Mohammed Ghareeb (born July 22, 1980) is a tennis player from Kuwait. He plays right-handed with a single-handed backhand.

Career

Unranked in singles as of February 2018, with a career-high ranking of No. 336 in 2006. In August 2016, Al Ghareeb was Kuwait's second ranked tennis player.

He played a competitive match against world No. 1 Roger Federer in the second round of the 2006 Dubai Tennis Championships, though he lost in straight sets. Ranked No. 488 at the time of the match, Ghareeb was expected to offer little resistance to Federer, but in a surprisingly competitive match, Al Ghareeb led 5–3 in the first set, and 3–2 in the second, before succumbing 7–6, 6–4. According to Federer, Al Ghareeb was "definitely the better player and I think only my experience helped me get through."

Al Ghareeb did not make a significant breakthrough at a top-level event, though in the 2007 Dubai Tennis Championships he won a set from Top 10 player Tomáš Berdych before losing 3–6, 6–3, 6–2. Al Ghareeb again received a wild-card to Dubai in 2008, losing 6–4, 6–0 in the first round to the fifth seed Nikolay Davydenko. Once again, he received a wild card in 2009, losing 7–5, 4–6, 4–6 in the first round to third seed Gilles Simon. Simon praised his opponent's play and expressed surprise at his low ranking, saying that Al Ghareeb "has a strange ranking, 400 or so, with his game, it's just unbelievable."

In 2007, he led the Kuwaiti team in its most successful Davis Cup season, reaching the Asia/Oceania Group II final with victories over Iran and Indonesia, before losing the division championship match to the Philippines in a 0–5 sweep. As of February 2018, Ghareeb had a 67–31 record in Davis Cup play for Kuwait (50-13 in singles), and was its longest-standing member.

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 10 (5–5)

ATP Challenger (0–0)
ITF Futures (5–5)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Apr 2003Meshref, KuwaitFuturesHardGermany Ivo Klec6–3, 4–6, 4–6
Loss0–2Apr 2005Meshref, KuwaitFuturesHardRomania Florin Mergea6–4, 3–6, 5–7
Loss0–3May 2007Meshref, KuwaitFuturesHardAustralia Robert Smeets3–6, 2–6
Loss0–4Jun 2007Koszalin, PolandFuturesClayPoland Dawid Olejniczak6–7(5–7), 6–2, 4–6
Loss0–5Mar 2008Gurgaon, IndiaFuturesHardUnited States Nathan Thompson2–6, 2–6
Win1–5May 2008Meshref, KuwaitFuturesHardSweden Johan Örtegren6–0 ret.
Win2–5May 2009Meshref, KuwaitFuturesHardTunisia Malek Jaziri6–4, 6–4
Win3–5May 2009Meshref, KuwaitFuturesHardTunisia Malek Jaziri6–3, 7–67–3
Win4–5Sep 2012Meshref, KuwaitFuturesHardChinese Taipei Chen Ti5–7, 7–68–6, 6–2
Win5–5Sep 2013Meshref, KuwaitFuturesHardIndia Saketh Myneni6–4, 6–1

Doubles: 19 (12–7)

ATP Challenger (2–1)
ITF Futures (10–6)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Jun 2001Marrakech, MoroccoFuturesClayMorocco Jalal ChafaiAustralia Kane Dewhurst Australia David McNamara7–5, 4–6, 7–6(10–8)
Win2–0Nov 2004Bangkok, ThailandFuturesHardIndia Sunil-Kumar SipaeyaUnited States Minh Le Japan Hiroyasu Sato2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Win3–0Dec 2005Menzah, TunisiaFuturesHardTunisia Walid JallaliPoland Pawel Dilaj Poland Robert Godlewski6–2, 6–4
Loss3–1May 2006Meshref, KuwaitFuturesHardIndia Ravi-Shankar PathanjaliGermany Ralph Grambow Germany Philipp Marx6–4, 6–7(5–7), 3–6
Loss3–2May 2007Meshref, KuwaitFuturesHardAustralia Greg JonesPakistan Aisam Qureshi India Purav Raja6–2, 5–7, 2–6
Win4–2Jun 2007Kraków, PolandFuturesClaySweden Kalle FlygtSweden Johan Brunström Sweden Robert Gustafsson6–4, 6–7(6–8), 6–4
Win5–2Jun 2007Koszalin, PolandFuturesClaySweden Johan BrunströmPoland Mateusz Kowalczyk Poland Grzegorz Panfil6–3, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–5)
Win6–2Jun 2007Oslo, NorwayFuturesClaySweden Ervin EleskovicItaly Fabio Colangelo Italy Francesco Zacchia7–6(7–5), 6–4
Win7–2Jul 2007Togliatti, RussiaChallengerHardSweden Johan BrunströmCroatia Ivan Cerović France Pierrick Ysern7–6(7–4), 4–6, [13–11]
Win8–2Aug 2007Tampere, FinlandChallengerHardSweden Johan BrunströmFinland Jukka Kohtamäki Finland Mika Purho6–2, 7–6(7–5)
Loss8–3May 2008New Delhi, IndiaChallengerHardUkraine Illya MarchenkoAustralia Colin Ebelthite Australia Sam Groth6–2, 6–7(5–7), [8–10]
Win9–2May 2008Meshref, KuwaitFuturesHardSweden Johan ÖrtegrenIndia Rohan Gajjar United Kingdom Ken Skupski6–4, 3–6, [10–7]
Loss9–3Jul 2007Modena, ItalyFuturesClayFrance Stéphane RobertChile Guillermo Hormazábal Chile Hans Podlipnik-Castillo3–6, 2–6
Win10–3Nov 2008Kish Island, IranFuturesClayMonaco Benjamin BalleretItaly Mattia Livraghi Italy Marco Simoni6–1, 6–2
Loss10–4Nov 2008Kish Island, IranFuturesClayMonaco Benjamin BalleretGermany Alexander Satschko Germany Marc-Andre Stratling2–6, 6–1, [4–10]
Win11–4Sep 2012Meshref, KuwaitFuturesHardRussia Mikhail VasilievItaly Alessandro Bega Czech Republic Jan Blecha3–6, 7–6(7–5), [10–7]
Loss11–5Oct 2012Meshref, KuwaitFuturesHardRussia Mikhail VasilievUnited Kingdom Lewis Burton South Africa Ruan Roelofse6–7(5–7), 6–7(2–7)
Loss11–6Oct 2012Doha, QatarFuturesHardMonaco Benjamin BalleretSlovakia Marko Danis Slovakia Marek Semjan5–7, 6–7(2–7)
Win12–6Aug 2014Innsbruck, AustriaFuturesClayKuwait Abdullah MaqdesItaly Andrea Basso Italy Alessandro Ceppellini6–0, 6–3
Loss12–7Jun 2015Jounieh, LebanonFuturesClayKuwait Abdullah MaqdesSlovakia Ivo Klec Slovakia Adrian Sikora4–6, 7–6(7–5), [6–10]

External links