Florian Mayer

Florian Mayer

Mayer at the 2013 French Open
Country (sports)	Germany
Residence	Bayreuth, Germany
Born	(1983-10-05) 5 October 1983 (age 40) Bayreuth, West Germany
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro	2001
Retired	2018
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach	Tobias Summerer (2009–2018)
Prize money	US$7,278,992
Singles
Career record	243–261 (48.2%)
Career titles	2
Highest ranking	No. 18 (6 June 2011)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (2014)
French Open	2R (2004, 2011, 2012)
Wimbledon	QF (2004, 2012)
US Open	3R (2011, 2013)
Doubles
Career record	51–111 (31.5%)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 47 (18 June 2012)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	2R (2008, 2011)
French Open	2R (2015, 2016, 2017)
Wimbledon	2R (2005, 2007)
US Open	3R (2004, 2010)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	QF (2008, 2011, 2014)

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. At the 2004 Wimbledon Championships, 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.

The biggest win of his career came at the 2011 Shanghai Rolex Masters when he upset twenty-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the round of 16.

Mayer was known for his unorthodox style of play. He had a long backswing on his forehand and backhand 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.

2009

Florian made a return from injury reaching the final of the Nouméa Challenger but losing to Brendan Evans. Mayer then qualified for the main draw of the Australian Open by beating Sergey Bubka, Blaž Kavčič and Amer Delić. There he beat Lamine Ouahab in the first round, and then lost to Juan Martín del Potro in the second round.

2010

Mayer reached the third round at the 2010 Australian Open, defeating Philipp Petzschner and Viktor Troicki. He then lost to Juan Martín del Potro in four sets. At Wimbledon in 2010, Mayer beat 11th seed Marin Čilić in straight sets to reach the second round, where he defeated Mardy Fish in four sets. He then lost to Lu Yen-hsun in the third round. He also reached the quarterfinals at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, losing to Gaël Monfils, and the semifinal in Hamburg, losing to eventual champion Andrey Golubev. At the Shanghai Rolex Masters, he lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round, after defeating Kevin Anderson and Mikhail Youzhny in the first two rounds. Mayer reached the final at the If Stockholm Open, after beating Jarkko Nieminen in a tight semifinal, saving a match point. Mayer also beat world No. 5 Robin Söderling and two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist Feliciano López en route to the final, where he lost 4–6, 3–6, to the 16-Grand Slam titles holder Roger Federer.

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. he reached the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International and the semifinals of the Medibank International in Sydney. At the first Grand Slam tournament of the season in Melbourne, Mayer surprisingly defeated Doha finalist Nikolay Davydenko in four sets, only to lose against Japanese Kei Nishikori 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, 6–3, 6–4. He lost the semifinal against countryman Michael Berrer. With this result, he was the new German no. 1 in the ATP ranking. At the 2011 BMW Open in Munich, Mayer reached his fourth career final. He was again not able to capture his maiden ATP World Tour title, after losing to Nikolay Davydenko in three sets. Two days after this loss, he managed to beat Viktor Troicki in three sets in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open. He had to retire in the second round against Thomaz Bellucci. 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, 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 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 and Xavier Malisse, as he did in the Australian Open. In addition, he lost his Davis Cup quarterfinal match against Richard Gasquet, 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. However, in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of Montreal and Cincinnati, he lost in first round to Richard Gasquet and Ivo Karlović, 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 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 and Indian Wells finalist John Isner. He then lost in the fourth round to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Mayer reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time since 2004 Wimbledon. In the quarter-finals, he lost to top seed Novak Djokovic.

2013

Mayer reached quarter-final of Shanghai Masters and defeated French Open finalist David Ferrer.

2014

Mayer first played in Doha. He defeated Michał Przysiężny, then third seeded Andy Murray who returned from injury layoff, then Victor Hănescu who upset Fernando Verdasco. He then lost to Gaël Monfils in the semi-finals. He reached the fourth round for the first time at the Australian Open. He defeated 14th seed Mikhail Youzhny in the second round, then 20th seed Jerzy Janowicz 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 in Halle, defeating Andreas Seppi in the quarter-final, world No. 7 Dominic Thiem 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 in Hamburg where he lost to namesake Leonardo Mayer in three sets.

