Arab star Malek Jaziri drawn against Jared Donaldson at Wimbledon

Malek Jaziri will hope to get his backhand going at Wimbledon. (AFP)

• Jaziri has not been beyond the second round
• Tunisian has beaten Dimitrov, Cilic and Youzhny this year

LONDON: Arab No. 1 Malek Jaziri will be bidding to extend his breakthrough year when he faces Jared Donaldson at Wimbledon.
Jaziri, the Tunisian who is ranked 61 in the world, has been drawn against the 21-year-old American in the first round of the grass-court slam event, which starts on Monday, and will go into the match full of confidence after an impressive first half of the year.
He dumped top seed Grigor Dimitrov out of the Dubai Tennis Championships to claim the first top-10 victory of his career and went on to reach the semifinal. He then made it to the final of an ATP event for the first time, knocking out Marin Cilic enroute in Istanbul and then knocked former world No. 8 Mikhail Youzhny out of the French Open last month.
He is the first Arab since Moroccan Hicham Arazi in October 2004 to be ranked in the world’s top 50 and the first Arab ATP finalist since Moroccan Younes El-Aynaoui in 2003. It has been quite the rise for the 34-year-old. Jaziri credits the stark turnaround in his form to coach Christophe Freyss.
“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,” Jaziri told Arab News last month. “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.”
Standing in his way at Wimbledon is Donaldson. The American has not gone beyond the third round of a slam, but he is not 22 until October and only turned pro four years ago. His is best known for his unsportsmanlike conduct at this year’s Monte Carlo Masters when he was was fined $6,200 after ranting at the chair umpire during his first-round loss to Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Jaziri has only been beyond the first round at Wimbledon once, and that was in 2012 when he lost to eventual quarterfinalist Philipp Kohlschreiber. Jaziri was knocked out in the first round last year by Lucas Pouille, the 14th seed.
Jaziri will receive £39,000 for playing in the first round and should he beat Donaldson, he will meet Stefanos Tsitsipas or Grégoire Barrère in the second round. This will be only the third time Jaziri and Donaldson have met, with Jaziri winning a three-setter in Illinois in 2012 and Donaldson levelling the head-to-head record with a another three-set win in Miami two years ago.