Erste Bank Open: that's it! Jürgen Melzer says goodbye with defeat to Alexander Zverev
Jürgen Melzer and Alexander Zverev were eliminated in the first round of the Erste Bank Open 2021. The two were defeated by John Peers and Filip Polasek 6: 7 (3) and 5: 7. For Melzer it was the last match in his professional career.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Oct 27, 2021, 06:37 pm
Nobody said it would be easy to say goodbye. Which is true both athletically and mentally. In any case, Jürgen Melzer had put a high hurdle in the way of the draw at his last tournament and partner Alexander Zverev in personae Filip Polasek and John Peers. The Slovak and his Australian partner last won the penultimate ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the 2021 season in Indian Wells.
In any case, the tennis fans had noticed that an Austrian tennis legend might be playing her last match. The program on Wednesday at the Heumarkt was packed with pick-packs, shortly after 5 p.m. Melzer and Zverev and their opponents walked in in front of the well-attended grandstands. The fans got to see the close match they expected, with a better ending for Peers / Polasek. The two won 7: 6 (3) and 7: 5.
Melzer with an outstanding career
If it really was Jürgen Melzer's last match, the now 40-year-old left-hander will end his career with 17 doubles titles. He reached the two largest with Philipp Petzschner (2010 in Wimbledon and 2011 at the US Open), the last with Edouard Roger-Vasselin in St. Petersburg in 2020. In the end there were five individual championships, two of them in Vienna (2009 and 2010).
Who knows: Maybe Jürgen Melzer will be ready for a short comeback after all. But if it was the defeat against one of the world's best doubles at the moment, then the Lower Austrian will not worry. The last point? An ace from Filip Polasek on October 27th at 6:27 pm.
Here the double tableau in Vienna
wienmap