2018

Mayer played his last match on the ATP tour at the 2018 US Open, losing to Borna Ćorić in four sets in the first round.

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 and Jimmy Connors, 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 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.

Singles

Doubles

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

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Aug 2005	Orange Warsaw Open, Poland	International	Clay	Gaël Monfils	6–7(6–8), 6–4, 5–7
Loss	0–2	Aug 2006	Orange Warsaw Open, Poland	International	Clay	Nikolay Davydenko	6–7(6–8), 7–5, 4–6
Loss	0–3	Oct 2010	Stockholm Open, Sweden	250 Series	Hard (i)	Roger Federer	4–6, 3–6
Loss	0–4	May 2011	Bavarian Championships, Germany	250 Series	Clay	Nikolay Davydenko	3–6, 6–3, 1–6
Win	1–4	Sep 2011	Romanian Open, Romania	250 Series	Clay	Pablo Andújar	6–3, 6–1
Win	2–4	Jun 2016	Halle Open, Germany	500 Series	Grass	Alexander Zverev	6–2, 5–7, 6–3
Loss	2–5	Jul 2017	German Open, Germany	500 Series	Clay	Leonardo Mayer	4–6, 6–4, 3–6

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	May 2005	Bavarian Championships, Germany	International	Clay	Alexander Waske	Mario Ančić   Julian Knowle	3–6, 6–1, 3–6

Team competition: 2 (2 titles)

Result	W–L	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partners	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	2005	World Team Cup, Germany	Clay	Tommy Haas   Nicolas Kiefer   Alexander Waske	Guillermo Cañas   Juan Ignacio Chela   Guillermo Coria   Gastón Gaudio	2–1
Win	2–0	2011	World Team Cup, Germany	Clay	Philipp Kohlschreiber   Philipp Petzschner   Christopher Kas	Juan Mónaco   Juan Ignacio Chela   Máximo González	2–1

Singles: 25 (14–11)

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Dec 2002	Gran Canaria, Spain	Futures	Clay	Rafael Nadal	6–7(3–7), 4–6
Loss	0–2	Feb 2003	Lisboa, Portugal	Futures	Clay	Juan Pablo Brzezicki	3–6, 2–6
Win	1–0	Jul 2003	St. Petersburg, Russia	Challenger	Clay	Michal Mertiňák	4–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–1
Win	1–2	Nov 2003	Gran Canaria, Spain	Futures	Clay	Iván Navarro	6–4, 6–2
Loss	1–1	Feb 2004	Wolfsburg, Germany	Challenger	Clay	Michal Tabara	4–6, 3–6
Win	2–1	Mar 2004	Mexico City, Mexico	Challenger	Clay	Adrián García	6–4, 6–3
Win	3–1	Jun 2006	Fürth, Germany	Challenger	Clay	Torsten Popp	6–3, 6–1
Win	4–1	Jul 2006	Tampere, Finland	Challenger	Clay	Ernests Gulbis	7–6(7–4), 2–6, 6–3
Win	5–1	Aug 2006	Graz, Austria	Challenger	Hard	Rainer Schüttler	6–4, 5–7, 6–2
Loss	5–2	May 2007	Dresden, Germany	Challenger	Clay	Yuri Schukin	6–7(5–7), 6–7(3–7)
Loss	5–3	Jun 2007	Prostějov, Czech Republic	Challenger	Clay	Sergio Roitman	6–7(1–7), 4–6
Loss	5–4	Jun 2007	Braunschweig, Germany	Challenger	Clay	Óscar Hernández	2–6, 6–1, 1–6
Loss	5–5	Jan 2009	Nouméa, New Caledonia	Challenger	Hard	Brendan Evans	6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Win	6–5	Mar 2009	Bangkok, Thailand	Challenger	Hard	Danai Udomchoke	7–5, 6–2
Loss	6–6	Apr 2009	Sofia, Bulgaria	Challenger	Clay	Ivo Minář	4–6, 3–6
Win	7–6	Jun 2009	Karlsruhe, Germany	Challenger	Clay	Dustin Brown	6–2, 6–4
Loss	7–7	Aug 2009	Istanbul, Turkey	Challenger	Hard	Illya Marchenko	4–6, 4–6
Win	8–7	Jan 2010	Nouméa, New Caledonia	Challenger	Hard	Flavio Cipolla	6–3, 6–0
Win	9–7	Mar 2010	Sunrise, United States	Challenger	Hard	Gilles Simon	6–4, 6–4
Loss	9–8	Apr 2010	Rome, Italy	Challenger	Clay	Federico Delbonis	4–6, 3–6
Win	10–8	Jun 2012	Prostějov, Czech Republic	Challenger	Clay	Jan Hájek	7–6(7–1), 3–6, 7–6(7–3)
Win	11–8	Jul 2013	Braunschweig, Germany	Challenger	Clay	Jiří Veselý	4–6, 6–2, 6–1
Win	12–8	Aug 2016	Portorož, Slovenia	Challenger	Hard	Daniil Medvedev	6–1, 6–2
Win	13–8	Aug 2016	Meerbusch, Germany	Challenger	Clay	Maximilian Marterer	7–6(7–4), 6–2
Loss	13–9	Sep 2017	Szczecin, Poland	Challenger	Clay	Richard Gasquet	6–7(3–7), 6–7(4–7)

