic	4–6, 1–6
Win	9–2	May 2011	Great Britain F7, Newcastle	Futures	Clay	Carles Poch Gradin	Pablo Martín-Adalia Morgan Phillips	6–1, 7–6(7–3)
Loss	9–3	Jul 2011	Great Britain F8, Manchester	Futures	Grass	Albano Olivetti	Chris Eaton Josh Goodall	4–6, 6–7(3–7)
Win	10–3	Jul 2011	Penza, Russia	Challenger	Hard	Arnau Brugués-Davi	Sergei Bubka Adrián Menéndez Maceiras	6–7(6–8), 6–2, [10–8]
Loss	10–4	Jul 2011	Astana, Kazakhstan	Challenger	Hard (i)	Arnau Brugués-Davi	Konstantin Kravchuk Denys Molchanov	6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–1), [3–10]
Win	11–4	Sep 2013	Fergana, Uzbekistan	Challenger	Hard	Farrukh Dustov	Ilija Bozoljac Roman Jebavý	6–3, 6–3
Loss	11–5	Sep 2014	İzmir, Turkey	Challenger	Hard	Alexander Kudryavtsev	Ken Skupski Neal Skupski	1–6, 4–6
Loss	11–6	Sep 2015	İzmir, Turkey	Challenger	Hard	Denys Molchanov	Saketh Myneni Divij Sharan	6–7(5–7), 6–4, [1–0] ret.
Win	12–6	Nov 2021	Knoxville, USA	Challenger	Hard (i)	Blaž Rola	Hans Hach Verdugo Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela	3-6, 6-3, [10-5]
Loss	12–7	Jun 2022	Orlando, USA	Challenger	Hard	Kaichi Uchida	Chung Yun-seong Michail Pervolarakis	7-6(7-5), 6-7(3-7), [14-16]
Win	13–7	Jul 2022	Cali, Colombia	Challenger	Clay	Adrián Menéndez Maceiras	Keegan Smith Evan Zhu	7-5, 6-4
Win	14–7	Aug 2022	Toulouse, France	Challenger	Clay	Maxime Janvier	Théo Arribagé Titouan Droguet	6–3, 7–6(7–5)

Performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Record against top-10 players

Jaziri's record against those who have been ranked in the top 10, with active players in boldface.

