TENNIS in DEPTH.

Second seed Jurgen Melzer was surprised 6-3 2-6 6-4 by eighth seed Fernando Verdasco, who will next take on fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro after the third seed beat Germany’s Florian Mayer 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/3).

Top seed Gael Monfils suffered a final-set collapse as he was knocked out of the German Open at the semi-final stage by fellow Frenchman and fifth seed Gilles Simon. World number seven Monfils started the match in Hamburg as the clear favourite but was broken twice in the first set and despite levelling matters he suffered a calamitous decider, winning just four points as Simon ran out a 6-4 3-6 6-0 winner. The result earned Simon a semi-final meeting with fourth seed Mikhail Youzhny after the Russian was forced to work hard before squeezing through against Croatia’s Marin Cilic 4-6 6-3 7-6 (8/6).

Bookmark It

Top seed Gael Monfils booked his place in the third round of the German Open in Hamburg after taking 72 minutes to cruise past Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos 6-4 6-2. Second seed Jurgen Melzer also progressed with a 6-3 5-7 6-1 win over Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain while third seed Nicolas Almagro is also through after a 6-4 6-4 win over Czech lucky loser Lukas Rosol. Among the seeds to fall was 11th seed Nikolay Davydenko, who went down 6-3 7-6 (7/5) to fast-rising German 20-year-old Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, who had beaten former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero in round one. Ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic was beaten 6-2 6-4 by Argentina’s Juan Monaco and 16th seeded Spaniard Albert Montanes retired injured when trailing 6-1 3-2 to home favourite Philipp Kohlschreiber. Italian 13th seed Andreas Seppi fell 6-1 7-5 to Czech veteran Radek Stepanek, who will next face Monfils. Eighth seed Fernando Verdasco won his all-Spanish match with Pablo Andujar 6-2 6-3. German sixth seed Florian Mayer beat Turkish qualifier Marsel Ilham 6-4 7-6 (7/5), while 12th seeded Croatian Marin Cilic beat German qualifier Bastian Knittel 6-3 6-7 (4/7) 6-4.

Bookmark It

German wild card Cedrik-Marcel Stebe celebrated his first victory on the ATP tour when he beat sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. The 20-year-old German who comes from near Stuttgart lost his only other tour-level matches, in the first round at Halle and Wimbledon. Both were on grass. Davydenko was twice a semifinalist in the clay-court tournament in Stuttgart.

Santiago Giraldo of Colombia upset second-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-4, 7-5 on Tuesday to advance to the second round of the Mercedes Cup. Giraldo beat Melzer for the first time in three attempts. The Colombian reached the final in Santiago in February, also on clay.

Third-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, who captured his first career title in Stuttgart in 2002, eased past Germany’s Philipp Petzschner 6-3, 6-3. Jeremy Chardy of France, who won the tournament in 2009, beat Germany’s Tobias Kamke 7-6 (1), 6-1. Two Spaniards, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Pablo Andujar, also advanced, along with Lukasz Kubot of Poland, Fabio Fognini of Italy and Pavol Cervenak of Slovakia.

Bookmark It

Jurgen Melzer overcame an early back injury and blustery conditions to secure a first victory over Roger Federer and a place in the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters. The Austrian looked like he was heading for an early exit when he had to leave the court for treatment after the opening game with a back problem. But when he returned there was little sign of it hampering his game as he put together a composed display which proved too much for second seed Federer and culminated in a 6-4 6-4 success.

Left-handed Melzer went into the contest without a win against the Swiss 16-time grand slam champion in three attempts but a break in each set saw him through to a last-four meeting with Spain’s David Ferrer. ”I played my game and tried to attack his forehand when the points were important,” Melzer told Sky Sports 1 afterwards. ”He was defending more on his backhand side so there was more space on the forehand.” On his back injury, he added: “My back blocked but the trainer did a great job.

Melzer beat Ferrer on his way to reaching the semi-finals at the French Open last year, a result he hopes will prey on the Spaniard’s mind before their meeting tomorrow. ”I will try my best. The last two matches I have won against him,” he said. ”In Paris last year I killed him on clay and hopefully that result is still in the back of his mind.

In the first match of the day, Ferrer beat Viktor Troicki 6-3 6-3.

