Introduction
Karim Alami (Arabic: كريم علمي) (born 24 May 1973) is a retired tennis player from Morocco, who turned professional in 1990.
The right-hander won two career titles in singles, both in 1996 (Atlanta and Palermo), and reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 25, in February 2000. Alami reached the semifinals of the 2000 Monte Carlo Masters, defeating Magnus Norman and Albert Costa en route.
His son, Yanis, died Sunday 18th of August 2019 due to a motorcycle incident in Indonesia when he was just 16 years old.
Tennis career
Alami represented his native country as a qualifier at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, where he was defeated in the first round by Switzerland's eventual winner Marc Rosset. He also reached the quarterfinals of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
He defeated Pete Sampras in the first round of the 1994 Doha tournament, a year in which Sampras dominated the tour. He is now the Tournament Director of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. He also works as a tennis commentator for the most popular Arabic sports channel beIN Sports.
As well as his semifinal run at the 2000 Monte-Carlo Masters, Alami reached the quarterfinals of the 1997 Rome Masters.
Career finals
Singles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups)
| Legend |
|---|
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| ATP Masters Series (0) |
| ATP Tour (2) |
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1. | Mar 1994 | Casablanca, Morocco | Clay | Renzo Furlan | 2–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 2. | Apr 1996 | Atlanta, United States | Clay | Nicklas Kulti | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 3. | Sep 1996 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | Adrian Voinea | 7–5, 2–1 ret. |
| Loss | 4. | Jun 1998 | Bologna, Italy | Clay | Julián Alonso | 1–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 5. | Apr 1999 | Barcelona, Spain | Clay | Félix Mantilla | 6–7, 3–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 6. | Sep 1999 | Bucharest, Romania | Clay | Alberto Martín | 2–6, 3–6 |
Doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)
| Legend |
|---|
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| ATP Masters Series (0) |
| ATP Tour (1) |
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1. | Jun 1996 | Bologna, Italy | Clay | Gábor Köves | Brent Haygarth Christo van Rensburg |
1–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 2. | Mar 1997 | Casablanca, Morocco | Clay | Hicham Arazi | João Cunha e Silva Nuno Marques |
6–7, 2–6 |
| Win | 3. | Sep 1997 | Marbella, Spain | Clay | Julián Alonso | Alberto Berasategui Jordi Burillo |
4–6, 6–3, 6–0 |
| Loss | 4. | Oct 1997 | Bogotá, Colombia | Clay | Maurice Ruah | Luis Lobo Fernando Meligeni |
1–6, 3–6 |