DUBAI // Malek Jaziri, by his own admission, was not feeling really great when he took the courts Tuesday under the blazing sun.
The Tunisian, 32, had arrived here from Delray Beach just two days ago, after an almost 20-hour flight, across nearly 14,000kms. His body clock was still stuck in Miami time zone and he woke up really early on the morning of the match.
Jaziri, then, must have been a bit groggy as he started his match against qualifier and world No 78 Mikhail Youzhny, a Dubai veteran who was making his 15th appearance in this tournament. The Russian, who was once ranked as high as No 8 in the world, had come here after winning three Challenger tournaments in a row and also had two qualifying wins under his belt.
Photo gallery: Novak Djokovic, Feliciano Lopez and Mikhail Youzhny serve it up in Dubai
See more: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships: The National's full coverage
Jaziri, on the other hand, had lost all five of his matches this year and so confidence must have definitely been in short supply. But then, broken in the fourth game of the opening set, he came back swinging to down Youzhny 6-4, 6-1 in an hour and 31 minutes and the long trip from Delray Beach was certainly worth it.
“In the beginning it was very hard for me even to breathe,” said Jaziri, a world No 121 who was given a wild card by the organisers. “I just arrived from the US two days ago. I woke up this morning very early and I am still jet lagged. But the most important thing is I was fighting. From the first point to until the end, I was fighting. I was a break down and then I come back. So it was very important for me today, this win.”
Jaziri, who is hoping to break into the top 100 in a bid to qualify for the summer’s Rio Olympics, had his chances in those five matches he lost earlier in the year, but failed to close out matches. He lost in two tie-breaks to Fernando Verdasco in Doha and then wasted match points against Tommy Robredo in the Australian Open. Even last week in Delray Beach, he won the first set 6-1 against Adrian Mannarino but lost the next two 6-3, 6-1.
“I had maybe three match points in different matches,” said Jaziri, who took a set off Roger Federer in a first round loss here in 2013 and returned next year to reach the quarter-finals. “Let’s say, I had a little bit of bad luck. In the Australian Open, I lost to Robredo 8-6 in the fifth and I had two match points in the fourth set.
“Against Verdasco too, I was up 5-3 at the Qatar Open. So, I had command of matches. Even last week, I was playing Mannarino and I was one set up. So I had many up-and-down, but this win was very important. I tried to fight, which is the most important thing. Now I like to keep fighting the results will come.”
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