Bookmark It

Andy Murray coasted into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a straight-sets defeat of 11th seed Jurgen Melzer. Melzer was expected to provide Murray with his first serious test of the tournament, but proved no match for the Scot, who has yet to drop a set in Melbourne as he bids to land his first grand slam title. Murray produced a mature, controlled performance to win 6-3 6-1 6-1 in one hour and 44 minutes, contrasting sharply with that offered by Melzer, the Austrian spraying the ball all over Rod Laver Arena as his all-or-nothing game was woefully exposed. Murray, the world number five, will meet Alexandr Dolgopolov in the last eight after the Ukrainian stunned fourth seed Robin Soderling in a five-set thriller. And the 23-year-old admitted he was surprised by the ease of his win. “Yeah, he had a good year on tour last year, I was surprised but I played a great match,” Murray said. However, Murray accepts it is likely to get tougher against emerging star Dolgopolov.

“I have known him quite a while and played him when we were young in Davis Cup. He is unorthodox but is a tough player,” added Murray, who was watched by mum Judy after she missed the clash with Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Saturday.

Bookmark It

Jurgen Melzer’s late career surge continued in fine fashion on Saturday, when he knocked Marcos Baghdatis around until the popular Cypriot retired with a 6-7 (5) 6-2, 6-1 4-3 with a right finger injury. Before Baghdatis retired, Melzer managed to rip 39 winners and won 26 of 45 points at the net. It’s the first time that the 29-year-old Austrian has reached the fourth round of the Australian Open. The popular Baghdatis said that the he suffered a right pinkie injury and “felt electricity going through my hand” to the point where he could no longer play. “I’m very disappointed,” said Australian Open 2006 finalist Baghdatis. “I was playing really good, thought I could win this match and wanted to get into the second week and play Andy Murray.” However, Melzer was pleased with the way he stayed on top of the ball in the final three sets, dictating his big forehand, serving well and taking over the net. “Well, the first set was probably one of the worst sets I’ve played in a while. I think the level wasn’t really high. Felt like I made millions of unforced errors,” he said. “He played well in the beginning of the second, then it felt like he — I mean, at that time I felt like he wasn’t hurt. But he let loose for two games actually and let me back into that set. From that point on, I felt like, okay, my game is getting better, I can go closer to the lines, go with more speed without making too many errors. I felt like I was in control of the match from that point on. ”

Melzer has had the best year of his up and down career in 2010, reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros when he came back from a two-sets-to-love and 0-2 deficit and took out Novak Djokovic 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(3), 6-4 in quarters before falling to Rafa Nadal in the semis. He reached the fourth round of the US Open for the fist time and at the ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai, the powerful lefthander upset No.1 Rafa Nadal. Then, as the top seed and defending champion in Vienna, he held on to his trophy.

Bookmark It

Rafael Nadal suffered a shock defeat in the third round of the Shanghai Masters as an inspired Juergen Melzer beat the world number one 6-1 3-6 6-3. The Spaniard recovered from an opening-set blitz to level the match but the Austrian held his nerve in the decider. The world number 12 saw Nadal save three match points, the first on a dubious line call, at 2-5 on his serve. But Melzer served out to love to inflict Nadal’s first defeat before the quarter-final stages all year. It was also the first time Nadal had conceded even a set to Melzer after three previous meetings with his fellow left-hander.

“I was always strong on the key points, and I am very proud I served it out, especially as I had already won the match at 5-2 and got a bad call,” said Melzer, who reached this year’s French Open semi-finals. “All of a sudden it was 5-3 but it helps you to relax when you step up on the first point and hit a back-hand winner down the line. “Once you reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam everything is possible, and today was a great moment.”

Melzer will play Argentine Juan Monaco, an easy 6-0 6-2 winner over German Mischa Zverev, in the last eight.

Bookmark It

Ernests Gulbis came through a marathon battle with Rainer Schuettler to seal his place in the third round of the Thailand Open in Bangkok. The fourth seeded Latvian took the first set 7-4 in the tie-break, but his German opponent hit back by doing the same in the second. But Gulbis did just enough in the decider to finally win a match that lasted just short of three hours.

Third seed Jurgen Melzer enjoyed a more comfortable passage through as he beat David Sela 6-3 6-4 while Daniel Brands overcame a second set wobble to knock out sixth seed Thiemo De Bakker 7-6 (7-2) 1-6 7-6 (9-7).

Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez beat France’s Florent Serra 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 7-5. In the day’s only first round game Germany’s Benjamin Becker was a 6-1 6-4 victor over compatriot Mischa Zverev. Becker will now meet number two seed Fernando Verdasco.

Bookmark It