"I'm the No. 1 Arab player now, I have very few sponsors" - Tunisia's Aziz Dougaz opens up on financial difficulties, Ons Jabeur's impact & more

When Aziz Dougaz was growing up in Tunisia, tennis did not have much of a following or a tradition in the country. It was only when he was 15 that one of his countrymen broke into the world's top 100 for the first time ever. But that didn't deter Dougaz from dreaming about being a professional tennis player even while he was a kid.

By the time Malek Jaziri was creating history for Tunisian tennis, Dougaz had to make important decisions about going to train abroad. He moved to France and then Morocco before going to college in the United States. He then turned pro in 2020 after completing his education at Florida State University.

Even while countrywoman Ons Jabeur was scripting history on the women's side over the past few seasons, Dougaz has been grinding his way through the ITF World Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour as he chases his dream of breaking into the world's top 50.

After competing in the qualifying events for five successive Grand Slams (from Wimbledon 2022 to Wimbledon 2023), the 27-year-old just missed out on a spot in the US Open qualifiers this week, coming in as the fourth alternate.

We had the chance to chat with Dougaz about his tennis journey, from how he first fell in love with the sport to the many challenges he's faced along the way. He also shared his dreams and aspirations for the future.

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Exclusive Interview with Aziz Dougaz

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Sportskeeda: To start with, can you tell us about how you got into tennis as a child and what attracted you to the sport, given that tennis was not very popular in Tunisia at the time?

Aziz Dougaz: "Yes, tennis wasn't big at the time I started playing. Now it's much bigger with the results that Malek Jaziri and Ons Jabeur have had. Ons is very, very popular in the country. When I was growing up, we never had a male player being ranked even in the top 300. So tennis wasn’t a big thing. It was just a lucky story as to how I started to play the sport. My dad was playing for fun, maybe two, three times a month, and I happened to go with him once. I was really amazed by the game and wanted to try it out. That's how it started, thanks to my dad and the luck that I was there on the right day."

Sportskeeda: Did you start competing in tournaments a lot as a child and when did you realize you wanted to take it up as a profession?

Aziz Dougaz: "Once I started playing, I became obsessed with the sport. I was watching tennis on TV all the time. As a kid, I was dreaming about being a tennis player right away. That was the only thing I could think about, even when I was six or seven years old. You know when you go to school, and they ask you at the beginning of the year what profession you dream of having. I was always writing professional tennis player and most of my teachers would say no, but that's not a real job. What do you actually want to do as a job? But I kept writing it every year, without really caring about what they said. Looking back now, that was pretty interesting."

"I started practicing and playing at my club in Tunisia. Step by step, people noticed that I was really good for my age. Then, I started competing at the national level and was among the best in my country in different age groups. Then I started playing at the continent level, like the African Championships and I did well there too. I would say, step by step, I was having good results and that was reinforcing my belief about being a pro player. I knew that I was on the right track and that maybe it's not just a dream but it's actually doable. That's how it all evolved."

Sportskeeda: You moved out of Tunisia at the age of 15 to France for training purposes. What was the reason behind that decision? How difficult was it at that age to leave your family and country and move to a foreign place?

Aziz Dougaz: "It was an extremely difficult decision we made with my parents. When I decided to go to France, I was 15. I was the No. 1 player in my age group in Tunisia. Unfortunately, in Tunisia, the path for a professional athlete is really difficult. My schedule at that time was school maybe from 8 AM to 6 PM, then tennis practice maybe from 7 PM to 9:30 PM and then restart the day. The days were just never ending and I was starting to struggle a lot with that. My parents saw that and I told my parents, look, I cannot keep playing tennis like this. I have to start practicing more, I have to put in better quality in my practices. I cannot be having school for most of the day and then going to practice, then doing the homework, sleeping every day almost at midnight, waking up early for school. It was starting to be draining to manage school and tennis at the same time."

"That’s when my parents said if you really want it, we are ready to sacrifice and make a big financial effort for you to go and try it out this year in France. Because over there, they had many academies and systems where one can actually combine school and tennis. Once I was there, I was able to practice four or five hours a day. My schedule was much better. The schooling system was also helping a lot. Everything was basically in place for a young athlete to perform and to keep pursuing his dream, while in Tunisia I had no chance of doing that."

