Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981 in Vienna) is an Austrian tennis player. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 15 on 5 July 2010, and a doubles ranking of No. 7 on 16 August 2010. He is a left-handed tennis player but, like Rafael Nadal, is right-handed in everyday life.

In 1999, he won the boy's singles event at Wimbledon. However for many years he was known as one of the best players on the tour to have not progressed past the third round of a Grand Slam event. He ended this streak when he reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2010. He has also had success in doubles, winning Wimbledon in 2010 with Philipp Petzschner.

He is dating Croatian-Austrian swimmer and Olympic medalist Mirna Jukić. He is endorsed by adidas and Dunlop Sport.

[edit] Career

[edit] Early Years

In 1998 Melzer started playing in the Futures in his country where he won his first two matches but lost the next four.

In 1999, He started playing outside of Austria in the Futures and Challengers. He competed in his first main draw match in the 1999 CA-TennisTrophy in Vienna, Austria where he defeated Lars Burgsmüller 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-3 before losing to then world no. 11 Nicolas Kiefer 4-6, 0-6.

In 2000, Melzer continued playing in the Futures and Challengers but was only able to reach one Quarterfinals. He also made his Grand Slam debut at the 2000 Wimbledon but lost to Australian Mark Philippoussis 4-6, 6-7(3), 7-5, 4-6.

In 2001, He reach his first Futures final event at Poprad, Slovak losing to Juraj Hasko 6-7(5), 2-6. However, he was able to capture his first ever title at the Challenger in Monchengladbach, Germany over local hero Jens Knippschild 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. He was also able to take his first ever top 100 and top 20 win over Fabrice Santoro then world no. 18 with the score of 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-4 in 2001 CA-TennisTrophy but lost the next round to Michel Kratochvil 6-7(4), 6-7(5).

In 2002, He regularly competed in the challenger events reaching two finals but losing in both attempts to Alexander Popp 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 in Heilbronn, Germany and to Luis Horna 4-6, 2-6 in Furth, Germany. He was able to reach his first ATP Tour Quarterfinals in the 2002 Internationaler Raiffeisen Grand Prix defeating Sargis Sargsian 6-0, 6-2 and Andrea Gaudenzi 6-3, 7-5 before losing to eventual champion Nicolás Lapentti 2-6, 6-4, 3-6. However he did better in the 2002 Croatia Open by reaching the Semifinals defeating Vincent Spadea 2-6, 6-3, 4-2, Agustín Calleri 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4 and Victor Hănescu 6-4, 6-4 before losing to eventual champion Carlos Moyá 6-7(1), 1-6. He also won his first ever Grand Slam match at the 2002 US Open over Jack Brasington 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 before losing to Nicolás Massú 4-6, 6-7(3), 6-4, 0-6. At the 2002 CA Tennis Trophy he earned one of the biggest wins of his career by defeating then world no. 2 Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3 to reach the Quarterfinals before losing to Jiří Novák 4-6, 2-6.

The start of 2003 wasn't a good one for the Austrian as he lost 3 consecutive Tour level main draw matches including his Australian Open debut. He rebounded in April by reaching the semifinals losing to then world no. 2 Andre Agassi 4-6, 1-6. He also made his French Open debut but lost to David Ferrer 2-6, 2-6, 6-7(2). At the 2003 Wimbledon Melzer upset then world no. 15 Fernando González 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(6) to earn his first Wimbledon victory but lost to Jonas Björkman 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 3-6 the following round. Melzer reached his first Atp tour final at the 2003 Miller Lite Hall of Fame Tennis Championships without defeating a player in the top 100 but lost to Robby Ginepri 4-6, 7-6(3), 1-6 in the final. In the 2003 US Open Melzer reached the 2nd round again but lost Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 6-7(2), 2-6, 4-6. Before the end of the year Melzer earned another top 20 victory over Tommy Robredo in the 2003 CA Tennis Trophy.

