Florian Mayer
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Florian Mayer (; born 5 October 1983) is a German former professional
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player. Mayer reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in June 2011. Also in 2011, Mayer won his first ATP title after four previous defeats in ATP finals. Mayer competed at the
2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
. At the 2004
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
, Mayer reached the quarter-finals, which is his best Grand Slam result to date. He received the ATP Newcomer of the Year award in 2004. Eight years later, Mayer made his second Grand Slam quarter-final, once again at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
. The biggest win of his career came at the 2011 Shanghai Rolex Masters when he upset twenty-time Grand Slam champion
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
in the round of 16. Mayer was known for his unorthodox style of play. He had a long backswing on his forehand and
backhand The backhand is a shot used in most racket sports, such as tennis and pickleball, where the back of the hand precedes the palm when swinging the racket. Except in the phrase ''backhand volley'', the term refers to a groundstroke (where th ...
and used many different slices and spin on his backhand side. He was also known for his jumping backhand dropshots which caught many of his opponents on the backfoot. Mayer retired from professional tennis after the 2018 US Open.


Career


2009

Florian made a return from injury reaching the final of the Nouméa Challenger but losing to
Brendan Evans Brendan Evans (born April 8, 1986 in Pontiac, Michigan) was an American professional tennis player. He is currently a retired professional tennis player. Tennis career Juniors On the junior circuit, Evans reached as high as No. 2 in the combine ...
. Mayer then qualified for the main draw of the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
by beating Sergei Bubka,
Blaž Kavčič Blaž Kavčič (born 5 March 1987) is a Slovenian former professional tennis player. He was the highest ranked Slovenian male player ever, achieving a career-high of World No. 68 in August 2012, until Aljaž Bedene began to play for Slovenia a ...
and
Amer Delic Amer may refer to: Places * Amer (river), a river in the Dutch province of North Brabant * Amer, Girona, a municipality in the province of Girona in Catalonia, Spain * Amber, India (also known as Amer, India), former city of Rajasthan state ** Am ...
. There he beat
Lamine Ouahab Lamine Ouahab (Arabic: الأمين وهاب ''al-ʼAmīn Wahhāb'') (born 22 December 1984) is a Moroccan professional tennis player. Career Juniors As a junior, Ouahab reached as high as No. 4 in singles in January 2002 (and No. 18 in doub ...
in the first round, and then lost to
Juan Martín del Potro Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...
in the second round.


2010

Mayer reached the third round at the 2010 Australian Open, defeating
Philipp Petzschner Philipp Petzschner (born 24 March 1984) is a retired German professional tennis player. He was known for his hard-hitting forehand and bursts of speed around the court. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 9, which he achieved in ...
and
Viktor Troicki Viktor Troicki ( sr-Cyrl, Виктор Троицки, ; born 10 February 1986) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup, and his second and third ATP singles titles at the 2015 a ...
. He then lost to
Juan Martín del Potro Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...
in four sets. At Wimbledon in 2010, Mayer beat 11th seed
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. Čilić has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including a major at the 2014 US Open. He was also runner-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the 2018 Austral ...
in straight sets to reach the second round, where he defeated
Mardy Fish Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.Fish won six tournaments on the mai ...
in four sets. He then lost to
Lu Yen-hsun Lu Yen-hsun (; born 14 August 1983) is a Taiwanese retired professional tennis player, who goes by the nickname Rendy Lu. He won the most titles on the ATP Challenger Tour in tennis history. His favorite surface is hardcourt, though several of ...
in the third round. He also reached the quarterfinals at the
Mercedes Cup The Stuttgart Open (sponsored since 2022 by Hugo Boss and called BOSS Open) is an ATP Tour 250 series professional tennis tournament on the ATP Tour. Between 1970 and 1989, the Stuttgart Open was a Grand Prix tennis circuit event. From 1990 to 19 ...
in Stuttgart, losing to
Gaël Monfils Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in November 2016. H ...
, and the semifinal in Hamburg, losing to eventual champion
Andrey Golubev Andrey Golubev ( rus, Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Го́лубев; born July 22, 1987) is a Kazakh professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 33, achieved on 4 October 2010 and his doubles ranking i ...
. At the Shanghai Rolex Masters, he lost to
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in the third round, after defeating Kevin Anderson and
Mikhail Youzhny Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Assoc ...
in the first two rounds. Mayer reached the final at the If Stockholm Open, after beating
Jarkko Nieminen Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born 23 July 1981) is a Finnish former professional tennis player. His highest ranking of world No. 13, achieved in July 2006, is a Finnish record. He has won two ATP singles titles and five doubles titles in his caree ...
in a tight semifinal, saving a match point. Mayer also beat world No. 5
Robin Söderling Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 4 singles ranking on 15 November 2010. His career highlights include rea ...
and two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist
Feliciano López Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016.In 2005, López was t ...
en route to the final, where he lost 4–6, 3–6, to the 16-Grand Slam titles holder
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
. He went 23–18 on the season and earned $513,955.


