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
Irate Carlsen pushes away camera after World Blitz Championships loss
- Carlsen, world champion between 2013 and 2023, had a frustrating second day at the championships in Doha on Saturday
DOHA: Magnus Carlsen pushed away a camera after losing to Vladislav Artemiev at the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Qatar, the latest example of the former world champion letting his vexation boil over.
Carlsen, world champion between 2013 and 2023, had a frustrating second day at the championships in Doha on Saturday, splitting a point with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave before he was beaten by Artemiev.
When a photographer followed as Carlsen stormed out of the venue, the Norwegian pushed away the camera.
Carlsen attracted attention for slamming his fist on the table after losing to world champion Gukesh Dommaraju at the Norway Chess 2025 tournament.
Also last year, he briefly quit the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in New York when governing body FIDE barred him from a round for wearing jeans.
FIDE does not plan any action against Carlsen for Saturday’s outburst but will review the incident if a complaint is launched, CEO Emil Sutovsky told Reuters.
Despite his defeat, Carlsen is still in contention for the title at the championships and sits in joint second with seven points alongside Alexey Sarana, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Artemiev and Hans Niemann share the lead in the open category on 7.5.
