World No 84 Malek Jaziri is the highest-ranked Arab in both men and women’s tennis. The Tunisian will be giving us a behind-the-scenes look each day from Roland Garros.
– French Open Day 1: Drama for Wawrinka and Federer
– French Open: Roger Federer happy to step out of spotlight
– Malek Jaziri: Roland Garros – Paris a home away from home
Grand Slams are obviously the busiest tournaments we have on tour and you get to bump into so many people.
Sergi Bruguera (Spanish former world No 3) and I got stuck in traffic in the tournament transport the other day and I have to say he’s a really nice guy.
We both speak Spanish and I’ve been meeting him at different tournaments, so I’ve come to know him quite a bit. I’ve practiced with Richard Gasquet a few times before and Sergi is his coach, so that’s how we know each other.
We were stuck in traffic for a long time, so we started taking some funny pictures together to waste time as we sat in the car. He was really nice in sharing his experiences with me, winning the French Open twice and stuff like that… it was cool.
The people at the tournament told me on Saturday that 90 per cent I’d be playing on Monday and indeed, my first match is Monday against Andrey Kuznetsov.
The day before a match I don’t train twice a day like I’ve been doing. Just one tennis session and one fitness session. I came really early today, hung out for a bit, got some paper work done, sent my racquets to get restrung – I prefer to get them done in the morning so the tension doesn’t change overnight – then had a coffee and had a chat with my coach then I had an hour of fitness.
I spent some time with the physio in the locker room, just to check on my body and make sure everything is okay. It’s like checking on your car before going on a road trip.
I practiced with Aljaz Bedene, who is originally from Slovenia but now represents Great Britain.
I don’t usually spend too much time talking with other players in the locker room. It’s a friendly environment but I usually do my own thing and go home to rest.
The general sense is that this year is Novak Djokovic’s year. Everyone is talking about him. He’s been playing incredible and his results speak for themselves. Yes Rafael Nadal can win it for the 10th time but he’s lost to some players on clay that he usually doesn’t lose to on this surface.
Then again, Nadal here is like he’s playing at home. On paper he has less of a chance to win compared to other years but if he’s fit here, he can do it.
But I must say Djokovic is the favourite. Just look at how far he is in the rankings, he has more than 13,000 points and the world No 4 has 5,000 points. That’s just ridiculous. That just shows how he’s in a different league. Winning four Masters 1000 in a row this year is no mean feat.
