Jurgen Melzer bid farewell to tennis as he and partner Alexander Zverev lost 7-6 (3), 7-5 to Filip Polasek and John Peers at the Vienna Open on Wednesday.
“I viewed this as a bonus, to get to play one last match at home,” the 40-year-old Melzer told ATPTour.com.
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“Saying goodbye at home is special to me. It’s where my career started, it’s where I had a lot of success.”
Melzer first competed in Vienna as an 18-year-old in 1999, and he won his two biggest singles titles at the event in 2009 and 2010.
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It was fitting that a local kid was able to finish his professional tennis journey alone in the centre of #Glaubandich Court with his peers and fans clapping to show their appreciation.
Melzer won the boys’ singles title at Wimbledon in 1999 and made it to top-10 in singles as well as doubles.
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The list of Melzer’s accomplishments is long, and it includes doubles triumphs at Wimbledon in 2010 and the US Open in 2011 alongside Philipp Petzschner.
The Austrian also remains the only player who has rallied from two sets down against Novak Djokovic, which he did in the 2010 Roland Garros quarterfinals.
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But perhaps most notably, he spent 17 weeks in the Top 10 of both the singles and doubles rankings in 2011. There have been just 40 players who have achieved the feat at different times in their career, let alone during the same weeks.
“I will always remember my Djokovic match, I will always remember winning twice in Vienna, rolling over the Centre Court at Wimbledon with Philipp after winning the doubles. These are the sports memories that you cherish,” Melzer said.
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“But I’m going to take much more of the ATP family with me after my career.” Melzer’s victory against Milos Raonic in Vienna in 2018 marked the end of his singles career.
But after that, he turned to doubles. Last year, the Austrian advanced to the championship match of the ATP Finals with Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
