Malek Jaziri shocks Philipp Petzschner in opening round – Roland Garros 2012
Tunisian star, Malek Jaziri, took down the German contender, Philipp Petzschner, in his first appearance at the French Open 2012 on Monday. He formulated a 6-3, 7-5, 7-6(7) victory against the world number 98 to cruise into the round of 64 at this Grand Slam event held on the clay courts in Paris, France.
Jaziri displayed exceptional tennis to tumble over the former world number 35 in their first battle against each other. After earning this success, the Tunisian confidently progressed into the second round.
The 28-year-old Tunisian stormed into the court number 10 and after breaking his rival’s serve twice early on, he leaped to a 5-1 lead. Apart from squandering his chance of serving out the breadstick, Jaziri plucked his serve once again and clinched the opener with a 6-3 score line.
Ranked 94th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Jaziri fended off all five breakpoints to swipe in his entire serves. He got the breakthrough by cashing in lone break chance in the 11th game and sealed the set by winning seven games to five.
The Tunisian maintained consistency in his game in the final set and earned the critical break in the opening game. Regardless of losing his serve in the very next game and exchanging two more serve breaks, Jaziri took the set to the tie-breaker. He prevailed in it and clicked the set with a 7-6(7) win.
Next challenge for the Tunisian is the 20th seed, Marcel Granollers, who rallied past the Portugal qualifier, Joao Sousa, in four sets to set up this meeting. The seeded Spaniard lost the second set but sought his momentum again and carved out a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 success.
Jaziri is eyeing to face the top veteran players at this event. "I’d love to play one of the greats like Federer. That’s why I play tennis: to play on the big courts with the legends,” the Tunisian was quoted.
The 22nd seed, Andreas Seppi, will accompany Jaziri in the second round. He stomped over Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets after capitalising on five out of eight break chances.
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