By Cheryl Jones
Florian Mayer has ended his title drought with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, over compatriot Alexander Zverev in the final of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.
It wasn’t a surprise that a German won the Gerry Weber Open today. That was a given after the semifinal contests on Saturday afternoon yielded two men from Germany to face off in the final. The first was Alexander Zverev, a 19-year-old who has been tapped to be part of the “Next Generation” of tennis by those in the know. (That list includes several young players who have shown themselves to be worthy candidates to succeed the likes of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray who have dominated the game for the last decade.) He defeated Roger Federer to land the coveted Sunday afternoon spot.
A bit later on Saturday, Florian Mayer gained a berth on center court when he defeated Dominic Thiem. Mayer has often been lost in the doldrums of the rankings since he became a professional in 2001. (Mayer’s professional career has been plagued with injuries.) In 2011, he was ranked 18, but of late, it’s 192. In all the years he has been competing on the men’s tour, only one trophy has made its way to his home, and that was in September of 2011 when he took home the Nastase Tiriac Trophy in Bucharest, Romania.
Today, in what seemed like a Youth versus Experience match, there were questions about Mayer’s health, his stamina and frankly, his luck as the match began. Of course there were many who were curious if the nineteen-year-old Zverev would perform well in such a significant venue, as well. The crowd was expectant as the men took their places promptly at three o’clock. There was fanfare that included the Gerry Weber bear goading the crowd with antics that brought a unison chuckle from the east, west, north and south of the near capacity stadium seats. Zverev won the coin toss and chose to receive. In reality, it didn’t matter. Even though the youngster took the second set, it didn’t seem likely that his game would match up well with the savvy Mayer’s.
Mayer has been off the tour for sixteen months with an injury that would have sidelined most anyone. He had an adductor tendon tear that is brutally painful and one of those injuries that couch potatoes don’t often acquire, because it’s difficult to tear a spongy tendon. Athletes have tendons that are more apt to tear, because like muscles, it’s far easier to do harm to toned body parts than soft ones.
The treatment he received must have worked miracles. He looked strong throughout the tournament. Along the way, he defeated Brian Baker, received a walkover when Kei Nishikori withdrew with a rib injury, then sent Andreas Seppi back to Italy, Thiem off to Austria, and finally, today, Zverev. It was a banner week for Mayer indeed. It was the first victory of his career on German soil and his first victory at an ATP 500 tournament.
Mayer simply outplayed Zverev this afternoon. The three set match ended 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, after a teetering Zverev seemed to run out of energy. Perhaps that wasn’t the problem; maybe it was just that Mayer had more shots to choose from than Zverev could have accumulated in his brief career. Since becoming a professional in late 2013, Zverev hasn’t been a victor, but having been a finalist at Open de Nice and now the Gerry Weber Open. It looks as if he is on his way to a successful career.
Mayer vanquished his young countryman in six minutes less than two hours. Mayer did what he could to change the complexion of the match. His little lobs just behind Zverev worked wonders as he chipped away at the young man’s confidence. In the end, all was good and Mayer now has a 500 Series trophy to remind him of just what kind of reward is possible if more than luck is in the offing.
