Inspired by his compatriots Ons Jabeur and Malek Jaziri, Aziz Dougaz charts his course through the world circuit of professional tennis. Ranked 233rd ATP, he will face tomorrow, Wednesday August 23, 2023, the Italian Edoardo Lavagnio (231st) in the 1st round of the US Open (United States). The Tunisian has just overcome the “most stressful weeks” of his life ahead of qualifying for the famous Grand Slam tournament.
Par Reem Abulleil
In preparation for the deadline that closes the entry list for the US Open, Tunisian tennis player Aziz Dougaz has felt the most stress he has ever known in his life.
Since turning pro in 2020 after playing college tennis at Florida State University for three and a half years, Dougaz has aimed to raise his ranking high enough to at least qualify for the Grand Tournament draws. Slam.
The pandemic, a five-month suspension from tournaments and the rankings freeze delayed his early progress, but this season the 26-year-old left-hander has managed to firmly establish himself as a Challenger Tour player and secure his place. in the qualifying draw for a Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon earlier this summer.
A big financial problem
Ranked 233rd in the world, Dougaz is currently the highest-ranked Arab tennis player on the men’s circuit and he is in New York preparing to compete in the US Open qualifier, which begins today. “I feel like there’s so much pressure, especially around Grand Slams, because for someone like me to play qualifying is really, really, really a big deal on the plan. financial”Dougaz said in an interview with The National ahead of his trip to New York.
A first-round loser in US Open qualifying wins over $20,000 in prize money – a game-changing check considering Dougaz won just over $50,000 in the first eight months of this year.
The deadline for the entry list is a few weeks in advance and Dougaz was racing against time, trying to ensure he wouldn’t miss the last Grand Slam of the season.
His tournament schedule has seen him fly from Skopje, North Macedonia, to Little Rock, Arkansas, from Texas to London, then Germany, Romania, Finland and Switzerland while nursing an elbow injury. He had invested so much in trying to get to New York and would have been in serious financial trouble had he not succeeded.
“To be honest, the last three weeks that counted for the US Open have been the most stressful weeks of my life”, did he declare. And to add: “I barely slept. I was waking up three, four times a night, stressed about the points, the standings, I checked the live standings a million times I think, to see where I was and count the points. It was an extremely difficult situation. I haven’t been stressed like that my whole life, and I really don’t want to be in that situation again.”.
Dougaz was two places for the qualifications of Roland-Garros, “it was a bit of a painœur»he recalls, but he got his first taste of Grand Slam tennis at senior level soon after in Roehampton, where the Wimbledon qualifiers are played.
“It was amazing, I would say. It reminded me of the little kid who started playing tennis 20 years ago, but no one thought I could be there.”said Dougaz, whose father, Ahmed, traveled to south-west London to witness his son’s big qualifying debut. “That’s when you realize all the hard days of the journey and the process might be worth it”he says
Dougaz was born in the coastal town of La Marsa in Tunisia and fell in love with tennis the moment his father, who played for fun, took him to the court at the age of five so he could spend some energy away from home. “I still have memories of tennis matches I saw when I was six, seven on TV, Grand Slam matches and I was like, this is what I want to do in life. That’s it, that’s the only thing, the only dream I have, I don’t want to be anything else, I don’t want to be a doctor, I don’t want to be anything else, I want to play tennis, I want to go to these events and since then, honestly, the dream has always been there”did he declare.
Step by step
As a teenager, Dougaz was ranked in the top two in Tunisia but had little competition experience outside the country. At 15, he and his family made the decision to send him to school in France, where he could study and train at a tennis academy. At 16, he won the African Junior Championship and was offered a scholarship to study and train at a new ITF center in Casablanca, Morocco.
As a junior, he reached a career-high 46, meaning he made it to the boys’ Grand Slam draws and caught the eye of American college scouts along the way.
“I had a lot of scholarship opportunities in the United States, to go to university. It was a difficult choice because I didn’t want to go there at the start, I wanted to play directly as a pro but I think it was the right decision.said Dougaz, who never took a vacation while at Florida State and competed in ITF tournaments.
Dougaz talks about how different the tennis scene was in Tunisia back when he was 18 and trying to make the choice between college tennis and turning professional.
“We weren’t doing as well as they are right now, the federation wasn’t as financially stable as they are now. Before making the decision, I had practically nothing in Tunisia. I had no financial support, there were no Futures (ITF tournaments) in Tunisia, the federation couldn’t help me much, I had no sponsors, no coaches. So I said to myself, if I stay here, I won’t be able to do anything, I have practically nothing left.did he declare. “It was the rational decision to say, OK, I’m going to university, I have a scholarship, it’s a great prospect, I can play a lot of games, I can study, I can also give myself a chance in tennis, develop myself as a player”he added.
In the footsteps of Malek and Ons
The Tunisian broke the top 300 for the first time late last year and peaked at No. 214 in the world two months ago. He amassed an 18-21 win-loss record on the Challenger Tour in 2023, reaching a semi-final and six more quarter-finals.
He is encouraged by the performances of some of the players he faced in college who have now climbed the rankings on tour, such as Cameron Norrie and Christopher Eubanks, but it is fellow countrymen Malek Jaziri and Ons Jabeur who have really instilled confidence in Dugaz.
Recently retired Jaziri is just one of five Arab men to make the top 50 in ATP rankings history, having reached a career-high 42nd in 2019, while Jabeur is the African woman. and highest-ranked Arab in history, with a career-best rating of No. 2 and three Grand Slam final appearances to his name.
“I think obviously the fact that they’re successful, Malek being successful on the men’s circuit has paved the way for a lot of players, made a lot of players believe that they can do it, that it’s not not impossible to achieve even if it’s a lot of sacrifices, it’s a lot of work”, said Dougaz. And to add: “I know Malek personally, he fought so hard to get there and he so deserved what he got.”
“The fact that he did it and being close to him helps a lot. He’s the Davis Cup captain now, he’s always been like a big brother to me and to the Davis Cup guys, so it’s great to have him as a role model.”, says Dougaz again. And to add: “And Ons it’s the same, now tennis is so popular in Tunisia, everyone watches it in cafes, watches all its matches, it’s amazing, nobody could have thought of it.”
* Egyptian journalist specializing in sports.
Source: The National News.
2023-08-22 12:39:37
#Open #Aziz #Dougaz #big #leagues