"It's unfortunate but it's still the same in Tunisia nowadays. It's really difficult for athletes once they reach the age of 14, or 15 to keep playing. All the guys I started playing with, a lot them were really talented players, but they ended up stopping their career when they were 14, or 15 because it was impossible to keep playing and studying. So they made a decision which was to move away from tennis."

Sportskeeda: From France, you went to college in the United States. What was the experience like and why did you make that decision?

Aziz Dougaz: "After a year in France, from 15 to 16, I made the finals in the African Championships. It was a pretty good result, the first big one for me on a continent level."

"After that, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) decided to open a training center in Morocco, where they selected the best players from each category. I was offered that opportunity. They gave us scholarships to keep studying and training to get over there in an academy. It was actually a really good opportunity for me because France was very expensive. My parents were the only ones paying for that, which was a really big financial effort for them to make."

"So we took that opportunity and I went for about a year-and-a-half to Morocco to train there, keep playing tournaments, keep improving my junior ranking. Once I got there, I also won the under-18 African Championships. It was a productive two years and another growing step for me over there."

"Once I finished that, I played the junior Grand Slams and I was recruited by colleges. For me, honestly, the dream was to go pro right after high school. I didn't want to go to college at first, but my parents were really pushing me to study in the U.S. and keep training, keep developing as an athlete and as a person."

"In the beginning, it was tough for me to agree with them, but I quickly realized that actually that's the only chance for me to survive and have a tennis career. At that time, I was 18, just finished the juniors and playing on the pro tour is extremely costly. If you don't have sponsors or a big federation behind you, it's extremely difficult to financially be able to afford it."

"At that time, I didn't have any sponsors and the federation was not willing to invest so much in my career. I think I was left without any other option other than going to the U.S. and keep improving and still have a chance to make it later on, or I don't and I probably would burn out on the tour and exhaust the limited resources that I had really quickly."

Sportskeeda: What was your experience in college at Florida State University (FSU)? Could you also talk about the U.S. collegiate tennis circuit and how that helped you develop as a player?

Aziz Dougaz: "It was an amazing experience for me. Those four years helped me develop so much as a person and as a player. It's a life experience that I encourage everyone to try and go for. I think the tennis level in U.S. colleges is also very high."

"There are so many players right now inside the top 200, top 250 that have come out of college and then made it on the pro tour. It’s extremely competitive. The level that I was facing there and also the facilities, the infrastructure, the fact that you practice as a team, you have physios, coaches. I think it was a great move for me and FSU was a great place for also to develop and mature."

Sportskeeda: You spoke about watching a lot of tennis ever since you were a kid. Who were your idols while you were growing up?

Aziz Dougaz: "Growing up, I was a huge fan of Rafael Nadal. I’m left-handed and that was the time he was starting to come up on the tour. I'm talking about maybe 2004, 2005. And then Novak Djokovic also came along and I became a huge fan of his. These were my two idols, my two biggest inspirations. Even though they are rivals, I was a really big fan of both."

"Overall, I was just a huge tennis fan. I could watch tennis for 12 hours a day. I remember my parents, if they wanted me to stay calm, they would just put me a tennis match on TV and they know for hours, I'll be just watching. I was just amazed by the game and loved it."

Sportskeeda: Moving on to your professional career. You've been ranked in the top 250 now for the past year. Last year, you reached a career-high ranking of No. 212. What was the experience like when you were playing the ITF circuit and trying to break into the ATP Challenger Tour? How difficult is that jump?

Aziz Dougaz: "It's extremely tough. I think the overall level in tennis is improving so fast. There are so many players that are really good nowadays. And no matter what level you are, ITF, Challenger, it's extremely competitive."

"In my case, I started my professional career fully in 2020. It was the worst possible year to start due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That made it tougher because there were limited tournaments to play and so many restrictions in the world. Then obviously, it was really tough to reach a certain ranking and to improve it. It takes a lot of effort to win ITF titles. To actually jump in the rankings, you have to be pretty consistent over a year to be able to improve your ranking and to get to the 300s, where you can start having access to the ATP Challenger draws."

