In 2013 Malek Jaziri was part of one of the most disgusting episodes in tennis history. The Arab player had to face Israel’s Amir Weintraub in the quarter of the ATP Challenger tournament in Tashkent, but he decided to withdraw after been ordered from his Federation.
That obviously sparked a huge controversy and the same could have happened in Montpellier. In fact, Jaziri was expected to play Israel’s Dudi Sela in the second round if he would have won against Istomin.
Some theater?
According to many, Jaziri started to act during the first set against Istomin pretending to have a problem to his elbow. He called the trainer twice and eventually he retired after winning the first set (!!!???).
The organization
The Montpellier organization stated that he “suffered again from an elbow injury he picked up”.
The ATP
THE ATP confirmed the cause of the retirement adding that “Given a previous incident involving the player’s national federation in 2013, we are looking into any wider circumstances of his withdrawal as a matter of prudence,”
We have no words…
Predictably, Tunisian Malek Jaziri retires while up 6-3 in Montpelier. Why? Likely because he would have had to face Israeli Dudi Sela next.
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) February 4, 2015
| IS THIS TRUE? |
