Status: Â ATP Â No. 55
Ht: 6-1 Â Wt: 177
DOB: January 29, 1984 Â In: Bizerte, Tunisia
First Tennis Memory: Â “First racquet I have. A gift when I was two years. It was a black racquet.”
Tennis Inspirations: Â “I like Pete Sampras. And my brother (Emile) was playing, so I like when I was young. So he was an inspiration.”
Last Book Read: Â “I’m reading Muhammad Ali: Portrait of a Champion.”
First Famous Player You Met Or Encountered: Â “When I started, it was Goran Ivanisevic. French Open. I was young. Before juniors. I went to watch. First player that I come to was Goran.”
Greatest Career Moment: Â “Third round Australian Open (2015). First time I make third round. It was very important. And Davis Cup in Portugal. I was 8-6 in the fifth (vs. Mota) when I was nineteen. The first time I played Davis Cup I was in a five hour match, 8-6 in the fifth. This one was memorable for me.”
Most Painful Moment: Â “When I stop for two years when I had an injured knee. I stop for two years. I thought I might not play anymore.”
Favorite Tournament(s): Â “I like US Open.”
Closest Tennis Friends: Â “I’m close with Marin Cilic. Novak (Djokovic). I’m close with Goran Ivanisevic. Sergi Bubka – good friend of mine since long time.”
Funniest Players Encountered: Â “Funniest players… good question [smiles]…Novak is funny. Goran is funny. Yeah, those (two).”
Funny Tennis Memory: Â “Always have fun, of course, so it’s always funny [smiles].”
Favorite Sport Outside Tennis: Â “Soccer. Golf.”
Three Athletes You Like To Watch & Follow: Â “Before or now? (Any.) Michael Jordan. Muhammad Ali. Pete Sampras.”
Embarrassing Tennis Memory: Â “[Laughs] my embarrassing moment is many years ago. I lost 6-0 6-0 to Marc Lopez, doubles player.”
People Qualities Most Admired: Â “All kinds of people. People who never give up from tough moments. They come back to make it better.”
-By Scoop Malinowski
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Scoop Malinowski · September 20, 2016 at 10:59 am
Here is a Biofile I did with a player you will rarely see get any media coverage. Pretty good guy, very nice, and he was happy to do this spontaneous Biofile after a practice on an outer court at the Miami Open.
Hartt · September 21, 2016 at 7:40 am
Thanks for this Biofile. I always enjoy learning more about the lesser-known players. And glad to hear that Jaziri reads – so many tennis players never crack open a book.
The other part of his story is that he recently played a Challenger match against Israeli player Dudi Sela in Turkey. This was a huge event because in the past Jaziri’s Tunisian federation had forbidden him to play against Israeli players. After the federation did this in 2013 the ITF banned them from Davis Cup play the following year. Jaziri is friends with Weintraub and Sela so this must have been an extremely difficult situation for him. But apparently there were even threats to his family on Facebook.
Several countries forbid their players from playing against Israeli players and it is an issue that is unresolved. So this match was a huge event. “The match marks the first time in tennis history that someone competing under the Israeli flag and someone competing under the Tunisian flag actually played each other. It was a powerful moment for those who realized it.” (lastwordontennis.com)
Scoop Malinowski · September 21, 2016 at 7:50 am
Aware of that situation but the media does not tell the details/reasons of why Tunisia is boycotting competing against israel – it’s really an unfortunate penalty on the Tunisian players who are politically forced to sacrifice an opportunity to get a win and prize money – Does it have to do with the Israel mistreatment of the Palestineans?
catherine bell · September 21, 2016 at 7:52 am
Hartt –
Well read players – for a few years in the late 70s the most well thumbed author among certain top players was Ayn Rand. 🙂
Perhaps Scoop (who fears no one) should do a quick survey of contemporary reading habits – wouldn’t take long. 🙂 🙂
Dan Markowitz · September 21, 2016 at 8:08 am
Scoop,
You know well that sports and politics should not mend. Israel doesn’t make its players boycott or pull out of matches against German players even though that country once gassed and killed 6 million Jews. And other Arab countries don’t ask their players to boycott matches against Israeli players.
catherine bell · September 21, 2016 at 9:25 am
Dan –
I think you’ll find some other Arab countries boycott, at least publicly, any contacts with Israel.
