Tennis: The disease stops Melzer in Vienna

"It was already bad for him on Tuesday and he has not improved since," said tournament director Herwig Straka. "He was right at the doctor's and could not even stand straight in. He's really very bad together." Melzer did not even receive the solemn farewell in the hall – the ÖTV Davis Cupper long time was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

For Melzer, this marks the end of a long and successful career in singles. The veteran returns to many triumphs at the town hall, but also on bitter defeats. The highlights were, of course, the title wins of 2009 and 2010, thanks to which he was allowed to register as the only second Austrian to be on the winners list at Vogelweidplatz.

Two triumphs at the town hall

Even before that, Melzer had already been convinced by his performances during his home tournament: Thus, he managed his very first match of the 1999 ATP Tour in Vienna, a victory against the German Lars Burgsmüller, before his compatriot Nicolas Kiefer stops him. In 2002, Melzer shone with a win against Tommy Haas, then second in the world, which earned him a quarter-final spot.

The round of the eight best Melzer also succeeded in 2006 and 2008, before the two consecutive victories. For the quarter-finals, that was enough in 2011, while against Kevin Anderson, just against these Anderson, he could not face this year due to illness.

In Paris, defeated Djokovic

Overall, this allowed Melzer to win victories in five singles tournaments. In addition to both shots, he won the title in 2006 in Bucharest, in 2012 in Memphis and in 2013 in Winston-Salem. Eight more times he has qualified for an ATP final, notably in 2005 in St. Pölten and in 2008 in Kitzbühel. At the Grand Slam level, Melzer's 2010 semi-final matches in Paris stand out when he defeated Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals after a net deficit.

He has twice been in the round of 16 at Wimbledon and once in Melbourne and New York. The best world ranking was the eighth rank he reached in April 2011. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Stan Warwinka, Andre Agbadi, Marat Safin and Juan Carlos Ferrero – against all these tennis superstars, Melzer was the winner.

Grand Duplicate Titles

Melzer had even more success in doubles: the southpaw won in 2010 with Philipp Petzschner at Wimbledon, while the German won the US Open 2011. Completing this record with a mixed title at Wimbledon, that he also had in 2011 with imported Iveta Benesova.

In doubles, Melzer would also like to continue for a while: "There is still a lot to do in there," said Melzer, who is aiming for a partnership with Philipp Oswald. "In addition, I have to collect points to improve my ranking." He is still in Zuzutrauen.