Hamburg Saturday Preview

© German OpenJurgen Melzer is ranked a career-high No. 15.

No. 3 seed Jurgen Melzer is the favorite in the semi-finals of the German Open Tennis Championship. Of the final four, Melzer is not only the highest-ranked at No. 15 but he is the only one who has been to the semis of any tournament on the ATP World Tour this year.

He’s made it this far at three tournaments before this week while none of the others have been beyond the quarters before this. Also, Melzer is the only one of the final four with an ATP World Tour title to his name with two. Florian Mayer is 0-2 in finals, Andreas Seppi and Andrey Golubev are both 0-1 in finals.

Melzer will have a tough time against Seppi in the first semi-final of the day however, as the Italian has won two of their three previous meetings, including both of their clay court meetings.

Seppi may also have big confidence after a dramatic 76(0) 57 75 win over No. 7 seed Thomaz Bellucci in the quarter-finals, during which he held match point in the second set but regrouped to win it in the third.

Second up is Mayer against Golubev, a first-time ATP World Tour meeting (although Golubev has won both of their previous meetings at the Challenger level). They have both had big wins this week, with Golubev ousting top seed Nikolay Davydenko and Mayer upsetting No. 6 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero. Mayer is the first German to reach the semi-finals in Hamburg since Tommy Haas in 1997.

SATURDAY SEMI-FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS - In Order of Play

(3) Jurgen Melzer (AUT) vs Andreas Seppi (ITA)      Seppi Leads, 2-1
07 Bucharest (Romania) Clay R32 Andreas Seppi 4-6 7-5 6-4
09 ATP Masters 1000 Monte Carlo  Clay R64 Andreas Seppi 6-2 6-0
10 Rotterdam (The Netherlands) Hard R16 Jurgen Melzer 6-2 6-2

Melzer FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
SF: Zagreb (l Cilic); Dubai (l Youzhny); Roland Garros (l Nadal); QF: Auckland (l Clement); Rotterdam (l Davydenko); ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (l Almagro); Stuttgart (l Montanes)
YTD W-L: 33-16 (15-6 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 2
Date of Birth: May 22, 1981
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 15

• The Austrian is playing his 17th ATP World Tour event of year; fourth semi-final, having previously lost at this stage at Zagreb (l. to Cilic), Dubai (l. to Youzhny) and Roland Garros (l. to Nadal - best ever major)
• Sixth appearance in Hamburg (8-5 record); best previous result was QF in debut in 2004 (l. to Hewitt); is 3-0 so far this year (as No. 3 seed w/1st Rd. bye, d. Schwank in 2nd Rd., Chardy in 3rd Rd. and Starace in QFs)
• The left-hander has a 2-6 career record in ATP World Tour finals (1-3 on clay)
• Also won Wimbledon doubles crown (w/Petzschner)

Seppi FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: Båstad (l Soderling)
YTD W-L: 17-18 (11-7 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0
Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: February 21, 1984
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 70

• The Italian is playing his 19th ATP World Tour event of year; did not win back-to-back matches in first 17, then reached first QF of season last week in Bastad (l. to Soderling)
• He is looking to reach his second career ATP World Tour final…In ’07 was runner-up in Gstaad (l. to Mathieu)
• Sixth appearance in Hamburg (12-5 record); best previous results were SF in 2008 (l. to Federer) and QF in 2005 (l. to Gasquet); is 4-0 so far this year (d. Robert in 1st Rd., No. 16 seed Berrer in 2nd Rd., Fognini in 3rd Rd. and No. 7 seed Bellucci in QFs)

 Andrey Golubev (KAZ) vs. Florian Mayer (GER) First ATP Meeting
Other Meetings:
08 Heilbronn CH (Germany) Carpet R16 Andrey Golubev 6-4 3-6 6-1
09 Napoli CH (Italy) Clay R32 Andrey Golubev 4-3 ret

Golubev FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
YTD W-L: 12-11 (9-4 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: July 22, 1987
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 82

• The Kazakhstan No. 2 (behind No. 74 Korolev) is playing in his 12th ATP World Tour main draw of year…This is the first time he reached the quarters or better
• This is his first appearance in Hamburg and has not dropped a set this week (d. WC Zverev in 1st Rd., LL Granollers in 2nd Rd., No. 1 seed Davydenko in 3rd Rd. and Istomin in QF)
• He is attempting to reach his second career ATP World Tour final…In ’08 St. Petersburg (l. to Murray)
• Celebrated 23rd birthday on Thursday by recording his first career Top 10 win over No. 6 Davydenko

Mayer FastFacts:
2010 Highlights:
QF: Rotterdam (W/O vs Djokovic); Stuttgart (l Monfils)
YTD W-L: 14-8 (6-2 on clay)
YTD Titles: 0/Career Titles: 0
Date of Birth: October 5, 1983
South African Airways 2010 ATP Ranking: 54

• Playing 10th ATP World Tour main draw of year; previous best results were two quarter-finals, at Rotterdam (W/O vs. Djokovic) and Stuttgart (l. to Monfils) last week
• Sixth appearance in Hamburg (8-5 record); previous best result was 3rd Rd. in 2004 (l. to Youzhny); is 4-0 so far this week (d. Cuevas in 1st Rd., No. 15 seed Dolgopolov in 2nd Rd., M.Gonzalez in 3rd Rd. and No. 6 seed Ferrero in QFs - first win in five career meetings vs. Ferrero)
• Has an 0-2 mark in ATP World Tour finals – falling in Sopot in 2005 (l. to Monfils) and ’06 (l. to Davydenko)
• He is the first German to reach the Hamburg semi-finals since Haas in 1997…Stich won the title in 1993

POTENTIAL FINAL HEAD-TO-HEADS –
Andrey Golubev (KAZ) vs Jurgen Melzer (AUT)   First ATP Meeting
Other Meeting:
08 Wroclaw CH (Poland) Hard R16 Jurgen Melzer 7-5 7-6(3)
Andrey Golubev (KAZ) vs Andreas Seppi (ITA)    First Meeting

Florian Mayer (GER) vs Jurgen Melzer (AUT)    First Meeting
Florian Mayer (GER) vs Andreas Seppi (ITA)   Tied 1-1
05 Stuttgart (Germany) Clay R64 Andreas Seppi 7-6(3) 6-3
07 Australian Open (Australia) Hard R64 Florian Mayer 5-7 7-5 6-2 6-2