Malek Jaziri has brought in Andy Roddick’s former coach Tarik Benhabiles to help him at Wimbledon as the Tunisian continues to try and create the right team that can help push his game forward.
Jaziri, who at No83 in the world is the highest ranked Arab player, begins his Wimbledon campaign on Tuesday against Australian James Duckworth and hopes Benhabiles can provide some crucial guidance.
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Benhabiles is an Algerian-French ex-player and coach who took Roddick into the world’s top-10 for the first time. After they parted ways, Roddick went on to reach No1 in the world, win the US Open and make three Wimbledon finals.
Benhabiles currently coaches China’s Zhang Ze but agreed to help out Jaziri during Wimbledon.
“He’s a nice man and has a big CV. I met him at a Challenger with Zhang, who is the No1 in China, and I asked him if he we could work together at Wimbledon,” Jaziri said.
“He has a lot of experience, worked with a lot of guys, Roddick, Gasquet, Monfils, Karlovic… the list is long. It’s a good thing that we also share same traditions. He’s originally Algerian so I think we can understand each other and I hope we can make good things here. I think he can help me a lot mentally.
“Every player he has helped he has managed to guide him or her to their best ranking and I believe he can do the same with me.”
This will be Jaziri’s first grand slam as a married man having tied the knot earlier this month.
“I’m a happy man, travelling with my wife… I hope she’ll bring me luck and insha’Allah I’ll have great results,” said the 31-year-old.
“It’s a special place for me. My first win here at Wimbledon, in 2012, I won 7-5 in the fifth and I stepped off the court to find out I had made it into the Olympics. So it was an amazing day for me, getting a win here then knowing I was going to come back here for the Games.
“I have great memories here. Last year I was lucky and made it to the main draw as a lucky loser. This time I hope luck is on my side and I can win a few matches.”
Benhabiles is committed to Zhang Ze but says he will bring Jaziri to train with them and that he is helping him as a friend more than anything else.
“I’ve known Malek for many years,” said Benhabiles. “He needs some help, he’s always alone. He asked me and I said ‘why not?’”