Sela to play Tunisian Jaziri in Istanbul final

In 2013, Jaziri withdrew from the Tashkent Challenger tournament before his match against Israel’s Amir Weintraub.

By ALLON SINAI
Dudi Sela (photo credit: Courtesy)
Dudi Sela
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Dudi Sela is due to face Malek Jaziri of Tunisia in the final of the Istanbul Challenger tournament on Sunday.
It remains to be seen though if Jaziri actually shows up considering his past of avoiding meetings with Israeli players.
Sela, ranked No. 74 in the world, beat Mario Chiudinelli (132) of Switzerland 6-3, 6-3 in Saturday’s semifinal, while Jaziri (70) defeated Tobias Kamke (141) of Germany 6-3, 6-4.
The ATP cleared Jaziri of any wrongdoing last year, announcing that he did not pull out of his first round match in Montpellier, France, last October in order to avoid a meeting with Sela.
Jaziri retired from his match against Denis Istomin in suspicious circumstances after winning the first set 6-3.
In 2013, Jaziri withdrew from the Tashkent Challenger tournament before his match against Israel’s Amir Weintraub.
Tunisia was ultimately suspended from the 2014 Davis Cup competition after it was found that the country’s tennis federation had ordered Jaziri to pull out.
The ATP said that even though Jaziri’s elbow injury was verified by an ATP physiotherapist in Montpelier, it decided to investigate the matter “given a previous incident involving the player’s national federation in 2013.”
However, the ATP announced that “following further discussions with Malek Jaziri, as well as consultations with tournament physiotherapists and doctors working on-site at last week’s ATP World Tour event in Montpellier, the ATP is fully satisfied as to the legitimacy of the player’s reasons for retiring from his match due to an elbow injury. Accordingly, this matter is considered closed.”