Dubai: Arab star Malek Jaziri was left dreaming of some more scalps after a stunning 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over top seed and hot favourite world No.4 Grigor Dimitrov on the second day of the Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open, on Tuesday.
Given a wild card while making his sixth successive appearance here, world No. 117 Jaziri felled his more illustrious opponent from Bulgaria in three defining sets in two hours and eleven minutes and earn the right to meet Dutchman Robin Haase on Wednesday.
“I really don’t know what I am feeling at this moment. I have defeated some top-10 players in the past, but by far, this is the biggest one of my career so far,” a choked Jaziri told a raucious centre court crowd late on Tuesday.
“The game plan was simple. I wanted to enjoy my tennis while giving everything I have against such a big player. I wanted to win so badly for my family, my coach and my supporting team,” the 34-year-old added.
Jaziri now runs into his contemporary Haase in Wednesday’s last match on centre court. “Yes, he [Haase] is a great player with a lot of experience. But I am ready for another challenge ahead of me. It’s just another day and I am prepared for yet another fight,” the Tunisian added.
In the first set, Dimitrov got a lucky break when Jaziri double faulted twice in the tenth game to hand his Bulgarian opponent the set 6-4 in 36 minutes. In the second, both were on serve till Jaziri made the move and broke in the eleventh and then served out for the set in 55 engrossing minutes to draw level with his more illustrious opponent.
Goaded on by a modest late evening crowd, Jaziri was again at it in the seventh and then held for 5-3 in the decider. The top seed then saved two match points to hold (4-50), but could not stop the world No.117 from serving off set and match.
On a day that had earlier witnessed the fall of fifth-seeded Richard Gasquet, the other seeds stayed on course. Gasquet, who had come in with a knee injury, fell to Croatia’s Borna Coric 4-6, 3-6 earlier in the day and deny the competition of two attractions.
The 21-year-old Coric, who made it to the semi-final of the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals held in Milan in November last year, had made an impressive debut in Dubai in 2015 after knocking off Andy Murray.
That win must have certainly been at the back of Coric’s mind as the Croatian managed his game well against an opponent who was playing with an injured knee before winning 6-4, 6-3 in 73 minutes.
Coric, who now lives in Dubai, will take on another Frenchman Benoit Paire, who had battled his way past Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in three sets late on Monday.
TUESDAY’S RESULTS
(Singles)
Borna Coric bt Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-3; Jan-Lennard Struff bt Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-2, 6-4; Filip Krajinovic bt Thomas Fabbiano 0-6, 6-2, 6-2; Lucas Pouille bt Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 6-4; Pierre-Hugues Herbert bt Joao Sousa 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8).
(Doubles)
Malek Jaziri bt Grigor Dimitrov 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 ; Robin Haase/Matwe Middelkoop bt Jan-Lennard Struff/Viktor Troicki 6-4, 6-4; Ivan Dodig/Rajeev Ram bt Marcel Granollers/Nenad Zimonjic 6-7 (4), 6-2, 1-0 (6); Yuichi Sugita bt Ilya Ivashka 7-5, 6-1; Karen Khachanov bt Denis Istomin 7-6 (1), 7-6 (0).
WEDNESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court (Start at 2 pm) Roberto Bautista Agut vs Pierre-Hughes Herbert; (Not before 4 pm) Karen Khachanov vs Lucas Pouille; (Not before 7 pm) Filip Krajinovic vs Marcos Baghdatis; Grigor Dimitrov vs Robin Haase.
Court 1 (Start at 2 pm) Benoit Paire vs Borna Coric; Yuichi Sugita vs Jan-Lennard Struff; Evgeny Donskoy OR Yannick Maden vs Yannick Maden OR Damir Dzumhur; Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Court 3 (Start at 2 pm) Marcus Daniell/Dominic Inglot vs Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau; Raven Klaasen/Michael Venus v Rohan Bopanna/Edouard Roger-Vasselin; Karen Khachanov/Benoit Paire vs Jamie Cerretani/Leander Paes; Divij Sharan/Yuichi Sugita vs Marcin Matkowski/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.