[edit] 2004-2006

In 2004, the Austrian reached his first ever 3rd round of a Grand Slam at the 2004 Australian Open with victories over Tomas Behrend 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 and Galo Blanco 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 before losing to Sjeng Schalken 6-7(1), 4-6, 1-6. Melzer made his Master Series debut at the 2004 Indian Wells Masters losing to Victor Hănescu 1-6, 7-6(5), 3-6. He then won his first Master Series matches at the 2004 Miami Masters with victories over Ivo Karlović 6-4, 6-4 and a then world no. 8 Tim Henman 7-6(3), 2-6, 7-6(4) but lost Todd Martin 6-7(4), 3-6 in the third round. He then reached the Quarterfinals of the 2004 Hamburg Masters with victories over Nicolás Massú 6-3, 6-0, Irakli Labadze 6-1, 6-0 and Marat Safin 6-4, 6-4 but lost to former world no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 4-6, 3-6. He then reached the semifinals of 2004 Internationaler Raiffeisen Grand Prix losing to Xavier Malisse 6-3, 3-6, 3-6. He then won his first French Open match over Wayne Ferreira 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 but eventually lost Lleyton Hewitt 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 2-6.

In the 2004 Canada Masters he reached the Quarterfinals losing to Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 1-6, 1-6 and with straight set victories over Andre Agassi and Fernando González. In the 2004 US Open he reached the third round for the first time but lost to Michaël Llodra 3-6, 2-6, 5-7. In his last tournament of the year, he reached the third round of the 2004 Paris Masters losing to Marat Safin 2-6, 5-7.

In 2005, he reached the quarterfinals of 2005 Next Generation Adelaide International losing to Juan Ignacio Chela 6-7(3), 7-5, 2-6. In the 2005 Australian Open he reached the third round losing to then world no. 2 Andy Roddick 2-6, 2-6, 5-7. At the 2005 SAP Open he lost in the semifinals to Cyril Saulnier 7-6(3), 3-6, 3-6 but earned his third victory over Andre Agassi en route. He reached his second semifinal of the year at the 2005 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships but lost to Andy Roddick 4-6, 2-6. He reached his second ATP tour final at the 2005 International Raiffeisen Grand Prix but lost to Nikolay Davydenko 3-6, 6-2, 4-6. At the 2005 French Open and 2005 Wimbledon he reached the third round and lost to Guillermo Coria on both occasions. He then lost 6 straight main draw matches 3rd round of 2005 Generali Open to Fernando Verdasco, and his first match of 2005 Rogers Cup, 2005 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, 2005 Pilot Pen Tennis, 2005 US Open and the 2005 Open de Moselle. He then continued his bad run with second round loses in 2005 BA-CA Tennis Trophy, 2005 Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid and 2005 St. Petersburg Open.

In 2006, he continued his bad recording a 1-8 record and a seven match losing streak in the first 3 months with his only win coming from the 2006 Medibank International over Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 7-6(1). He then rebounded in the 2006 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships were he reached his third final without dropping a set but lost to Mardy Fish 6-3, 4-6, 3-6. He also reached the semifinals of 2006 BMW Open losing to eventual champion Olivier Rochus 4-6, 7-6(1), 3-6 and the Quarterfinals 2006 Hypo Group Tennis International losing to Jiří Novák 7-6(7), 4-6, 4-6. However he fell in the first rounds of 2006 French Open and 2006 Wimbledon. At the 2006 Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, he reached the Semifinals upset by eventual champion Mark Philippoussis at then ranked 214 7-6(2), 2-6, 0-6. He also reached the Quarterfinals of 2006 Interwetten Austrian Open Kitzbühel and 2006 Pilot Pen Tennis. He then suffered two loses to Juan Mónaco at the third round of 2006 Mercedes Cup and the first round of 2006 Orange Warsaw Open. At the 2006 US Open he lost to Alessio di Mauro 7-5, 1-6, 5-7, 5-7 thus not winning a single Grand Slam match in the year. He then erached back-to-back finals at the 2006 BCR Open Romania and the 2006 Open de Moselle. He won his first ATP Tour title at the 2006 BCR Open Romania defeating Filippo Volandri 6-1, 7-5 in the finals and with victories over Gilles Simon and Paul-Henri Mathieu. In the 2006 Open de Moselle however he lost to Novak Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 2-6. He ended the year with a Quarterfinal showing in the 2006 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy losing to Andy Roddick but earned his first win over Juan Carlos Ferrero and a first-round exit in 2006 St. Petersburg Open losing to Lukáš Dlouhý.

