PARIS: Malek Jaziri faces a tough assignment on Thursday when he lines up against home favorite Richard Gasquet in the Frenchman’s own backyard.
You would say the odds on him reaching the third round there for the first time are against him as Gasquet was schooled on clay, is ranked 31 places higher than Jaziri at 32 in the world and he will have the backing of the partisan Roland Garros crowd.
But then Jaziri has spent this year, which has been something of a breakthrough one for the Tunisian at the ripe old age of 34, exceeding expectations and ruffling a few feathers.
Fresh from becoming the first Arab since Moroccan Hicham Arazi in October 2004 to be ranked in the world’s top 50, Jaziri claimed the first top-10 victories of his career, ousting top seed Grigor Dimitrov en-route to the semis in Dubai in February and then dumping out Marin Cilic, a recent finalist at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, on his way to a maiden ATP final in Istanbul earlier this month.
That made Jaziri the first Arab ATP finalist since Moroccan Younes El-Aynaoui in 2003. He also knocked out Mikhail Youzhny, a one-time French Open quarterfinalist, in the first round of the second slam of the year on Monday.
“He had a difficult path reaching the top 100 and also finding his own way of success,” Cilic said. “So it’s nice to see him playing that well and still improving at this age.”
Jaziri’s path has been far from straightforward. He struggled with a knee injury for nearly two years in his 20s, and it took him a long time to figure out the right formula to get results. Indeed he only cracked the top 100 nine years into his professional career. It is fair to say he is a late bloomer.
“I always thought he is very talented, but working was not on his priority list every day,” Novak Djokovic once said.
Jaziri may have taken a while to get going, but he thinks he is getting better with age.
“I don’t feel like other people who are 34,” he said. “They’ve been working since they were 18. Me? I didn’t work at that time, but I’m working now. It’s not like I wasn’t disciplined, I was, but I was lost. I needed someone to guide me to the right way.”
After spending several years traveling without a coach, or forming short-term partnerships that did not always pay dividends, Jaziri joined forces with French former player Christophe Freyss at the start of last year.
Freyss defeated the likes of Ivan Lendl and Arthur Ashe during his playing days and having spent time living and coaching in Egypt, is familiar with the Arab culture. He has struck a bond with Jaziri over the past 18 months.
On the eve of Jaziri’s opening round at Roland Garros this week, Freyss was hospitalized due to a blood clot in his heart. Jaziri battled for three-and-a-half hours on court on Monday, and after he got the win over Youzhny dedicated his victory to his coach.
The North African credits a lot of the progress he has made to Freyss.
“It’s very hard to change at this age,” he said. “Last year, I changed a lot of things with my coach but I didn’t accept it all in my mind; still I kept on changing. This year I gave my full trust to my coach, I believe in the work we’re trying to do, it’s not easy at the age of 34. You’ve played a certain way most of your career and suddenly you have to change. I gave everything I have to tennis, I sacrificed a lot, my family, everything … so I hope God rewards me for my efforts.”
Jaziri, married and with a two-year-old son named after him, believes maturing and having a family has played a part in unlocking his potential. The added responsibility gave him more motivation to excel and stay focused.
“Maybe I was not with the right people, maybe I didn’t accept in the mind as well, I didn’t accept a few things, few changes, the atmosphere … I have finally managed to build the confidence to be here,” he said. “It’s really important to build this confidence, for your attitude on the court, in the locker room, how you manage your mind. You believe in your success, the success will come. And you have to be around people who make you believe as well.”
Jaziri admits that having the right mentality on the court remains a work in progress, and that controlling his emotions is a tough task.
“Where I’m from, we’re a bit temperamental,” he said. “I’m working on it. I’m improving my tennis, but my mentality has to keep up and progress at the same rate."
He spoke to a sports psychologist in the past and he feels he is yet to tap into his full potential, even though he considers himself more ambitious now than he’s ever been before.
"I think I’m a very good player, I’m working to become a great player. The only one who can help me is me. It’s inside me, I have to take it out. The day I let out everything you’re going to see a big Jaziri. I have a game that is a mix of old school and new school. I play from the back, I go to the net, I play slice, so that mix gives me good options. I have to use all that I have and show really what I can do. For me I haven’t shown the real Malek Jaziri yet. He’s still living inside and the day I’m able to break out that’s when I’ll succeed the way I want.”