Last month at the Australian Open in Melbourne, two Arab tennis players, Aziz Dougaz and Hady Habib, each battled through three qualifying rounds to secure themselves a Grand Slam debut.
It marked the first time two Arab men featured in the singles main draw at a major since 2018 – when Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri and Egypt’s Mohamed Safwat played at Roland Garros – and Dougaz says it felt bigger than just a personal milestone.
The 27-year-old Tunisian had to knock out Lebanon’s Benjamin Hassan in the second round of qualifying before he finally locked down his spot in a Grand Slam main draw on his sixth attempt.
“We were all so happy to be together there, we shared a lot of moments during those weeks [in Melbourne] and I hope we can keep playing these events together,” Dougaz told The National.
“I hope Abdullah Shelbayh [of Jordan] also can be with us in the next slams, it would be amazing for the Arab world to have four players competing in slams. And we have to use it also as good competition.
“We motivate each other. Me and Hady were speaking every day, congratulating each other and saying, like, ‘I've got it done, it's your turn now’. I was always motivating. I was also really happy to see him winning matches.”
Both Dougaz and Lebanon’s Habib have accepted wildcards into this week’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and will be contesting their opening rounds on Monday.
“We both know how far we’ve come and how much work we put in and how much belief and how many hurdles we had [to overcome] to be there, so I think our situations are quite similar,” added Dougaz.
Dougaz and his coach Yannick Dumas had set the goal of qualifying for a Grand Slam during the offseason last December. They felt his biggest chances would come on hard courts, which meant the Australian and US Opens were at the top of his priority list for 2025.
He felt focused and ready heading into the action in Melbourne and while his results there did not take him by surprise, Dougaz admits it was an emotionally taxing experience, with lots to take away from.
“For sure it was an unbelievable experience,” reflected Dougaz. “The dream for any tennis player or any kid starting to play tennis is to qualify in the slams and be able to face the best players in the game.
“Emotionally, I would say it was extremely challenging. I played all my matches pretty late in the day. For example, the first round I finished 7-6 in the third around 9pm.
“I was thinking I was going to have a day off the next day but I was on again the next day against Benjamin at 3pm.
“So it doesn't give you much time to actually enjoy the win. I maybe had 5-10 minutes to enjoy the win, celebrate a little bit with my team and right away we were thinking, 'OK, recovery, match prep for the next day, practice booking' and already like mainly focused on the next game.
“Was the same thing for the second round, as soon as I won against Benji, I was on again the next day pretty early on.
“So it's crazy with tennis, we have to reset so fast after each win and stay in the present.
“I would love for us to have a little bit more time sometimes to celebrate the wins but that's how sport works. And, yeah, it was for sure challenging emotionally to recover after each win to reset and perform again the next day.”
Dougaz lost in the Australian Open first round in four sets to former top-25 player Yoshihito Nishioka and walked away with a deeper understanding of how to manage a best-of-five-sets match – and how to mentally handle the momentum shifts that can occur at that level.
This month, he received wildcard entries into the Doha and Dubai main draws for the first time and is keen to soak up the experience as much as possible as he continues to build up his ranking.
“It's a privilege, it's amazing to be playing this event here,” the world No 216 said on Sunday.
“We only have two ATP 500s in the Arab world so it's an amazing opportunity we get to compete here, face the best players in the world.
“It's a dream come true as well, growing up watching Qatar, watching Dubai. I was dreaming to play these events so it means a lot to be here.
“It's great to see how hard these tournaments are trying to help the Arab players and promote the game in the region.”
As a lefty, Dougaz can sometimes struggle to find a suitable practice partner at tournaments, since the majority of players are right-handed and would like to prepare for a right-handed opponent.
In Dubai, he hit with Jiri Lehecka on Sunday, knowing that the in-form Czech will be facing left-handed defending champion Ugo Humbert in the opening round.
Dougaz says competing at such high-level tournaments “takes some adjustments”, be it the intensity of the matches or the consistency he has to bring to the table.
“Being able to see this these top guys practising in and out every day, you see how consistent they are in their work, in the level … that's the that's the biggest challenge and it shows us where we want to be and how much work and how much sacrifice it's going to take to get to that level,” he explains.
“So it's a really big chance to be here, it's a privilege and we have to make the most out of it in terms of experience, of learning, and hopefully in the next years gain our spot by the ranking [and not via wildcard].”
As he attempts to make the leap from the Challenger level to the ATP level, Dougaz is aware he will have to endure some tough defeats along the way.
He knows that the majority of tennis players lose every week, since only one person can win any given tournament, and says learning how to lose is an essential part of competing in this sport.
“Four years ago, I would let a loss affect me a lot, it would take me a day or two to reset, to emotionally recover,” he said. “Now with my coach, we try to reset as fast as possible because we don't have many days between tournaments.
“You lose today, you've got to be back on the practice court tomorrow and that's also one of the things I noticed with these top players; it's quite unbelievable how fast they recover.
“I saw multiple examples last week in Doha, players losing in three sets late in the night and next day you're back in the middle of the day you find them practising for two hours, so you're like, ‘OK well, that’s the difference and that's where I have to keep getting better’.
“And I think I've done a really good job getting better at that but I still have a long way and a lot of things to keep improving.”
Dougaz has many memories of watching the Dubai tournament on TV, and recalls following his compatriot Malek Jaziri’s run to the semi-finals back in 2018.
Jaziri defeated the likes of Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the final four, where he fell to eventual champion Roberto Bautista Agut. “That was a true honour to see him play that well in such a big tournament,” said Dougaz.
Jaziri isn’t the only one Dougaz draws inspiration from. The Tunisian says he’s been watching more and more player press conferences and interviews, which he finds particularly beneficial to gain a deeper insight into the mentality of champions.
“I feel like match highlights only show the best moments, the moments of glory, the moments where the shots are perfect and it's not the reality of tennis,” he says.
“And I feel some players that are still true to themselves, I think it's super enjoyable and super beneficial to watch their press conferences because they open up a lot about a lot of things, about their mindset, about how they manage life on tour, all the difficulties.
“I've been enjoying a lot, for example, the interviews and press conferences from Daniil [Medvedev] and Novak [Djokovic].
“I feel like these two guys are super true to themselves, really open in the interviews and a little bit far from the politically correct that most players kind of do in the interview. So yeah, it's been super beneficial to watch.”
Dougaz will kick off his Dubai campaign against Belgium’s Zizou Bergs on Monday on Court 1 (second match from a 2pm start).
