There was cause for double celebration for Arab No1 Malek Jaziri on Tuesday as he marked his Wimbledon debut with victory before learning he had been handed a wild card to this summer's Olympic Games.
The first Arab to feature in the men’s singles main draw at SW19 in eight years, Jaziri sealed a thrilling five-set win over Estonian qualifier Jurgen Zopp after claiming a nail-biting fifth set 9-7.
The 28-year-old, ranked No78 in the world, found himself two sets down after 71 minutes dropping serve once in each set, before he turned things around and eventually sealed the deal 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 9-7, firing 60 winners including 16 aces, and saving eight of eleven break points he faced.
After levelling the match at two-sets-all, Zopp broke Jaziri to open up a 5-2 lead in the final set, but as the world No94 was serving for the match, the Tunisian managed to strike back winning three games in a row.
The Bizerte-native held his nerve and saved break points while serving for the match at 8-7 to wrap up the win, and he next faces Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, who had beaten Jaziri in their sole previous meeting – a semi-final in the Istanbul Challenger last year.
If his first ever win at The All England Club wasn't enough, Jaziri will also be buoyed by confirmation that he will be one of 64 competitors to take part in the Olympics tennis tournament next month.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) confirmed the full list of entries for the event which takes place on the Wimbledon lawns from July 28 to August 5, with Jaziri and 17-year-old Ons Jabeur, also included, flying the flag for Tunisia, one of 45 countries who will compete.
The news completes a stunning 12 months for Jaziri after he became the first Tunisian man to ever get beyond the first round of the US Open before repeating the feat at Roland Garros a few weeks ago.
* For breaking news, follow us on @Sport_360 or find us on Facebook.