[edit] 2007-2009

In 2007 Melzer, began the year with a first round exit in 2007 Qatar ExxonMobil Open and a Semifinal exit in 2007 Medibank International withdrawing against James Blake. Melzer, reach the second rounds of 2007 Australian Open, 2007 M.K. Championships, 2007 Indian Wells Masters and 2007 Miami Masters. He also reach the final of 2007 Tennis Channel Open losing to Lleyton Hewitt 4-6, 6-7(10). He also reach the Quarterfinals 2007 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships and 2007 BMW Open. In the Masters Series in Clay he lost in the first rounds of 2007 Monte Carlo Masters and 2007 Rome Masters, and the 3rd Round of 2007 Hamburg Masters losing to Fernando González 6-3, 3-6, 4-6. After that he suffered back-to-back loses to Juan Mónaco in 2007 Hypo Group Tennis International and the 2007 French Open. He then suffered a left wrist injury in his first round loss to Nikolay Davydenko in the 2007 Gerry Weber Open. Which cause him to miss two months of tennis including Wimbledon. He came back in 2007 Cincinnati Masters reaching the third round and losing to Lleyton Hewitt 3-6, 3-6. From then on he was unable to secure a back-to-back win and even suffering a four match losing streak by the end of the year.

In 2008 the Austrian reach the second round of his first three tournaments including the 2008 Australian Open. He again failed to secure back-to-back wins. Compiling a 3-9 record in his next 9 tournaments and putting him out of the top 100 since April 2003. It wasn't until the 2008 Hypo Group Tennis International that he recorded back-to-back wins by reaching the Quarterfinals losing to Igor Kunitsyn 4-6, 6-3, 3-6. He carried his good performance through the 2008 French Open with a third-round exit to Frenchman Gaël Monfils 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 0-6, 2-6. In grass he was able to reach the Quarterfinals of 2008 Ordina Open and the third round of the 2008 Wimbledon. He then returned to clay at the 2008 Austrian Open and reached his 7th final but lost once again to Juan Martín del Potro 2-6, 1-6. Melzer made a good performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by reaching the final eight losing to eventual Gold Medalist Rafael Nadal 0-6, 4-6. he then had a good performance by reaching the third rounds of 2008 Pilot Pen Tennis and 2008 U.S. Open. Melzer made a good year-end with Quarterfinal results in 2008 Thailand Open and 2008 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy which put him back to the top 40.

In 2009, Melzer again made a poor first quarter of the year, only managing one back-to-back win in his first ten tournaments, and it was at the 2009 Australian Open where he reached the third round losing to Andy Murray 5-7, 0-6, 3-6. It wasn't until the 2009 Internazionali BNL d'Italia that he recorded back-to-back wins including a win over Nikolay Davydenko but lost to Fernando González 6-3, 3-6, 5-7 in the following round. He then reached the Quarterfinals of 2009 Interwetten Austrian Open Kitzbühel and 2009 Gerry Weber Open once again and the third round of 2009 French Open and 2009 Wimbledon for the second year in a row. He reach his first Semifinal in a year at the 2009 ATP Studena Croatia Open Umag but lost to eventual champion Nikolay Davydenko 1-6, 1-6. He also reach teh Quarterfinals of 2009 Pilot Pen Tennis with a victory over Victor Hănescu 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-1 but lsot in the following round to Fernando Verdasco 3-6, 1-6 and the semifinal of 2009 PTT Thailand Open losing to eventual champion Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-7(3). At the 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 he defeated a then world no. 5 Juan Martín del Potro 7-5, 2-1 RET before losing to Feliciano López 7-5, 6-7(3), 1-6. This was his first victory over a top ten player in over 4 years and his second victory over a top five player, the first was his win over a then world no. 2 Tommy Haas. He ended 2009 in a high note by winning his second career title in 2009 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy over Marin Čilić 6-4, 6-3, which included a victory over Radek Štěpánek 6-2, 6-2 in the quarter-finals.

