Grega Žemlja: Difference between revisions

|birth_place = [[Jesenice, Jesenice|Jesenice]], [[SFR Yugoslavia]]

|website = {{urlURL|http://grega-zemlja.com/}}

'''Grega Žemlja''' (born 29 September 1986) is a retired Slovenian [[tennis]] player. He has won five singles titles and one doubles title on the [[ATP Challenger Tour]]. In 2012, he reached the third round of the [[2012 US Open – Men's singles#Section 5|US Open]], the first Slovenian male player ever to reach that stage in a [[Grand Slam (real tennis)|Grand Slam]] tournament. He is also the first Slovenian ATP player who in 2013 reached third round at [[2013 Wimbledon Championships – Men's singles|Wimbledon]]. He reached his highest [[ATP ranking]] of Worldworld No. 43 in singles in May 2013, becoming the first Slovene ATP player to reach the top 50. Žemlja also became the first Slovene player earning over 1 million US dollars in prize money, and he was the highest-paid Slovene player in history until he was passed by [[Blaž Kavčič]]. He represented his country as a member of [[Slovenia Davis Cup team]].

For the first time in his career he qualified for the main draw of the [[2010 Australian Open|Australian Open]] where he lost in first round against [[Benjamin Becker]]. He became the first ever Slovenian male player to play in the main draw of Australian Open. Žemlja qualified for the [[2010 French Open]] and scored an upset over the No. 26 seed [[Juan Mónaco]], in his first ever Grand Slam victory. He became the first Slovenian male player to win a single match in the Grand Slam tournament. He also became the first Slovenian male player to perform in three different Grand Slam tournaments on three different surfaces.

For the second consecutive year, he qualified for the main draw of [[2011 Australian Open|Australian Open]] where he lost the first round match against [[Marcos Baghdatis]] in five sets. As a lucky loser, he also qualified for the [[2011 Wimbledon Championships]]. He became the first Slovenian male player to win a single match in the main draw of Wimbledon, but lost his second round match against [[Gaël Monfils]].

He played at [[2012 Qatar Open – Singles|2012 Qatar Open]] in Doha and lost 2–6,in 3–6straight sets against [[Roger Federer]] in second round. He received a wild card to participate in the [[2012 Wimbledon Championships]],<ref name="oudin">{{cite web|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/news/melanie-oudin-receives-wild-card-210219407--ten.html|title=Melanie Oudin receives wild card into Wimbledon|date=17 June 2012|agency=[[Associated Press]]|publisher=[[Yahoo! News]]|access-date=2 January 2013}}</ref> where he lost the second round match against [[Fernando Verdasco]].

On 6 August 2012, he entered the top 100 of the ATP rankings. For the first time in his career he qualified for the main draw of the [[2012 US Open (tennis)|US Open]]. Beating [[Ricardo Mello]] and [[Cedrik-Marcel Stebe]] in first two rounds, he became the first Slovenian male player ever to reach the third round of the Grand Slam tournament. In the third round<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.bettor.com/Janko-Tipsarevic-topples-Grega-Zemlja-in-the-third-round-US-Open-2012-a184791 |title=Janko Tipsarevic topples Grega Zemlja in the third round – US Open 2012 |date=2012-09-02 |publisher=bettor.com |access-date=2013-02-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908071721/http://blogs.bettor.com/Janko-Tipsarevic-topples-Grega-Zemlja-in-the-third-round-US-Open-2012-a184791 |archive-date=2012-09-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref> he lost against [[Janko Tipsarević]]. At [[2012 Erste Bank Open]] tournament in [[Vienna]], Austria, he reached his and Slovenian first male historic ATP Final,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/del-potro-beats-zemlja-win-12th-title-vienna|title=Del Potro beats Zemlja to win 12th title at Vienna |date=2012-10-22 | publisher=bigstory.ap.org}}</ref> where he lost 5–7, 3–6 to [[Juan Martín del Potro]]. With that result he became the first Slovenian male tennis player to reach TOP 50 on ATP rankings.

|{{flagicon|ITA}} [[Fabio Colangelo]] <br> {{flagicon|ITA}} [[Alessandro daDa Col]]

|align=left|[[Cincinnati MastersOpen|Cincinnati]]