Gerald Melzer celebrates opening victory in Liberec
Gerald Melzer won his opening match at the ATP Challenger tournament in Liberec - it was his first victory at Challenger level in more than two years.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Aug 03, 2021, 07:14 pm
At the start, Melzer beat Andrej Martin (ATP No. 117) seeded four times with 6: 3, 5: 7 and 6: 4. The 31-year-old from Vienna is in the field thanks to his Protected Ranking; Melzer is only listed at 1150 in the current world rankings.
Melzer's comeback was open for a long time, an ankle injury in 2019 had put him out of action. In a tennisnet conversation last year, he stated that he was uncertain "whether it will ever happen again."
Melzer, formerly number 68 in the ATP ranking, only made his comeback in May this year in Antalya after almost two years without a single appearance, and at the ITF tournament in Telfs he won two matches for the first time in July.
In Liberec he will now meet qualifier Evan Furness, currently ranked 302nd in round two.