Mohammed al Ghareeb (born July 22, 1980) is a tennis player from Kuwait

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

. He plays right-handed with a single-handed backhand, and is best known for his near-upset of World No. 1 Roger Federer

Roger Federer

Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

 in the second round of the 2006 Dubai Tennis Championships

Dubai Tennis Championships

The Dubai Tennis Championships is a professional tennis tournament owned and organized by Dubai Duty Free and held annually in Dubai, United Arab...

. Ranked No. 488 at the time of the match, Al Ghareeb was expected to offer little resistance to Federer, but in a surprisingly competitive match, Al Ghareeb led 4-2 in the first set, and 3-2 in the second, before succumbing 7-6(5), 6-4. According to Federer, Al Ghareeb was "definitely the better player and I think only my experience helped me get through."

Ranked No. 436 as of June 2007, with a career-high ranking of No. 336, Al Ghareeb is Kuwait's top tennis player by a considerable margin. He has compiled a 43-19 record in Davis Cup

Davis Cup

The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...

 play for Kuwait (31-9 in singles, 12-10 in doubles), and is its longest-standing member. In 2007, he led the Kuwaiti team in its most successful Davis Cup season to date, reaching the Asia/Oceania Group II final with victories over Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 and Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, before losing the division championship match to the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 in a 0-5 sweep.

Al Ghareeb has yet to make a significant breakthrough at a top-level event, though in the 2007 Dubai Tennis Championships

Dubai Tennis Championships

The Dubai Tennis Championships is a professional tennis tournament owned and organized by Dubai Duty Free and held annually in Dubai, United Arab...

 he won a set from Top 10 player Tomáš Berdych

Tomáš Berdych

Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...

 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

Nikolay Davydenko

Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

. 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

Gilles Simon

Gilles Simon is a French professional tennis player and former world no. 6. He is a nine-time winner on the ATP World Tour...

. 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."

As of 2011, Al Ghareeb is participating at the 2011 Qatar ExxonMobil Open.