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.
Arab star Malek Jaziri drawn against Jared Donaldson at Wimbledon
Arab star Malek Jaziri drawn against Jared Donaldson at Wimbledon
- Jaziri has not been beyond the second round
- Tunisian has beaten Dimitrov, Cilic and Youzhny this year
Liverpool rocked by last-gasp defeat at Wolves
- Liverpool’s first defeat in five games in all competitions will raise fresh questions about Slot’s Anfield future
LONDON: Liverpool suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolves as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the Premier League’s bottom club on Tuesday.
Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux.
Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November.
But Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool.
It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017.
Liverpool have conceded 14 goals in the last 15 minutes of the second half, with only Newcastle shipping more in the same period in the Premier League.
The Reds remain fifth but their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League have been hurt by a defeat that means sixth-placed Chelsea will go above them if they beat Aston Villa on Wednesday.
Liverpool’s first defeat in five games in all competitions will raise fresh questions about Slot’s Anfield future.
This was the first of Liverpool’s two trips to Molineux in the space of four days, with an immediate chance for revenge in the FA Cup fifth round on Friday.
Slot this week said he no longer finds Premier League matches a “joy to watch” due to the rise in set-piece goals, and Liverpool supporters took no pleasure from this dismal performance.
Wolves and Liverpool fans joined in a sustained round of applause on 18 minutes in memory of Diogo Jota, who wore that shirt number during his time at Molineux before joining the Reds.
Portugal forward Jota died in a car crash in Spain last year.
Crest-fallen Slot
That emotional tribute seemed to suck the energy from both teams in a scrappy first half.
Liverpool were punished for their lethargy in the 78th minute.
Tolu Arokodare got away with a nudge on Virgil van Dijk to win the ball before playing a superb pass to Rodrigo Gomes, who held off Ibrahima Konate and guided a clinical finish past Alisson Becker.
Liverpool finally awoke from their slumber after that shock, grabbing an equalizer in the 83rd minute with a helping hand from Wolves.
Wolves midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde was guilty of a woeful pass that Salah intercepted, racing into the area for a shot that eluded Jose Sa’s weak attempted save.
Salah has scored just eight goals — five in the league — during a turbulent season.
Liverpool were still creaky at the back and Andre pounced on Alisson’s poor clearance four minutes to steal the points in stoppage-time.
Andre’s powerful strike deflected off Liverpool defender Joe Gomez and looped over the wrong-footed Alisson as Wolves boss Rob Edwards sprinted down the touchline in a wild celebration while Slot looked on crestfallen.
Wolves are 11 points from safety with eight games left and relegation remains almost certain despite this memorable victory.
Everton ended their dismal home form and pushed Burnley closer to relegation with a 2-0 win at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Buoyed by their 3-2 win at Newcastle last weekend, Everton dispatched second-bottom Burnley with their first win in eight home league matches.
Former Burnley defender James Tarkowski put Everton in front with a powerful header from James Garner’s 32nd minute free-kick.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall doubled Everton’s advantage on the hour taking Iliman Ndiaye’s pass and clipping a composed finish past Martin Dubravka from six yards.
Everton remain in contention for a European berth, while Burnley are eight points from safety with just nine games left.
Habib Diarra’s penalty fired Sunderland to a 1-0 victory against Leeds on their first Premier League visit to Elland Road since 2002.
Bournemouth and Brentford shared a goalless draw at the Vitality Stadium that did little to improve either side’s hopes of qualifying for Europe.
