Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Malek Jaziri will face each other in the first round of the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday, February 27.
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Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who has been notoriously inconsistent in his young career, has had a promising start to the season after making it past the first round in four of the five competitions and posting two quarterfinal finishes in Adelaide 2 and Doha. To put things in perspective, the gifted Spaniard finished his 2022 season with a win-loss record of 21/26 and only five quarterfinal or better finishes. Despite his inconsistent play, he was still able to enter the top 30, largely because of his impressive showing as the Monte Carlo Masters runner-up. In his career, the 23-year-old has a solid 8-3 record against wildcard entrants in the main draw of tournaments on the tour, winning seven consecutive matches against them.
Malek Jaziri’s chances of improving his ranking to meet the necessary cutoff at this level are nonexistent, and he is unlikely to receive wildcard opportunities elsewhere, so this is probably his last chance to compete on the main tour. The Tunisian would probably decide to compete in Dubai if given a wildcard for one event in 2023 because he enjoys playing there and the support of the crowd inspires him. He has achieved two quarterfinal finishes here and victories over players like Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
| Tallon Griekspoor vs Constant Lestienne | Match details |
|---|---|
| Date | February 27, 2023 |
| Surface | Hard |
| Tournament | Dubai Tennis Championships |
| Stage | Round of 32 |
| Time (India) | 5:30 pm |
| Time (Dubai) | 4 pm |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Felix Auger-Aliassime | 6-4, 7-6 (L) |
| Soonwoo Kwon | 6-3, 6-2 (W) |
| Constant Lestienne | 6-4, 6-3 (W) |
| Daniil Medvedev | 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 (L) |
| Quentin Halys | 6-3, 6-3 (L) |
| Opponent | Score |
|---|---|
| Taha Baadi | 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 (L) |
| Michail Pervolarakis | 6-3, 6-7, 2-6 (L) |
| Santiago Fa Rodriguez Taverna | 6-1, 6-3 (L) |
| Alfredo Perez | 6-2, 6-2 (L) |
| Alexander Cozbinov | 7-6, 3-6, 3-6 (W) |
Leading 1-0 is Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (6-1 6-3 in Doha 2022, R1). Malek Jaziri was in a hopeless situation when he arrived in Dubai last year, but he still defeated Filip Krajinovic in the first round by winning a set. Despite the possibility of another admirable effort, it is unlikely that he will triumph in a match at this level given his present fitness and form.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Malek Jaziri will face each other in the first round of the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday, February 27.
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