Qualifiers, day 3: Ouahab wows the crowds

Lamine Ouahab – the highest-ranked player in the history of Algerian tennis – has made it through to the final round of qualifiers for the French Open, where he will be joined by a veritable United Nations of other hopefuls… With a 6-4 7-6 win over Nicolas Mahut in a little under two hours, Lamine Ouahab is only one match away from becoming the first Algerian to qualify for the main draw of the French Open. After finishing 4th in the world in the junior rankings in 2002, Ouahab has flattered to deceive ever since, as the current ATP No135 explains. "I expected to break through much more quickly,” says Ouahab, born on 22 December 1984 in Algiers. “I don’t want to make excuses but I haven’t had the same opportunities as the Europeans, the Americans and even players from Morocco or Tunisia," he explains, referring to visa requirements, the search for sponsors and the like… Back to the Futures Ouahab had made it as high as 268 in the world at the age of 19 when a niggling ankle injury cut short his progress, sending him back to the world of Futures tournaments – very much the third division of pro tennis. The Algerian refused to be downhearted, and with his counter-attacking style and finesse worked his way back up to 166 in August 2006, but even this was not enough to overcome another hurdle. "I was on the point of giving up playing professionally since I had no more financial support. I went through some pretty tough times,” he says. “I’m not trying to make myself out to be a hero but it's a miracle that I’m still playing." The one thing he could count on at the time was the unflinching support of his Spanish coach, Marc Canovas – "he lent me the money I needed", Ouahab adds – and of his father, who introduced him to tennis at the age of four. He met Canovas at a training establishment when he was 18, after spending two years in an academy between the ages of 14-16. He lives and trains in Spain, and for the past 12 months, Canovas has been his only coach. Ouahab qualified for his first Grand Slam tournament at this year's Australian Open, but he is most comfortable on clay, making it through to the final of a Challenger tournament in Marrakech on this surface. The final round of qualifiers will see him take on adopted Monegasque Jean-René Lisnard in the hope of fulfilling his Parisian ambitions. "Roland Garros is my favourite tournament. Playing here is a dream of mine – I’m so happy,” Ouahab smiles. “I’ve been following the tournament since I was five years old. I can even remember the Edberg-Chang final in 1989." Alongside players from Algeria and Monaco there is also one from Poland, one from Indonesia, a Canadian, an American, a Belgian, a Uruguayan and a Colombian all through to the third round of the men’s qualifiers – in fact there are around 20 different nationalities among the final 36. Amazingly, there is only one Spaniard and not a single Argentinean left in the running – a shape of things to come on the hallowed Parisian clay?