Omar Jasika (Bosnian pronunciation:[jǎsika]; born 18 May 1997) is an Australian professionaltennis player. Jasika has a career-high singles ranking of World No. 179 achieved on 16 December 2024 and a career-high doubles ranking of World No. 220 achieved on 23 May 2016.
Jasika is the 2014 US Open boys' singles champion. He along withNaoki Nakagawa also won the 2014 US Open boys' doubles title defeatingRafael Matos andJoão Menezes in the final. In winning both, Jasika became the first player in 28 years to win both the boys’ singles and doubles events at the US Open.[1]
Jasika was born inClarinda,Victoria. He is ofBosnian descent. His parents, Admir and Bina, emigrated fromBosnia and Herzegovina to Australia during theBosnian War before Omar was born.[2] He is the eldest child in his family and his brother, Amor, is also an aspiring professional tennis player.[3] Jasika began playing tennis at the age of six. He attendedSouth Oakleigh College throughout his schooling years.[4]
After his success at theUS Open, Jasika made hisATP World Tour debut in September, after he was given a wildcard into theMalaysian Open. He drewRajeev Ram in round one, and won the first set, and was within 2 points of the match in the second, before losing in three sets. In October, Jasika made his first final at the Australia F7 inCairns.
Jasika commenced 2015 at theOnkaparina Challenger where he drew No.1 seed and world No.80Blaž Rola. He lost in three sets.Jasika competed in thequalifying for the Australian Open, when he won two rounds, but lost in the final round toMarius Copil. In February, he played in theAustralia Futures 1 tournament, where he lost in the final toBrydan Klein. In March, Jasika headed to China where he made the final round of qualifying in bothGuangzhou andShenzhen Challengers before heading toGuadeloupe where he qualified for and made the quarter-final of theGuadeloupe Challenger. In May, Jasika won his first ITF title inChangwon. In July, Jasika won his second ITF title inKelowna, dropping just one set along the way.[5]
Jasika made his Grand Slam debut at the2016 Australian Open after being awarded a wildcard.[6] He won his first round match, beatingIllya Marchenko in 4 sets; he subsequently lost to former finalistJo-Wilfried Tsonga in the following round in straight sets. Jasika spent the remainder of the year predominantly on the Futures circuit across North America and Europe, making numerous quarter and semi finals, but no finals. In December, Jasika won theAustralian Open wildcard play-off, earning him direct entry into the2017 Australian Open. Jasika ended the year with a ranking of 367.
Jasika commenced the year with a wildcard into theHappy Valley Challenger where he reached his firstATP Challenger Tour final.[7] At the2017 Australian Open, Jasika lost in round 1 toDavid Ferrer. In February, Jasika won his first Challenger title inBurnie. In March, Jasika returned to the ITF circuit in Australia, reaching the semi-final of the F2 in Canberra. In July, Jasika travelled to North America and competed on the Challenger Circuit, winning just one match. In September, Jasika reached the quarter-final ofShanghai Challenger and in October, the quarter-final of theCanberra Challenger. Jasika ended 2017 with a ranking of 276 .
2018: Two-year suspension for positive test for drugs
Jasika commenced the season by reaching the quarter-final of thePlayford Challenger before losing in round 12018 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying. He was suspended from professional tennis by ASADA for two years after having tested positive for cocaine in December 2017. Jasika was eligible to play again in March 2020.[8][9]
Jasika returned from suspension at the ITF tournament held in Geelong, Australia in March 2020, losing in the first round of qualifying. His career was then stalled by theCOVID-19 pandemic.
He played his next professional match in February 2022 at the ITF tournament in Canberra, where he reached the quarter-final. In March, in his fourth tournament back, Jasika won the ITF tournament in Bendigo. Following this, he won an ITF tournament in Chiang Rai, Thailand, in April. Overall, he won five ITF tournaments since his return in 2022.
He would go on to claim 5 ITF futures titles in a row 2 inIndonesia and 3 inAustralia which would result in a 29 match unbeaten run. His streak would end at the Quarter Final stage at the2024 City of Playford Tennis International where he was defeated by eventual championRinky Hijikata in 3 tight sets. Jasika would go on to finish the year off at a career high ranking of world number 179.
Australia
Peter Gojowczyk
Arthur Cazaux
Jarmere Jenkins
Brydan Klein
Jérôme Kym
Justin Barki
James Watt
Tallon Griekspoor
Edan Leshem
Naoki Nakagawa
Rafael Matos