INTERVIEW: Tunisia's Malek Jaziri sets big goals for 2015

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Arab No1 Malek Jaziri feels like he has defied the odds to get back into the world’s top-80 and insists he can go even higher as he prepares for the 2015 season here in Dubai.

    – #Quiz360: WIN dinner for 2 at Channel, Media Rotana, Dubai

    – #360Awards: VOTE for your sportsmen, sportswomen & teams of 2014

    At 30 years old, Jaziri is coming off one of his best seasons, having managed to rebound from a poor 2013 that saw him drop out of the top-200.

    The Tunisian started 2014 ranked 168 in the world, but a new coach – Serbian Dejan Petrovic (not to be confused with Ana Ivanovic’s coach who has the same name) – and some well-timed victories at ATP Masters 1000 events in Shanghai and Toronto, and ATP 500 tournaments in Dubai and Washington, have helped him claw his way back to his current position of 76 – just seven spots shy of his career-high ranking.

    Jaziri struggled at the grand slams this year, failing to qualify at three of the four majors and losing in the first round at Wimbledon after winning a lucky loser spot.

    But outside the majors, he was picking up some solid wins over top-35 players like Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Radek Stepanek and reaching quarter-finals in Dubai, last-16 stages in Shanghai and Washington, and finals on the Challenger circuit.

    “I had confidence that I could come back to that level. Not many people believed that I could return to the top-100 but I had faith,” Jaziri told Sport360.

    “If you want to improve and you want to have better results you have to work more, continue to work, and I think I was fighting better mentally all year.”

    Indeed he was. Of the 80 matches Jaziri played in 2014, 34 were three-setters. He recorded a 23-11 record in those three-set clashes and an 8-2 win-loss record in contests that ended with a final set tiebreak – a testament to how much he improved his mental strength this year.

    “I played a lot of tournaments. I traveled a lot. I had a coach (since February) and he helped me a lot. To be more focused on my tennis not the things around it,” he explains. “Dejan helped me with the things around tennis. Before I was handling too many things off the court. You can see the other players, they only focus on their tennis and their team takes care of the rest.

    “I never really had that chance but this year my coach helped me a lot.”

    After a long and exhausting season, Jaziri took part in the IPTL, where he rubbed shoulders with the game’s elite, representing the UAE Royals, in Manila, Singapore, New Delhi and Dubai.

    His team included world No1 Novak Djokovic, US Open champion Marin Cilic, and Wimbledon legend, Goran Ivanisevic, who nicknamed him “Arabonski”.  

    While his participation in the league gave him lots of exposure, Jaziri says the experience had a far more beneficial aspect to it.

    “When you’re close to the top players like that, you can see how they act inside and outside the court. Different things… the way they practice, how they work out. I had a great experience with Goran and with Marin. I had good practices with Novak. I enjoyed that and I hope it helps me move forward in the future,” he says.

    Jaziri stayed in Dubai after the IPTL and is practicing daily with the many pros who are spending their preseason training in the Emirates.

    He’s hoping to make another surge up the rankings in 2015 and even though he turns 31 next month, he insists he is ready to work harder and make the necessary changes to improve his game.

    “I think I have a good level of tennis and that I can compete with the top players,” he says.

    “If I’m not able to change and improve then I won’t make it. When I was younger I didn’t use my body much, I didn’t work as hard as now. Every year I’m improving a lot. I’m more mature, I’m enjoying playing and that’s the most important thing. I’m having fun on court and all this will help me move forward and get my ranking higher.”

    On what he feels he needs to work on the most, he added: “I have to work on my physique and outside the court I need to be more professional. I need to have a team around me, people to push me to go higher and play better and feel more confident. Because tennis isn’t only one week or one tournament, you have to be mentally and physically ready all the year. So I hope next year will be better.”

    Recommended