The 21st century
Germany · born Bayreuth, 1983 · right-handed · Halle champion in 2016 and twice a Wimbledon quarter-finalist
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No. 192
His ranking when he won Halle in 2016, the lowest of any champion there
2
Wimbledon quarter-finals, 2004 and 2012, his best Grand Slam results
2
ATP singles titles: Bucharest 2011 and Halle 2016
No. 18
Career-high ranking, 6 June 2011
2004
ATP Newcomer of the Year
Florian Mayer was born in Bayreuth in 1983, the son of a teacher and a shop manager, and was a regional table tennis champion as a boy. He came through the German Tennis Federation's junior programme and turned professional at 17, after finishing school, in 2001.
In 2004 he reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals and was named ATP Newcomer of the Year. A finger operation in 2008 kept him out for seven months, and in January 2009 he had fallen to No. 450; he finished that year at No. 61. He won his first title in Bucharest in 2011, rose to No. 18 that June and beat the world No. 2 Rafael Nadal in Shanghai that October. In 2012 he reached a second Wimbledon quarter-final.
Shoulder, groin and adductor injuries kept him off the tour for most of 2014 and 2015. He returned in 2016 with a protected ranking and won Halle as the world No. 192. He reached the Hamburg final in 2017 and, having announced his decision in April 2018, retired after the 2018 US Open.
| Halle 2016 | Entered on a protected ranking at No. 192. Beat Andreas Seppi in the quarter-finals, the third seed Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals and Alexander Zverev, 19, in the final 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, his first title in Germany and his first at ATP 500 level |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 2004 | Aged 20, beat Joachim Johansson in the fourth round to reach the quarter-finals, where he met Sébastien Grosjean |
| Wimbledon 2012 | Reached a second quarter-final, eight years after the first, and lost to the top seed Novak Djokovic |
| Grass record | 38-26 in tour-level matches on grass across his career |
| Halle | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Men's singles | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"This is my biggest win. A 500 point tournament and in Germany"
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon, June 2004
When the 20-year-old from Upper Franconia reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals, The Times called him the new star of German tennis. Boris Becker said of him: "Er hat keine Angst vor dem Gewinnen", he has no fear of winning.
Source: Berliner Zeitung, 2004Bayreuth, childhood
Before tennis took over he was a regional table tennis champion. His coach in 2004, Ulf Fischer, left the German federation to work with him full-time: "Man muss viel mit Florian reden," Fischer said, you have to talk a lot with Florian.
Source: Berliner Zeitung, 20042008 to 2009
Surgery on his left index finger in June 2008 kept him out for seven months, and by January 2009 he had dropped to No. 450. He finished 2009 at No. 61.
Source: ATP TourHalle, June 2016
Zverev had beaten Roger Federer earlier in the week. After the final Zverev said: "Florian deserved to win today, congratulations to him." Mayer thanked the crowd: "They were wonderful during the week and helped me a lot."
Source: Gerry Weber OpenMunich, April 2018
He announced his retirement before his home event in Munich: "Das sind meine letzten BMW Open, mein letztes Jahr auf der Tour. Nach den US Open ist definitiv Schluss." These were his last BMW Open and his last year on the tour; after the US Open it would be over.
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