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.

Player	Years	Matches	Record	Win %	Hard	Clay	Grass	Carpet
Number 1 ranked players
Lleyton Hewitt	2006–2012	2	1–1	50%	0–1	1–0	–	–
Rafael Nadal	2011–2017	3	1–2	33%	1–1	0–1	–	–
Andy Murray	2011–2014	4	1–3	25%	1–1	0–2	–	–
Juan Carlos Ferrero	2005–2010	5	1–4	20%	0–2	1–1	0–1	–
Andre Agassi	2004	1	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	–
Andy Roddick	2006	1	0–1	0%	–	–	0–1	–
Marat Safin	2004	1	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	–
Novak Djokovic	2010–2014	5	0–5	0%	0–3	–	0–2	–
Roger Federer	2005–2017	8	0–8	0%	0–2	0–1	0–5	–
Number 2 ranked players
Tommy Haas	2004–2013	5	0–5	0%	0–2	0–3	–	–
Number 3 ranked players
Alexander Zverev	2016	1	1–0	100%	–	–	1–0	–
Guillermo Coria	2004–2005	3	2–1	67%	–	1–1	1–0	–
Grigor Dimitrov	2011–2013	2	1–1	50%	–	1–1	–	–
Milos Raonic	2012–2016	2	1–1	50%	0–1	1–0	–	–
Dominic Thiem	2016	2	1–1	50%	–	–	1–1	–
Juan Martín del Potro	2006–2012	5	2–3	40%	1–2	1–1	–	–
Nikolay Davydenko	2006–2013	8	3–5	38%	1–3	1–2	1–0	–
David Ferrer	2004–2014	8	3–5	38%	1–3	2–2	–	–
Marin Čilić	2010–2017	7	2–5	29%	1–3	0–1	1–1	–
Ivan Ljubičić	2006–2011	4	1–3	25%	1–3	–	–	–
David Nalbandian	2004–2012	4	1–3	25%	1–1	0–1	–	0–1
Stefanos Tsitsipas	2018	1	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	–
Stan Wawrinka	2006–2011	2	0–2	0%	0–2	–	–	–
Number 4 ranked players
Robin Söderling	2004–2010	4	2–2	50%	2–1	0–1	–	–
Nicolas Kiefer	2005	2	1–1	50%	1–0	–	–	0–1
James Blake	2005–2013	5	1–4	20%	1–4	–	–	–
Tomáš Berdych	2004–2013	6	1–5	17%	1–4	0–1	–	–
Thomas Enqvist	2005	1	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	–
Tim Henman	2004	1	0–1	0%	–	0–1	–	–
Kei Nishikori	2008–2011	2	0–2	0%	0–2	–	–	–
Sébastien Grosjean	2004–2010	3	0–3	0%	0–2	–	0–1	–
Number 5 ranked players
Fernando González	2004–2005	2	2–0	100%	1–0	1–0	–	–
Tommy Robredo	2006–2016	6	3–3	50%	2–3	1–0	–	–
Kevin Anderson	2010–2015	2	1–1	50%	1–0	0–1	–	–
Gastón Gaudio	2004–2006	2	1–1	50%	–	1–1	–	–
