Jurgen Melzer at German Open

In a tournament where form has not held, third seeded Jurgen Melzer emerged as a strong candidate to claim the German Open Tennis Tournament in Hamburg. Melzer put on a sizzling display of finely tuned strategic tennis.

The tall Austrian arrived at the courts with confidence and played with a determined strategy that kept the upset-minded Italian Andreas Seppi, the tour’s 70th ranked player, at bay. Seppi has performed beautifully this week. Using a combination of steady serving and a lethal backhand the Italian upset heavily favored world number 22 Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci in three grueling sets, 7-6 (0), 7-5, 7-5 in the quarterfinals.

Even more surprisingly, Seppi held a 2-1 career advantage against the highly regarded Melzer. But, this is not the same Jurgen Melzer that Seppi defeated in the past.

This Jurgen Melzer has a plan, has learned to perform well on the big stage and has methodically worked his way into competitive form. Jurgen Melzer does not loose matches he should win, and in that sense the Austrian has distanced himself from the Hamburg field.

Melzer worked Seppi’s forehand at every opportunity. If Andreas wanted a backhand, he would have to work around his forehand. Seppi was unable to hit winners and as his unforced errors rose, his chances of reaching the finals diminished. Seppi hung tough but could not hold in the tenth game of the first set as Melzer unleashed three of his best returns of the day.

Once the Austrian nailed down the first set, he focused on the second. Seppi seemed frustrated with the first set loss and lost serve twice in the second to seal Melzer’s 6-4, 6-2 triumph in seventy minutes.

Melzer has not lost a set at Hamburg. His record on clay has improved to 16-6 and his 2010 overall record stands at 34-16. His brightest moment may have been his semifinal appearance against Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.

Needless to say, it will take a heroic effort by upstart world number 82, Andrey Golubev, to wrest the trophy from Melzer. However, Kazakhstan’s 23-year old wonderboy is doing his best to make a name for himself. On Thursday, the birthday boy sent the top seed, Nikolay Davydenko, packing. On Friday, Andrey sent Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin away after a sound 6-4, 6-1 thrashing.

On Saturday, the streak seemed certain to stop as the last remaining German, Florian Mayer, would not only have an experience advantage but a strong, vocal crowd cheering him to victory.

Golubev seemed undistracted by the boisterous crowd. He played served with the consistent confidence that led him past Davydenko and while not possessing any unique weapons, he did carry the play against Mayer.

The keys to Golubev’s 7-6(6), 6-4 victory were Andrey’s ability to stay calm and execute a game plan that called for mixing the pace and pulling Mayer off the baseline. The winner executed the plan to perfection and only needed to save three of the four break point opportunities he faced.

Mayer seemed surprised by Golubev’s tactics. He faced nine break points and although Golubev could only convert on two, that was all the winner needed to sweep into the finals.

Like Melzer, Golubev has yet to drop a set in Hamburg. Sunday’s final will be just his second ATP finals while this will be Melzer’s ninth. However, the Austrian only has a 2-6 record in final matches. Sunday’s meeting will be the first between the two competitors. Melzer is unlikely to take the inexperienced birthday boy lightly.

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