"At the Challengers, the level there is also extremely high. Every player is so hungry, has high goals and it's just really tough competition. Unfortunately in tennis, not many players make a living and everyone is fighting to be able to play the Grand Slams. I think that's the first big step for every tennis player, to be consistently playing the Grand Slam qualifiers. And then from there to be in the main draws and improve your ranking."

"I've been now, for a year-and-a-half, inside the top 250. I've played the last five Grand Slams, but it's been extremely difficult every time because there's a lot of players who want to take your spot and it's not easy to take the spot of the guys in front of you. I'm trying hard to maintain my spot in the Grand Slams qualies list and working hard also to breakthrough and move up in the rankings."

Sportskeeda: You have played the qualifying draws at the last five Grand Slam events (Wimbledon 2022 to Wimbledon 2023). Can you talk about how different these tournaments are compared to the others?

Aziz Dougaz: "To be honest, it was never my goal at first. My goal was to always be in the top 50 and play the big tournaments, which are the Grand Slams. But reaching the qualifiers, I think I realized that it was a big step."

"I was also really proud of myself because there are not many Tunisians that make it to this level. There's only one Tunisian male player, Malek Jaziri, who made it before me. So it’s only two of us. on the men's side, in the history of our country who have been able to play Grand Slam qualies."

"I think also in Africa and in the Arab countries, there haven’t been many to do that in the maybe last 10, 15 years since the golden generation we had in Morocco (Editor Note: referring to the era of Younes El Aynaoui and Hicham Arazi). Those guys obviously had an unbelievable career and it was just insane to have a generation like that. But since then, we haven’t had many Arab players make it to this level."

"That’s why I was really proud of all the efforts that I've made since I was a kid to see a little bit of a result. It's not the end result I'm hoping for, obviously, but it is a first step. I'm happy to be part of these tournaments and to be in this position. It motivates you a lot to keep working hard. For me, it's also important because I'm African, I'm Arab, I'm Tunisian. So it's a region and a continent and a country that is so under-represented in the tennis world. I want to improve and go as far as possible to show the kids and others that we can do it as well."

Sportskeeda: This year, you were fourth on the alternate list and just missed out on a spot in the US Open qualifying draw this week. How difficult it is to wait around to see if anyone pulls out and not play other tournaments in the week?

Aziz Dougaz: "At my ranking level, getting into the Grand Slam qualifying has never been an issue. There has not been a case where my rank has not gotten into the qualies in recent times."

"This year, there were a very high number of protected rankings, including players who hadn’t played for a few years, plus many injured players still taking to the court. Plus, there are no withdrawals in the main draw that would usually elevate qualifiers. It’s really unfortunate. I travelled all the way to New York, losing a lot of money on this trip, including not playing any tournaments for the last two weeks to prepare for the US Open. As you can imagine, it’s not easy, but that is the hard truth of this sport, and that’s how the system is."

Sportskeeda: Several lower-ranked players have spoken about that the financial difficulties related to the sport. Coming from a smaller country yourself, can you give us an insight into just how tough it is?

Aziz Dougaz: For me, honestly, in the last two years, I’ve been getting really good support from my federation. I'm really grateful for that. Since I finished college in 2022, they've been extremely supportive. This year is the third year where my federation is fully behind me. Without that help, I would never be able to compete and to travel so much and afford this life.

However, even if I feel like it's not right to say it, but I'm the No. 1 player in my country, I'm No. 2 in the continent. I'm the No. 1 or No. 2 Arab player right now and I have very few sponsors. It's pretty crazy to think about it. Every time I say it, it doesn't add up. When I see players from other countries that I'm facing, they're all getting so many sponsors, so much financial help from that whereas the only financial help I have is my federation, Edge International (my player development agency) and only a couple of sponsors."