2011

Mayer started the new season in style. In preparation for the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
. he reached the quarterfinals of the
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
and the semifinals of the
Medibank International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, is a professional tennis tournament i ...
in Sydney. At the first Grand Slam tournament of the season in Melbourne, Mayer surprisingly defeated Doha finalist
Nikolay Davydenko Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( rus, Никола́й Влади́мирович Давыде́нко ; born 2 June 1981) is a Ukrainian-born Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 i ...
in four sets, only to lose against Japanese
Kei Nishikori is an inactive Japanese professional tennis player. He is the second male Japanese player to have been ranked in the top 5 in singles (after Jiro Sato), and the only one to do so in the Open Era. Nishikori first reached his career-high singles ...
in the second round. Two weeks later, he came through to his second semifinals of the year in Zagreb. On his way to this stage, he defeated top seed
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. Čilić has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including a major at the 2014 US Open. He was also runner-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the 2018 Austral ...
, 6–3, 6–4. He lost the semifinal against countryman
Michael Berrer Michael Berrer (born 1 July 1980) is a German retired professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 42 in May 2010. Career 2010 He reached the quarterfinal at the Aircel Chennai Open in January, losing t ...
. With this result, he was the new German no. 1 in the ATP ranking. At the
2011 BMW Open The 2011 BMW Open, also known as The BMW Open by FWU Takaful 2011 for sponsorship reasons, was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 96th edition of the event. It was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2011 ...
in Munich, Mayer reached his fourth career final. He was again not able to capture his maiden
ATP World Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...
title, after losing to
Nikolay Davydenko Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( rus, Никола́й Влади́мирович Давыде́нко ; born 2 June 1981) is a Ukrainian-born Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 i ...
in three sets. Two days after this loss, he managed to beat
Viktor Troicki Viktor Troicki ( sr-Cyrl, Виктор Троицки, ; born 10 February 1986) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup, and his second and third ATP singles titles at the 2015 a ...
in three sets in the first round of the
Mutua Madrid Open The Madrid Open ( es, Masters de Madrid, link=no), currently sponsored by Mutua Madrileña and known as the Mutua Madrid Open, is a joint men's and women's professional tennis tournament, held in Madrid, during early May. The clay-court event is ...
. He had to retire in the second round against
Thomaz Bellucci Thomaz Cocchiarali Bellucci (born 30 December 1987, in Tietê) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 21 in July 2010. Bellucci used a string of ATP Challenger Tour victories early i ...
. He rose to a new career-high rank of no. 28. Mayer reached the quarterfinals of the Italian Open in Rome. After three straight-set wins, Mayer could not keep up the momentum against
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
, after having won the first set. He went on to lose, 6–1, 1–6, 1–6. Again he rose to a new career-high rank of no. 21. By winning three out of three matches at the
World Team Cup The World Team Cup was the international men's team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). The inaugural edition of the tournament was contested in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica and was called the Nations Cup. No tourname ...
in Düsseldorf, Mayer was the key player in the German team to capture the trophy for the fifth time. He improved to no. 19. The German, however, could not overcome the second round of Roland Garros and Wimbledon, losing in fourth sets in both cases against
Alejandro Falla Alejandro Falla Ramírez (; born 14 November 1983) is a retired professional male tennis player from Colombia. The left-hander turned pro in 2000 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 48 in July 2012. At the 2006 Wimbledon t ...
and
Xavier Malisse Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a former Belgian professional tennis player. Born in the north-western Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed ''X-Man'', he is one of only two Belgian men (the other being David Goffin) to have been ranked i ...
, as he did in the Australian Open. In addition, he lost his Davis Cup quarterfinal match against
Richard Gasquet Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 7, attained on 9 July 2007. He has won a total of 15 singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best performances ...
, despite serving for the match in the third set. Two weeks later, he reached the Hamburg ATP 500 quarterfinals, losing in straight tiebreaks to third seed
Nicolás Almagro Nicolás Almagro Sánchez (; born 21 August 1985 in Murcia, Spain) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2008, 2010 and 2012 (losing each time to Rafael Nadal, the eventual ch ...
. However, in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of Montreal and Cincinnati, he lost in first round to
Richard Gasquet Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 7, attained on 9 July 2007. He has won a total of 15 singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best performances ...
and
Ivo Karlović Ivo Karlović (; born 28 February 1979) is a former Croatian professional tennis player. His height of 211 cm (6 ft 11 in) makes him the joint tallest ranked tennis player in history, along with Reilly Opelka. He has won eight ATP sin ...
, respectively. Mayer then reached the third round in the US Open (won to Mannarino and Lisnard, but lost in the round of 32 to fifth seed Ferrer), to achieve his best Grand Slam result of the year. He won his first title in Bucharest, defeating
Pablo Andújar Pablo Andújar Alba (; born 23 January 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. Andújar has won four ATP Tour singles titles and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 32 in July 2015. His best results are reaching the fourth ...
in the final 6–3, 6–1. On 13 October 2011, Mayer defeated world No. 2 Rafael Nadal in a brilliant display of tennis 7–6, 6–3.