[edit] 2010

Melzer lost in the first round of the Australian Open at the start of the season, but then reached the semi-finals of Zagreb, losing to defending/eventual champion Marin Čilić. After a quarter-final appearance in Rotterdam, where he lost to Nikolay Davydenko, Melzer reached the semi-finals in Dubai, where he lost to Mikhail Youzhny. Later in the year, Melzer reached the quarter-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid, losing to Nicolás Almagro. Melzer followed this up with his best result in a Grand Slam to date by reaching the semi-finals of the French Open. En route, he caused a significant upset by defeating ninth seed David Ferrer in straight sets, followed by a four-set win over Teimuraz Gabashvili (who had beaten Andy Roddick in the previous round), and by a 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(3), 6-4 triumph over Novak Djokovic, coming back from a two set deficit for the first time in his career. He was eventually defeated by four-time champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets, who went on to win his fifth title.

Melzer followed this up by reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon, where he was defeated by Roger Federer in their first career meeting. However, at the same tournament, he achieved his greatest success by winning the Mens Doubles title with German partner Philipp Petzschner.

After playing a few clay court tournaments reaching the final in one and having good results in the others, Melzer moved on to the hard court season, losing to Peter Polansky in round one of Montreal and Ernests Gulbis in round two of Cincinnati. He then played the US Open 2010 where he reached the fourth round for the third consecutive Grand Slam tournament, having never been past the third round prior to the French Open. He played Roger Federer for a spot in the quarter finals, having also played him in the fourth round of Wimbledon. Federer once again defeated him in straight sets, 6-3 7-6 6-3.

[edit] Grand Slam Men's Doubles Finals (1 Win)

[edit] ATP Tour Titles

[edit] Singles: 9 (2–7)

[edit] Doubles

[edit] Doubles Finalist (12)

• 2002: Newport (w/ Alexander Popp) (lost to Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan)
• 2003: Newport (w/ Julian Knowle) (lost to Jordan Kerr / David Macpherson)
• 2003: Kitzbühel (w/ Alexander Peya) (lost to Martin Damm / Cyril Suk)
• 2006: Houston (w/ Julian Knowle) (lost to Michael Kohlmann / Alexander Waske)
• 2006: Metz (w/ Julian Knowle) (lost to Richard Gasquet / Fabrice Santoro)
• 2006: Vienna (w/ Julian Knowle) (lost to Petr Pála / Pavel Vízner)
• 2006: St. Petersburg (w/ Julian Knowle) (lost to Simon Aspelin / Todd Perry)
• 2007: Memphis (w/ Julian Knowle) (lost to Eric Butorac / Jamie Murray)
• 2007: St. Petersburg (w/ Todd Perry) (lost to Daniel Nestor / Nenad Zimonjić)
• 2008: Auckland (w/ Xavier Malisse) (lost to Luis Horna / Juan Mónaco)
• 2008: Pörtschach (w/ Julian Knowle) (lost to Marcelo Melo / André Sá)
• 2009: Vienna (w/ Julian Knowle) (lost to Łukasz Kubot / Oliver Marach)

[edit] Performance timeline

[edit] Singles

• A = did not attend tournament
• LQ = lost in qualifying draw
• NH = tournament not held

[edit] Doubles

• A = did not participate in the tournament
• LQ = lost in qualifying draw
• SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played
• NME = Not Master Series Event

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Jürgen Melzer at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Jürgen Melzer at Davis Cup
• http://tennis-prose.com/articles/biofile-with-jurgen-melzer/
• Official site