This issue has come up before, although I don’t remember deails offhand. Davis Cup was involved as well – although for some reason I don’t think if affected Fed Cup.
Hartt · September 21, 2016 at 10:51 am
I have not examined the issue around Israeli players but the article that I cited states that Wikipedia has a list of “several dozen examples of countries unwilling to face Israel because that would necessitate acknowledging the county’s existence.” (Presumably this covers many sports, not just tennis.)
Hartt · September 21, 2016 at 10:55 am
Catherine, I know of a few well-read players. Petko is a good example. She has even read Goethe (I am very impressed with that).
But so often, when a tennis is player is asked what he or she has read recently, the answer is they have not read a book in years. Andy Murray comes to mind, although I suppose now he has read his own book!
Yes, an informal survey of their reading habits would be fun. 🙂
catherine bell · September 21, 2016 at 12:53 pm
Hartt –
Yes, many Arab states follow the historical line that Israel is an illegal state which doesn’t exist.
(Some moderate Arab countries give Israel de facto recognition and also give covert aid to anti-extremist military action.)
I wouldn’t bet on Andy M reading his own book 🙂
I always remember Naomi Campbell going out to publicise a ‘novel’ which clearly she had not only not written but was almost entirely unfamiliar with.
I would say on the whole European players (not UK) might be better read than some but maybe that’s just an impression.
Doogie · September 21, 2016 at 6:24 pm
https://omagicoesporte.wordpress.com/2016/09/18/the-tales-of-a-tennis-player-kamil-majchrzak/
Very interesting articel about Kamil Majchrzak and being a pro coming from juniors!!
Scoop Malinowski · September 21, 2016 at 8:06 pm
Catherine: Sweden played Israel that tie in Sweden and no tickets were sold so no fans or no chaos – I believe Israel won too – the tie where Sela was a superhero – Actually Sela was a superhero for Israel in Davis Cup a few times – Russia played a Fed Cup tie in Israel and the home fans were very rude and offensive to Russia to the point that Anna Chakvetadze was literally screaming and fist pumping to the rude fans for most of the match because they pissed her off so much with their very poor sportsmanship – Anna won too she beat Obzizor -it was an incredible display by Chakvetadze who was roaring like a lioness out there – She showed emotional adrenaline BEYOND Serena and Rafa that day – Radwanska also had a very bad experience with Israeli fans who called her very bad unspeakable words but she took the high road – Then you have the nice stories like Qureshi and Bopanna playing together (Pakistan and India joining forces) – I’m sure there are a lot more positive examples of politics and sport mixing – Sela is a very cool guy and I can see him doing a positive gesture if the right situation ever presents itself —
Hartt · September 21, 2016 at 8:38 pm
Doogie, thanks for the link to the piece about Kamil Majchrzak – it was very interesting to learn about him.
Scoop Malinowski · September 21, 2016 at 8:58 pm
Doogie: Thanks for sharing the article on Kamil Majchrzak – excellent read – but who wrote it? Very well done – after reading these types or articles you really connect with the player and you keep an eye on his or her career – We all know how difficult it is to scratch out a pro career and this article expresses the plight – These players are all miracles – Tennis is tougher to succeed in than boxing because the pool of competition is so much larger for tennis – Kamil Majchrzak is a helluva player to beating juniors like Rublev in big events – Polish tennis has it even tougher because the federation is weak yet still super talents like Radwanska and Janowicz and Matkowski emerge out of the oblivion –
catherine bell · September 22, 2016 at 10:04 am
Scoop –
Thanks for reminding me – I do remember some of that DC action now.