2012

Mayer withdrew from the Australian Open due to injury. He couldn't win consecutively until the Miami Masters, where he defeated
Ivan Dodig Ivan Dodig (; born 2 January 1985) is a Croatian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles. He is a six-time Grand Slam champion, having won men's doubles titles at the 2015 French Open with Marcelo Melo, and the 2021 Aus ...
and Indian Wells finalist
John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers e ...
. He then lost in the fourth round to
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
. Mayer reached the
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
quarter-finals for the first time since 2004 Wimbledon. In the quarter finals, he lost to top seed
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
.


2013

Mayer reached quarter-final of Shanghai Masters and defeated French Open finalist
David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain Davis Cup team, Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP Tour 250, ATP 250, ATP Tour ...
.


2014

Mayer first played in Doha. He defeated
Michał Przysiężny Michał Przysiężny (; born 16 February 1984) is a former Polish professional tennis player. He reached the semifinals of St. Petersburg in 2013, achieving a career-high singles ranking of World No. 57 in January 2014. Career He started his ca ...
, then third seeded
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
who returned from injury layoff, then
Victor Hanescu The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
who upset
Fernando Verdasco Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spanish professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7, achieved in April 2009. His best performance in a Grand Slam was making the semifinals of the 2009 ...
. He then lost to
Gaël Monfils Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in November 2016. H ...
in the semi-finals. He reached the fourth round for the first time at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
. He defeated 14th seed
Mikhail Youzhny Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Assoc ...
in the second round, then 20th seed
Jerzy Janowicz Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a major semifinal at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Noted for his very powerful serv ...
in straight sets in the third round. In the fourth round, he was defeated by 3rd seed David Ferrer in 4 sets.


2016

Mayer won the
Gerry Weber Open The Halle Open is a men's tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1993, the event is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the ATP Tour schedule. Between 1993 and 2018 ...
in Halle, defeating
Andreas Seppi Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces. Tennis car ...
in the quarter final, world No. 7
Dominic Thiem Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, which he first achieved in March 2020. He is the second-highest r ...
in the semifinal and Alexander Zverev in the final, for his first victory in his career on German soil and his first victory at an ATP 500 tournament. Mayer won the final 6–2, 5–7, 6–3. As a result of this victory, Mayer's ranking rose 112 places from 192 to 80.


2017

Mayer got to the final at the
2017 German Open The 2017 German Open (also known as the 2017 German Tennis Championships) was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor red clay courts. It was the 111th edition of the German Open Tennis Championships and part of the ATP World Tour 500 series ...
in Hamburg where he lost to namesake
Leonardo Mayer Leonardo Martín Mayer (; ''Mayer'' locally or , ; born May 15, 1987) is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. Mayer achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 21 in June 2015 and world No. 48 in doubles in January 2019. ...
in three sets.


2018

Mayer played his last match on the ATP tour at the 2018 US Open, losing to
Borna Ćorić Borna Ćorić (; born 14 November 1996) is a Croatian professional tennis player. On 5 November 2018, he reached his best singles ranking of world No. 12. On 21 August 2022, Ćorić became the lowest-ranked champion in Masters 1000 history when ...
in four sets in the first round.


Playing style

Mayer is an all-court player known for his unique and creative style of play. He has an unusually long take-back on both his forehand and two-handed backhand and generally hits more top-spin than flat on both wings. Despite his height, his groundstrokes and serve lack power, but are consistent and unpredictable. He uses a variety of spins on both wings to mix his shots up and hit drop-shots. He is well known for his double-handed backhand slice, similar to that of
Fabrice Santoro Fabrice Vetea Santoro (born 9 December 1972) is a French retired tennis player. Successful in both singles and doubles, he had an unusually long professional career, with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career, and he is ...
and
Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 ...
, and often pulls off jumping backhands and jumping slice drop-shots which catch his opponents off guard. His drop-shots are particularly effective on clay and grass, where he has had most success. Despite having a weaker, top-spin serve, Mayer occasionally serve and volleys and is also known for his two-handed backhand cutting volley. He also often uses a
Chip and charge Players use different strategies while playing tennis to enhance their own strengths and exploit their opponent's weaknesses in order to gain the advantage and win more Point (tennis), points. Players typically specialize or naturally play in a c ...
tactic during points to finish points off. This makes him unpredictable and tricky to play against. Mayer's biggest weaknesses are his lack of match consistency and fitness, having had inconsistent results throughout his career and a relatively small build. He has also suffered from numerous injuries throughout his career, most notably his groin injury in 2015 that prevented him from playing for more than a year. However, he has since made a comeback, winning his second title at the 2016
Halle Open The Halle Open is a men's tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1993, the event is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the ATP Tour schedule. Between 1993 and 2018 ...
.


ATP career finals


Singles: 7 (2 titles, 5 runner-ups)


Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)


Team competition: 2 (2 titles)


ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals


Singles: 25 (14–11)


Performance timelines


Singles


Doubles


Record against other players


Record against top 10 players

Mayer's record against players who have been ranked world No. 10 or higher. Only ATP Tour, Grand Slam and Davis Cup matches are considered.


Wins over top 10 players


German tournaments


References


External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Florian 1983 births Living people German male tennis players Olympic tennis players of Germany Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Bayreuth Tennis people from Bavaria