Malek Jaziri claimed his first match victory as a father as he posted a convincing 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Germany’s Florian Mayer to reach the second round at the French Open on Tuesday.
The Arab No1, who welcomed his first child Malek, two weeks ago, appeared to have lost a lot of weight and looked fitter than he’s been in a long time, moving freely all over the court and successfully rushing the net when possible.
“I’m happy to have my first child 12 days ago, it’s more responsibility and more motivation,” the Tunisian said with a smile.
“I was feeling good on court today. Sure, clay is not my best surface but I try to enjoy playing on clay. Things are working right now.”
While clay may not be Jaziri’s preferred surface, the North African has a special and unusual connection with the French Open.
The aviator, Roland Georges Garros, the man the tournament was named after, gained fame for making the first non-stop flight across the Mediterranean Sea from Fréjus in the south of France to Bizerte, which is Jaziri’s hometown in Tunisia.
The site of where Garros landed is now named Place Roland Garros and has a statue of the pilot.
Jaziri’s season so far
After losing his first five matches of the season, the 32-year-old Jaziri turned things around to capture two Challenger titles in Guadalajara and Guadeloupe before making an impressive run to the quarter-finals on the clay of Barcelona last month.
His win on Tuesday was his sixth main draw win at a grand slam and he will try to reach the third round at a major for the second time in his career when he takes on No7 seed Tomas Berdych on Thursday.
“I’ve never played against him, only in practice,” said Jaziri.
“He’s a player with a lot of experience and is in the top-10. We’ll see, it’s a different match, it’s a good opportunity for me, I’m playing well, I feel good and we’ll see. I think I got some more experience from the last few years so this year I’m feeling better.”
The match is expected to take place on a bigger court, considering Berdych’s seeding, and Jaziri is relishing the opportunity to play in front of a big crowd.
“I like big courts too, that’s what we play for, to play on big courts,” he said.
Jaziri is expected to hit a new career-high ranking of around 60 after Roland Garros.