Perhaps it’s a question not so much of mixing sport and politics but of removing politics from the mix altogether. But where to draw the line ?
India and Pakistan – they’ve managed to get together to compete in cricket – obviously very competitive matches.
Pakistan team are kind of the Flying Dutchmen of cricket – because for security reasons other teams will not tour there Pakistan have to play all their matches away from home in places like Dubai etc.
Not an issue in tennis of course where everyone is mostly playing away from home 🙂
Doogie · September 22, 2016 at 2:27 pm
@scoop:
That was not a journalist nor a tennis writer – just a spectator who spoke with Kamil the whole week. Not to imagine or?
Then he decided the write an articel about him because he is so sympathic – he got a fan of him – Kamil agreed.
I like reports from lower ranked players a lot too.
As u said: Being a tennis pro is such a hard and fucking life. It is no joy
Hartt · September 22, 2016 at 5:35 pm
See that Jaziri beat Millot in Metz, so he is having a good run right now.
Andrew Miller · September 22, 2016 at 6:06 pm
Like Jaziri. Solid player and a tough out for most guys that play him. Saw him take down a recovering Kevin Anderson this year, he just played smart ball. Thought Jaziri was out of it, but he steeled himself in the face of an Anderson near victory, just took it and played bravely.
Gulbis hiring of Stefanki? I had no idea.
Raonic falling off a cliff! Loses to home-crowd favorite Youzhny in Russia – not a bad loss, just that on paper Raonic wins it hand down. The Harrison loss took Raonic out. But a two match losing streak isn’t as bad as it sounds.
Scoop Malinowski · September 22, 2016 at 7:29 pm
Catherine: It’s always blending – the jews who try to get the tournaments to honor the sabbath day requesting that they don’t/can’t/won’t play if scheduled on sabbath is also an example of mixing politics into sport – muslims during ramadan also – I know several who fast and don’t drink water but they still play tennis – they don’t make any fuss about it or anything they just play even if it’s USTA league sectionals or tournaments –
Scoop Malinowski · September 22, 2016 at 7:32 pm
Hartt: Jaziri is into the QF – I believe that could be his best result but will check on that – saw Jaziri play at US Open where he was up a set on Berankis but Berankis started to get support from Brooklyn guys and it pumped up Richard and it was annoying Jaziri – I wrote about it during the US Open – Jaziri is ranked just outside the top 50 right now and that’s close to or perhaps his highest ranking –
Scoop Malinowski · September 22, 2016 at 7:38 pm
Youzhny was a great player as he had that spectacular KO win over Nadal at US Open years ago which I witnessed on Armstrong and of course the Davis Cup heroics and also a lot of good close battles with Federer – Also a Russian journalist told me in DC three years ago that Youzhny was thinking of retiring every other month but here he is still out there on the Tour and getting good wins like this one today – Raonic is in a bad slump right now – Tough year despite the Wimbledon final which had to be a heartbreaking loss to be that close to fulfilling the lifelong quest – since that loss he has had bad losses to Harrison and Youzhny and in Raonic’s mind those are very bad losses because he thinks he’s a major title calibre player and to lose matches to a journeyman at the US Open and a guy with one foot out the retirement door is probably the two worst losses he’s had in the last five years – Raonic’s confidence in tatters right now –
Scoop Malinowski · September 22, 2016 at 7:39 pm
Good smart bold move by Gulbis – trying something very different and off the beaten path – Stefanki has to be rared up and ready to go as he’s been off the tour for several years –
Dan Markowitz · September 22, 2016 at 8:40 pm
I wonder if Gulbis hiring Stefanki is such a smart move. Stefanki’s been out of the game for a while. He’s 59 although he looks in good shape. I think there’s a lot to be said for a Donaldson hiring Taylor Dent. Tiafoe hasn’t done as well and he hired Higueras, another older dude. But Stefanki doesn’t take any guff and that’s what Gulbis needs. Gulbis is very stubborn and obviously what’s he’s done of late has not been good because he’s been god-awful the last couple of years. So Stefanki won’t be an enabler and that’s good, but Gulbis has never had an American coach.
