Malek Jaziri insists he walks away from Roland Garros with no regrets following his second round exit to Richard Gasquet, and paid tribute to his coach Christophe Freyss, who came to support him despite having a heart procedure done two days earlier.
Jaziri, who was trying to reach the French Open third round for the first time, fell 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 to the 27th-seeded home favourite in front of a buoyant crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The defeat brings to a conclusion Jaziri’s best clay-court campaign to-date, having reached his first ATP final in Istanbul on the red dirt earlier this month.
The Tunisian, who is likely to re-enter the top-60 after Roland Garros, won his opening round over Mikhail Youzhny in five sets, without Freyss in his corner as the French coach suffered a blood clot in his heart on the eve of the match that required a procedure on Tuesday.
“Yesterday he was released from the hospital. They told him you have to be less stressed but he wanted to come today to be with me,” Jaziri said after his second round on Thursday.
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“He knows I need him a lot, he gives me a lot of positive energy, he tried to push. Thanks to him that he came, I know it’s not easy for him at all, to be here today after a tough few days.
“He tried to push me the maximum that he could. He was close to die, the doctor told him ‘you shouldn’t be here anymore’. I tried to take motivation from him, from my family, from the people from my country as well.
“I gave 100 per cent so no regrets today, I gave everything on court and in the end Richard was better than me.”
Gasquet next faces 10-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal and the 34-year-old Jaziri admits he is relishing the opportunity face the Spaniard.
“I knew the winner can play Nadal, if he wins as well. Who doesn’t want to play Nadal or these top players? We play this game for these kind of things, to play on these stadiums with these amazing champions. I wanted but maybe next tournament, who knows?” said the Tunisian.
Jaziri believes his lack of consistency throughout the match is what cost him against Gasquet, who is now 2-0 head-to-head against him.
“I think overall in the match I was a bit up and down and I think consistency was the key of the match. I think that’s why he won this match. But I keep going with a positive mindset. I think I had a great season on clay. I didn’t have an easy draw at all,” added Jaziri.
“Everything touches everything. When your consistency goes down, it touches the mentality, and then physically, it’s like a pyramid. I think I improved a lot in many other things. Keep working, I’m not where I want to be. When you want to beat these guys in five sets you have to keep your intensity and energy up always.”
On his part, Gasquet was pleased to get through the match in four sets.
“I know it was a long match. For a little while I was not playing that well. The weather was stifling on the court. I didn’t manage to break back, and then obviously he felt confident, served well, played well. So I knew I had to give everything I had at the beginning of the third set to make the difference and not to leave too much in it of my energy in the second set,” said the ex-world No. 7.
“So I got ready beginning of the third set. We had long and hard balls, and I held my serve. You know when you’re one set love, you don’t look too proud obviously. And then in the fourth set I had a slight problem in my thigh. And I’m glad I won, especially the third set, which was a difficult one.
“So I was glad to get 6-3, 6-0, because at the end of the second set I wasn’t sure I was going to win like that.”
Jaziri will turn his focus to the grass-court season with his next tournament being s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.
