2010 Bank Austria Tennis Trophy: Jurgen Melzer versus Nicolas Almagro – Match Preview
Top seed and last year’s winner, Jurgen Melzer along with Andreas Haider Maurer, who is a lucky loser, are the first Austrian pair to make their way into the semi final round in the same season at the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy Men’s singles competition
since 1990. That year, Horst Skoff got the better of Thomas Muster in one semi final match. The other final four contenders are the third seed Nicolas Almagro from Spain and Michael Berrer, who is a non-seeded player from Germany. Both of them are playing
in their first final four at Vienna.
In the first semi final match of the day, Jurgen Melzer and Nicolas Almagro will face each other on the centre court for the second time in their careers. In their previous encounter at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid back in May, Nicolas had triumphed
in the quarter final match in two sets. The final match score was 6-3, 6-1. Both of them are now attempting to make their way into their 10th career ATP World Tour title battle.
The 29 year old Melzer is the top player from Austria on the South African Airways 2010 ATP list. The defending champion is playing in his fifth semi-final or better in 2010. The professional tennis player from Austria, who made his debut on the ATP World
Tour back in 1999, is 1-3 in the semi final matches. He is attempting to make his way into his second ATP World Tour title battle this year and tenth overall.
Melzer is currently enjoying his career highest ranking of number 12 on the tour and advanced into his lone ATP World Tour title battle this season in Hamburg where he was defeated by Golubev in straight sets. The left hander enters with a career mark of
17-9 in Vienna and is taking part in the semi final round here on the second occasion in a row. He enjoys a win loss mark of 47-24 on the season and it is the first time in his career that he has triumphed in forty clashes during a single season.
In his previous championship at the Shanghai Rolex Masters in China, the Austrian posted the biggest victory of his career by getting the better of world number one and top seed, Rafael Nadal in the round three before falling to Juan Monaco of Argentina.
Melzer also reached the semi final rounds in Zagreb, Dubai and French Open earlier this season. After his semi final run in Roland Garros, the 29 year old broke into the top twenty on the first occasion in his career at number sixteen back in June.
He won the grass court Grand Slam doubles' title with his partner Petzschner back in July this season and the pair is now ranked number seven in the ATP Doubles' rankings. They have also successfully qualified for the year ending Barclays ATP World Tour
Finals in London.
The Spaniard Nicolas is appearing in his fourth ATP World Tour semi-final or better in 2010 while the first one on the hard court. The twenty five year old is hoping to make his way into his third ATP World Tour title battle in 2010 and tenth of his career.
He stands at 7-2 in the finals.
The professional tennis player from Spain, who turned professional back in 2003, won a title in Bastad back in July this season after knocking down the world number five, Robin Soderling of Sweden. Only two weeks later, he grabbed his seventh career ATP
World Tour crown in Gstaad, beating Richard Gasquet in the final. Nicolas has a lifetime mark of 4-4 in Vienna and his best showing here so far has been a quarter final appearance in 2009.
At the year’s final Grand Slam, the United States Open in New York, Nicolas brushed aside Potito Starace and Guillermo Garcia Lopez before losing to his American foe, Sam Querrey in the third round in three sets. The final match score was 3-6, 4-6, and 4-6.
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