‘Belief’ earns Golubev Hamburg crown

 

Originally published on: 26/07/10 12:42

Andrey Golubev defeated Jurgen Melzer to claim the German Open Tennis Championships in Hamburg and promptly shot 45 places up the ATP rankings to a career-high No.37.

The 23-year-old – who had defeated 2009 champ Nikolay Davydenko en route to the final – became the first player from Kazakhstan to win an ATP World Tour title with his dream triumph.

“I never expected that my first title would be on clay,” confessed Golubev, whose only other ATP Tour final appearance came on the indoor hard courts of St Petersburg in 2008, when he finished a runner-up to Britain’s Andy Murray.

“I believed in my game, my forehand and backhand,” said the Kazak in explanation of his giant-killing run in Hamburg, where he didn’t drop a set. “In the important points I played very good.”

Melzer, who rose to No.15 in the world rankings after career-best showings at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, praised Russian-born Golubev for his fearless approach to their final.

“He played a really good match,” conceded the Austrian. “He started off unbelievable in the first set… in the second set I had my chances and couldn’t convert them. It is how it is.

“He really felt good out there and I wasn’t just playing well enough to get him struggling.”

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