Philipp Petzschner

Philipp Petzschner
Country (sports)	Germany
Residence	Pulheim, Germany
Born	March 24, 1984 (age 40); Bayreuth, Germany
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro	2001
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$2,823,581
Singles
Career record	77–92
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 35 (September 14, 2009)
Current ranking	No. 144 (June 11, 2012)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	2R (2012)
French Open	2R (2009, 2011)
Wimbledon	3R (2009, 2010)
US Open	2R (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011)
Doubles
Career record	109–102
Career titles	5
Highest ranking	No. 9 (4 April 2011)
Current ranking	No. 18 (11 June 2012)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2011)
French Open	3R (2012)
Wimbledon	W (2010)
US Open	W (2011)
	Last updated on: 11 June 2012.

Philipp Petzschner (born on March 24, 1984 in Bayreuth, Germany) is a professional German tennis player. He is known for his hard-hitting forehand and bursts of speed around the court. He is sponsored by Wilson for his racquets and Adidas for his attire and shoes. His career high rank was No. 9 for doubles which he achieved on April 4, 2011.

Career

2007

He entered the 2007 US Open as a Qualifier entry. He defeated fellow German player Benjamin Becker in the first round 2–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–1 before losing to other fellow German player Tommy Haas in four sets.

2008

In 2008 he managed to qualify for the Wimbledon Championships where he fell to Croatian Mario Ančić in the second round 1–6, 4–6, 7–6, 6–4, 3–6.

In October, he captured his first ATP Title in Vienna after he won his qualifying round matches and defeating top seeded Stanislas Wawrinka in the first round.

2009

At the 2009 Australian Open he was defeated by Brian Dabul in the first round. In Paris at the second Grand Slam of the year Petzschner reached the second round after defeating Canadian Peter Polansky in five sets. There he lost to Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in straight sets. At the 2009 Gerry Weber Open he took revench for the second round defeat in Paris against Fernando Verdasco. He won in three sets before losing to Olivier Rochus from Belgium in the second round. At the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, he beat Rajeev Ram in the first round, then Mischa Zverev in the second round, but lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the third round. After this he reached the last sixteen in Washington, D.C. and Montreal. Petzschner was defeated by Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round of the 2009 US Open after leading 2:0 sets. He was not able to defend his title in Vienna as he had to pull out due to an injury.

2010

He lost the first round of the 2010 Australian Open when comfortably leading two sets to love, only to lose the next three sets against Florian Mayer. In February he won his first doubles title with Jürgen Melzer at the 2010 PBZ Zagreb Indoors. At the same event he reached the singles semifinal where he lost to Michael Berrer. In late February he managed to reach his second semifinal of the season in Memphis but he was defeated by American John Isner. At the Gerry Weber Open in Halle/Westfalen in June Petzschner lost to world number two Roger Federer in a tough semifinal encounter 6–7, 4–6. In the Wimbledon Championships singles Petzschner was defeated after a comeback of eventual champion and world number one Rafael Nadal in five sets after leading 2–1 sets in the third round. In the Wimbledon Championships Doubles Petzschner won his first major-title with Austrian Jürgen Melzer. They were the first unseeded players to win this competition in five years. This also made Petzschner the first German man to win a Grand Slam tournament since Boris Becker won the Australian Open in 1996. At the 2010 US Open Petzschner lost in straight sets to Novak Djokovic in the second round. At the end of August he qualified for the World Tour Finals in London with Jürgen Melzer. Petzschner and Melzer were knocked out in the group stage of the competition finishing third. They won one out of three matches which came in the second match when they defeated Leander Paes and Lukáš Dlouhý in three sets. Petzschner finished the year as World No. 57 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles. He earned a career-high prize money of $702,058 with a match record of 21–19 in singles and 22–16 in doubles.