"It definitely makes it much harder because at the end of the day, tennis is a sport but it's like a company. The more capital you have, the more you can invest, the better results you can get. For me, I have much lower capital than all the players I'm facing. And it's been the case since I'm young. I've always had to compensate and to adapt and find ways of limiting the differences with those players. If you have more money, you can get more help for your tennis, for your fitness, for your mental, for physios, for traveling also. So it's really challenging. And as I said, it's like a company. And if you have two companies facing off and one has a much, much bigger budget, it's difficult for the other company to succeed."

"It's possible with a lot of sacrifices and with a lot persistence in your effort. But it's really difficult. I feel like that's what I've always been facing in my career because if you look inside the top 250, 90 percent of the players come from really developed countries where they get a lot of funding from sponsors, from clubs, from federations. And they also get a lot of experienced staff in their country, coaches, physios, trainers, which is not the case for me in Tunisia."

"I think it's always been the most challenging part for me. And overcoming these challenges has always taken time and energy. That's been slowing my career I think. But in another sense, I think it's my path. It's unique. And I have to keep reminding myself that, yes, I'm facing challenges. Yes, my career could have moved faster and I could have reached a much higher level faster. But if it's not, then it's meant to be for a reason. And I have to keep believing and I will probably collect the results of all these efforts at some point."

Sportskeeda: If you had to describe the game in your own words, how would you describe your style of play and what’s your favorite surface?

Aziz Dougaz: "I think I'm an aggressive player. My weapons would be my serve and the forehand. I serve well, my forehand is big and I like to play aggressive tennis."

"I like to take time away from my opponents and to control the game. Being left-handed, I think I'm really tricky to play. A lot of guys don't like facing me with my game style. With regards to the surface, I grew up playing on clay, and then I went to the U.S., I played on hard for four years in college. I think I'm adjusting really well to all surfaces. If I had to pick one, I would probably pick hard courts as of now."

Sportskeeda: Speaking about Tunisian tennis, Malek Jaziri had a successful career on the men’s side and Ons Jabeur is doing very well in the last few years in the women's game. Can you tell us about the impact they have had on the sport back home and how has their success influenced or inspired you?

Ons Jabeur at the National Bank Open 2024

Aziz Dougaz: "I think Malek Jaziri opened the door for me and for many male players who are now trying to make it. He was the first guy to ever make the top 100 and top 50 and the fact that he made it, it gave belief to a lot of people that we can make it too."

"As for Ons Jabeur, what she's done is unbelievable. The results she's been having and the way that she raised the Tunisian flag, she also made tennis really popular in Tunisia. Everyone now is into tennis, watching tennis."

"Unfortunately, if I have to be honest, I don't think we have very promising talents right now among the young generations. I think that's a little bit sad because when you see the career that Ons is having and the one Malek had, you'd expect that we have a lot of big rising talents, which is not the case. I don’t know what the reasons are, but I don't think on the junior level we are doing as good as we should be doing after having two great champions like them."

"These two players put the Tunisian flag on the tennis map, which is huge. I want to do the same. I want to keep representing Tunisia in the best tournaments and hopefully also help the future generations achieve success and do better than I'm doing."

Sportskeeda: Talking about the rest of the season, do you have any specific short-term goals in mind? And what are your biggest ambitions/dreams in the sport?

Aziz Dougaz: "For me, my biggest dream is to be in the top 50. That’s been my goal, my dream. That’s what I'm hoping to achieve and working for."

"In the short term, the goal I had for myself at the beginning of the year was to compete in all four Grand Slams this year and to finish the year inside the top 170. That was the goal I fixed with my coach, to make that step, to get away from the 230-240 zone, which is a dangerous zone because you're flirting always with getting in or not getting into Grand Slam qualies."

Sportskeeda: One final question. You played Chennai ATP Challenger in India earlier this year. Your thoughts on the country and any specific memories that are stand out from your visits so far?

Aziz Dougaz: "I've actually played a few times in India, I went to Pune twice, and this year I went to Chennai. Unfortunately, I've never had long stays in India. It was always quick ones and every time for a different reason."

"It's definitely a country where tennis is growing. Every time we're there, everyone is really making big efforts to hold the tournaments and make it special for us. Most players liked playing there as well. I hope they can host more and more tournaments and can contribute to the growth of tennis more and more because it can have a massive impact."