Tunisian wildcard Jaziri rates Dubai as world's best ATP 500 tournament

Dubai certainly is a happy-hunting ground for Jaziri.

Tunisian wildcard Malek Jaziri is happy to be back in Dubai - a place where he has played some of the most memorable matches of his career.
Jaziri, who grew up idolizing Pete Sampras, once took Roger Federer - the man who broke Pistol Pete's all-time Slam record in 2009 - to three sets in Dubai and even beat two-time finalist Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets here in 2016.
Dubai certainly is a happy-hunting ground for the Tunisian who is now ready for his latest challenge.
"I'm ready. I made good preparations for the tournament, played few matches here. Hopefully I'm ready," the former Dubai quarterfinalist told reporters on Sunday. "I always play well here in Dubai. I enjoy this tournament. It's the best ATP 500 in the world. It's a pleasure to be here, show great tennis," he added.
Jaziri faces top seed and world number four Grigor Dimitrov in the first round. "I'm used to playing top seeds. Last year I played (Andy) Murray. Year before it was (Novak) Djokovic. Sometime I think I played Federer also. I'm used to play top 10 here, you know," he said.
"Hopefully this time it will be a good one." The 34-year-old player who reached a career-high ranking of 47 last year, says he is still obsessed with improving his game.
"Yeah, I have been practising with new coach since last year. I keep improving a lot of things physically and technically as well. I'm working on few things to change and improve my game. I work more physically now to remain fit, to get fit, to play as long as possible," he said.
Jaziri also practised at Djokovic's academy in Belgrade last year. "Yeah, I went there to practice. The atmosphere was really good. I went to Novak's academy as well to practice. Very nice place. I really enjoyed. I had very good time there," he said.
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com