Scoop Malinowski · September 22, 2016 at 8:58 pm
Dan what does Spadea think of working with Gulbis? Does he like Gulbis’ game?
Andrew Miller · September 23, 2016 at 7:32 am
Apparently Stefanki is rewiring the Gulbis forehand and Gulbis hates it but sees it as crucial.
Scoop Malinowski · September 23, 2016 at 9:08 am
Gulbis reached the semifinals of the French Open with that forehand – but you could see it was falling apart after that great run Gulbis had -players just started abusing that forehand – I wonder who made the firts contact to the other – that part of a new coaching hire always intrigues – I only spoke with Stafenki a couple of times in miami and US Open regarding my Rios book but the mere mention of Rios seemed to annoy him so he didn’t give any quotes or interview – I always wonder if Rios stiffed Stefanki on a big bonus Stefanki was probably due to get for Rios reaching no 1 – I was told Federer and Hewitt released their coaches shortly before they were to reach no 1 to avoid paying out a big bonus –
Scoop Malinowski · September 23, 2016 at 9:31 am
Jaziri was ranked #53 last week – perhaps he will reach top 50 next week for this QF this week – he’s down a set and break right now to Gilles 67 01 –
Hartt · September 23, 2016 at 2:54 pm
I wonder if part of Raonic’s problem is that he is not getting enough match play. At the time I thought he should play in Rio and also at the Davis Cup last week. Going out in his first match in St. Petersburg will not help with getting match play.
That said, I won’t rule him out before the rest of the fall season.
Andrew Miller · September 23, 2016 at 6:34 pm
Hartt is right, Rainic may wake up at wtf.
Scoop Malinowski · September 23, 2016 at 8:39 pm
Raonic can wake up any week – S Johnson was struggling badly early this year then he suddenly woke up and won a title and raised his rank to its highest ever – Raonic fell asleep and needs to wake up –
catherine bell · September 24, 2016 at 11:07 am
WTA – I think it is a shame that most tournaments in Asia are so poorly attended.
Must be a dispiriting and depressing experience playing in cavernous nearly empty stadiums.
I understand about being locked in to sponsors, contracts etc but perhaps WTA should consider other venues in the future, more friendly to women’s tennis.
Why no tournaments in South Africa ? Is it considered too dangerous ? Or no money ?
(of course there may be events which I hadn’t noticed 🙂 )
Scoop Malinowski · September 24, 2016 at 6:34 pm
Without the big stars these events are hard to sell to the public -tennis is a star driven sport – perhaps PEDs should be legalized so players can recover and play more events – just an idea to consider –
catherine bell · September 25, 2016 at 3:14 am
PEDs ? Maybe they should be handed out along with the water bottles etc 🙂
But don’t tell me someone isn’t taking a bath money-wise with these tournaments. Unless there are a lot of very charitable organizations out there.
Scoop Malinowski · September 25, 2016 at 8:31 am
Catherine: TV deals could negate the disappointing live attendances – if not then these events could be shortlived – I was told that the only big $ cities in China are Shanghai and no 2 is Beijing – the rest are all far less wealthy –
catherine bell · September 25, 2016 at 10:00 am
Scoop
Yes – Shanghai of course is a very cosmopolitan city as well, likely to have greater crowd potential. Same with Beijing maybe.
Did you visit either city on your China trip ?
(BTW – several different sports have looked to harness the huge potential seen in China but with varying degrees of success. Chinese go their own way)
Scoop Malinowski · September 25, 2016 at 6:14 pm
Catherine: yes I was in shanghai for a week and loved it – beautiful city and very clean and modern with old Euro architecture – the nicest city I have ever been to or seen – Did not go to Beijing this time – yes boxing has tried to break into the Chinese market but only marginal success so far –