Player	Years	Matches	Record	Win%	Hard	Grass	Clay	Carpet	Last Match
Number 1 ranked players
Andy Murray	2017	1	0–1	0.0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	Lost (4–6, 1–6) at 2017 Dubai 1st Round
Roger Federer	2013–2016	2	0–2	0.0%	0–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	Lost (3–6, 5–7) at 2016 Halle 2nd Round
Novak Djokovic	2016–2020	2	0–2	0.0%	0–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	Lost (1–6, 2–6) at 2020 Dubai 1st Round
Number 3 ranked players
Alexander Zverev	2016–2018	5	2–3	40.0%	1–2	0–0	1–1	0–0	Won (7–6(7–4), 2–6, 6–4) at 2018 Beijing 2nd Round
Grigor Dimitrov	2018	2	1–1	50.0%	1–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	Lost (5–7, 6–3, 6–7(8–10)) at 2018 Barcelona 3rd Round
Stan Wawrinka	2017	1	0–1	0.0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	Lost (3–6, 4–6) at 2017 Miami 3rd Round
David Ferrer	2019	1	0–1	0.0%	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	Lost (6–7(13–15), 3–6) at 2019 Buenos Aires 1st Round
Milos Raonic	2016–2018	2	0–2	0.0%	0–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	Lost (3–6, 5–7) at 2018 Cincinnati 2nd Round
Dominic Thiem	2015	1	0–1	0.0%	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	Lost (3–6, 1–6) at 2015 Nottingham 2nd Round
Marin Čilić	2014–2018	2	1–1	50.0%	0–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	Won (6–4, 6–2) at 2018 Istanbul 2nd Round
Number 4 ranked players
Tomáš Berdych	2016	1	0–1	0.0%	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	Lost (1–6, 6–2, 2–6, 4–6) at 2016 Roland Garros 2nd Round
Number 5 ranked players
Kevin Anderson	2012–2017	6	1–5	16.6%	1–3	0–0	0–2	0–0	Lost (4–6, 1–6) at 2017 Washington 2nd Round
Tommy Robredo	2016	1	0–1	0.0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	Lost (5–7, 6–3, 6–4, 6–7(7–9), 6–8) at 2016 Australian Open 1st Round
Stefanos Tsitsipas	2018	2	1–1	50.0%	1–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	Lost (6–4, 6–7(6–8), 2–6) at 2018 's-Hertogenbosch 2nd Round
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	2012–2021	3	1–2	33.3%	1–2	0–0	0–0	0–0	Won (3–3, retired) at 2021 Dubai 1st Round
Number 6 ranked players
Gilles Simon	2014–2019	5	0–5	0.0%	0–4	0–0	0–1	0–0	Lost (3–6, 7–6(8–6), 4–6) at 2019 Indian Wells 2nd Round
Gaël Monfils	2014	1	0–1	0.0%	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	Lost (6–7(5–7), 5–7, 4–6) at 2014 Wimbledon 1st Round
Number 7 ranked players
Richard Gasquet	2017–2018	2	0–2	0.0%	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	Lost (2–6, 6–3, 3–6, 0–6) at 2018 Roland Garros 2nd Round
Mardy Fish	2011	1	0–1	0.0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	Lost (2–6, 2–6, 4–6) at 2011 US Open 2nd Round
Fernando Verdasco	2016–2018	2	1–1	50.0%	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	Won (6–3, 7–5) at 2018 Paris 2nd Round
David Goffin	2016–2019	2	1–1	50.0%	1–0	0–0	0–1	0–0	Lost (6–4, 6–7(4–7), 2–6) at 2019 Estoril Quarterfinal
Number 8 ranked players
John Isner	2012–2017	4	0–4	0.0%	0–3	0–1	0–0	0–0	Lost (2–6, 3–6) at 2017 Beijing 1st Round
Radek Štěpánek	2014	1	1–0	100.0%	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	Won (2–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–1) at 2014 Washington 2nd Round
Jack Sock	2016–2018	3	0–3	0.0%	0–3	0–0	0–0	0–0	Lost (0–6, 4–6) at 2018 Paris 3rd Round
Janko Tipsarević	2016	1	0–1	0.0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	Lost (6–7(6–8), 2–6) at 2016 Shenzhen Quarterfinal
Marcos Baghdatis	2018	1	1–0	100.0%	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	Won (7–6(9–7), 1–6, 6–2) at 2018 Chengdu 1st Round
Mikhail Youzhny	2016–2018	2	2–0	100.0%	1–0	0–0	1–0	0–0	Won (2–6, 6–2, 6–2, 3–6, 6–2) at 2018 Roland Garros 1st Round
Number 9 ranked players
Roberto Bautista Agut	2018	1	0–1	0.0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	Lost (3–6, 4–6) at 2018 Dubai Semifinal
Fabio Fognini	2017	1	0–1	0.0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	Lost (5–7, 1–6) at 2017 Stockholm 1st Round
Number 10 ranked players
Pablo Carreño Busta	2018	1	0–1	0.0%	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	Lost (5–7, 2–6, 2–6) at 2018 US Open 1st Round
Lucas Pouille	2017	1	0–1	0.0%	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	Lost (7–6(7–5), 4–6, 4–6, 6–7(2–7)) at 2017 Wimbledon 1st Round
Total	2011–2021	61	13–48	20.0%	10–33 (21.4%)	0–6 (0.0%)	3–9 (25.0%)	0–0 (0.0%)	:* Statistics correct as of 14 March 2021 [update].

Wins over top 10 players

• He has a 3–13 (.188) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

#	Player	Rank	Event	Surface	Rd	Score	Jaziri Rank
2018
1.	Grigor Dimitrov	4	Dubai Tennis Championships, United Arab Emirates	Hard	1R	4–6, 7–5, 6–4	117
2.	Marin Čilić	4	Istanbul Open, Turkey	Clay	2R	6–4, 6–2	78
3.	Alexander Zverev	5	Beijing, China	Hard	2R	7–6(7–4), 2–6, 6–4	61

References

External links

• Malek Jaziri at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Malek Jaziri at the International Tennis Federation
• Malek Jaziri at the Davis Cup
• Malek Jaziri at ESPN.com
• Malek Jaziri at Olympedia
• Malek Jaziri at Olympics.com