2011

The height of Mr. Petzschner's season was reached when he and his partner Jurgen Melzer won the US Open Men's Doubles Final, defeating the sixth seeded Polish team of Mariusz Fystenberg and Marcin Matkowski. A controversy occurred at 2-2 in the second set, when a ball bounced on Mr. Petzschner's left shin and the chair umpire ruled the play valid. When asked, Petzschner nodded ambiguously, even though the video replay later confirmed that the ball was returned illegally. Nevertheless, the incident did not affect the match's final result 6–2, 6–2, and the team of Petzschner and Melzer split a $ 420,000 champion's purse.

Earlier in the year, the pair also reached the doubles quarterfinal at the 2011 Australian Open, when they lost to Bob and Mike Bryan. In singles play Petzschner was defeated in five sets by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round of the tournament. In Rotterdam Petzschner won his third doubles title partnering Jürgen Melzer.

Petzschner reached his first quarterfinal of the season in Dubai defeating Andreas Seppi and Philipp Kohlschreiber before falling to Tomas Berdych. He represented Germany in the Davis Cup first round tie against Croatia in Zagreb. Partnering Christopher Kas, he defeated Ivo Karlović and Ivan Dodig in five sets to give Germany a 2–1 lead. In the deciding fifth rubber Petzschner replaced Florian Mayer and secured Germany's quarterfinal spot with a three-set win against Ivo Karlović.

At the 2011 BMW Open in Munich he reached his first semifinal of the season. He defeated Ivan Dodig, Mikhail Youzhny and Potito Starace before losing to Florian Mayer. At the World Team Cup in Düsseldorf Petzschner won the deciding doubles match partnering Philipp Kohlschreiber in the final against Argentina. In singles he gave Germany a 1–0 lead against Russia defeating Igor Andreev in straight sets. Petzschner reached his second career singles final in Halle, on grass. He retired injured while trailing compatriot Kohlschreiber 6–7, 0–2.

Playing style

Petzschner has a powerful serve (up to 230 km/h). The forehand is his biggest weapon. His slice backhand is very flat and dangerous. He is an excellent player on the net, which makes him a better doubles player.

Personal life

He married Dewi in September 2010. They have one son.

Grand Slam Finals

Doubles: 2 (2–0)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	2010	Wimbledon Championships	Grass	Jürgen Melzer	Robert Lindstedt Horia Tecău	6–1, 7–5, 7–5
Winner	2011	US Open	Hard	Jürgen Melzer	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski	6–2, 6–2

ATP Career Finals

Singles: 2 (1–1)

Winner – Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (1–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (0–1)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	October 12, 2008	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Gaël Monfils	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	1.	June 12, 2011	Halle, Germany	Grass	Philipp Kohlschreiber	6–7^(5–7), 0–2 ret.

Doubles: 8 (5–3)

Legend (Doubles)
Grand Slam tournaments (2–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (1–1)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (2–2)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	October 12, 2008	Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Alexander Peya	Max Mirnyi Andy Ram	1–6, 5–7
Winner	1.	February 7, 2010	Zagreb, Croatia	Hard (i)	Jürgen Melzer	Arnaud Clément Olivier Rochus	3–6, 6–3, [10–8]
Winner	2.	July 3, 2010	London, England	Grass	Jürgen Melzer	Robert Lindstedt Horia Tecău	6–1, 7–5, 7–5
Runner-up	2.	July 18, 2010	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Christopher Kas	Carlos Berlocq Eduardo Schwank	6–7^(5–7), 6–7^(6–8)
Winner	3.	February 13, 2011	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Hard (i)	Jürgen Melzer	Michaël Llodra Nenad Zimonjić	6–4, 3–6, [10–5]
Winner	4.	July 16, 2011	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Jürgen Melzer	Marcel Granollers Marc López	6–3, 6–4
Winner	5.	September 10, 2011	New York, United States	Hard	Jürgen Melzer	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski	6–2, 6–2
Runner-up	3.	January 7, 2012	Brisbane, Australia	Hard	Jürgen Melzer	Max Mirnyi Daniel Nestor	1–6, 2–6