The 21st century
Austria · born Vienna, 1981 · left-handed · Wimbledon boys', men's doubles and mixed doubles champion
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3
Wimbledon titles: boys' singles 1999, doubles 2010, mixed 2011
6-1, 7-5, 7-5
The 2010 doubles final, won unseeded with Philipp Petzschner
51
Minutes taken to win the 2011 mixed final
8
Career-high singles ranking, 2011
17
Tour-level doubles titles
Melzer was born in Vienna in 1981. A natural right-hander who was taught to play left-handed, he won the Australian Open boys' doubles in 1999 and that summer the Wimbledon boys' singles, beating the top seed Kristian Pless in the final, after which he ended his junior career.
For years he was known as one of the best players never to have passed the third round of a major. That changed in 2010, when he came from two sets down to beat Novak Djokovic in the French Open quarter-finals and reached the semi-finals, then reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, where he lost to Roger Federer. In the same fortnight he won the Wimbledon doubles with Philipp Petzschner. He won the US Open doubles with Petzschner in 2011, the Wimbledon mixed with Iveta Benešová that year, and spent 17 weeks of 2011 in the top 10 of both the singles and doubles rankings. He won five singles titles, the two biggest at home in Vienna in 2009 and 2010.
After 2018 he played mainly doubles and reached the final of the 2020 ATP Finals with Édouard Roger-Vasselin. He became sports director of the Austrian tennis federation in February 2021 and retired at the Vienna tournament in October that year.
| Wimbledon boys' final, 1999 | Unseeded, beat the top seed and his doubles partner Kristian Pless 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon doubles final, 2010 | Unseeded with Philipp Petzschner, in their first season together, beat the 16th seeds Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecău 6-1, 7-5, 7-5; the first unseeded champions since Stephen Huss and Wesley Moodie in 2005 |
| Wimbledon mixed final, 2011 | Seeded ninth with Iveta Benešová, beat Mahesh Bhupathi and Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-2 in 51 minutes |
| Wimbledon singles | Fourth round in 2010, losing to Roger Federer, and in 2013, losing to Jerzy Janowicz |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Men's doubles | with Philipp Petzschner |
| 2011 | Mixed doubles | with Iveta Benešová |
| Newport, Rhode Island | ||
| 2006 | Men's doubles Hall of Fame Open | with Robert Kendrick |
| 's-Hertogenbosch (Rosmalen) | ||
| 2008 | Men's doubles Rosmalen Grass Court Championships | with Mario Ančić |
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
"Some people like to compete against family, and we do when we play cards or video games, but it's not the same thing when it's a tournament match."
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 2010
Melzer and Petzschner had both been knocked out of the 2010 singles, by Federer and Nadal, and had played only six tournaments as a pair. Melzer later said that playing just one doubles match in the first week let them save energy. Both men kept a ball from the final, and Petzschner kept the club's nameplates.
Source: ATP Tour, Wimbledon 2010 flashbackRoehampton 2015
The draw for 2015 Wimbledon qualifying put Melzer, then 34, against his brother Gerald, ten years younger, in the first round. It was their first meeting as professionals. Jürgen won in 47 minutes and called it the worst feeling; Gerald said neither of them had been happy to see the draw.
Source: AFP, published by Gulf NewsLeft or right
Melzer is left-handed on court but right-handed in everyday life. The tennis historian John Grasso lists him with Rafael Nadal as the best-known naturally right-handed players who were taught to play the game left-handed.
Source: John Grasso, Historical Dictionary of Tennis (2011)Vienna 2021
Melzer played his last match in October 2021 at the Vienna tournament, where he had made his tour debut at 18 in 1999 and won his two biggest singles titles. He partnered Alexander Zverev and lost 7-6, 7-5 to Filip Polášek and John Peers.
Source: ATP Tour, Melzer retirement tributeFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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