Jiří Novák	2004	2	1–1	50%	–	1–0	–	0–1
Rainer Schüttler	2004–2009	3	1–2	33%	–	1–2	–	–
Andrey Rublev	2017	1	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	–
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	2010–2016	6	0–6	0%	0–6	–	–	–
Number 6 ranked players
Wayne Ferreira	2004	1	1–0	100%	–	–	1–0	–
Gilles Simon	2006	1	1–0	100%	–	1–0	–	–
Karol Kučera	2004	1	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	–
Gaël Monfils	2005–2014	5	0–5	0%	0–1	0–3	0–1	–
Number 7 ranked players
Fernando Verdasco	2005–2007	4	3–1	75%	1–0	1–1	1–0	–
David Goffin	2013–2017	4	2–2	50%	1–1	1–1	–	–
Richard Gasquet	2004–2018	8	3–5	38%	1–3	0–1	2–1	–
Mardy Fish	2007–2011	4	1–3	25%	0–3	–	1–0	–
Mario Ančić	2005	1	0–1	0%	–	0–1	–	–
Thomas Johansson	2005	1	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	–
Number 8 ranked players
Janko Tipsarević	2010–2011	2	2–0	100%	2–0	–	–	–
Hubert Hurkacz	2016	1	1–0	100%	–	1–0	–	–
Jürgen Melzer	2011	1	1–0	100%	–	1–0	–	–
Mark Philippoussis	2006	1	1–0	100%	1–0	–	–	–
Diego Schwartzman	2017	1	1–0	100%	–	1–0	–	–
Radek Štěpánek	2004–2011	4	3–1	75%	2–1	1–0	–	–
Mikhail Youzhny	2004–2015	9	6–3	67%	2–1	3–1	1–1	–
John Isner	2012–2017	3	1–2	33%	1–1	0–1	–	–
Guillermo Cañas	2004	1	0–1	0%	–	0–1	–	–
Jack Sock	2012	1	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	–
Marcos Baghdatis	2007–2013	2	0–2	0%	0–1	–	0–1	–
Number 9 ranked players
Fabio Fognini	2011–2012	3	3–0	100%	3–0	–	–	–
Joachim Johansson	2004	1	1–0	100%	–	–	1–0	–
Paradorn Srichaphan	2004	1	1–0	100%	–	1–0	–	–
Roberto Bautista Agut	2013–2018	3	1–2	33%	0–1	1–1	–	–
Nicolás Almagro	2006–2011	5	1–4	20%	1–1	0–2	–	0–1
Mariano Puerta	2005	1	0–1	0%	–	0–1	–	–
Number 10 ranked players
Lucas Pouille	2017	1	1–0	100%	–	–	1–0	–
Juan Mónaco	2004–2015	9	6–3	67%	2–0	4–2	0–1	–
Ernests Gulbis	2009	1	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	–
Frances Tiafoe	2017	1	0–1	0%	0–1	–	–	–
Pablo Carreño Busta	2017–2018	2	0–2	0%	–	0–2	–	–
Total	2004–2018	216	77–139	36%	34–76	30–42	13–17	0–4