Grega Žemlja

Grega Žemlja

Country (sports)	Slovenia
Residence	Kranj, Slovenia
Born	29 September 1986 Jesenice, Slovenia
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach(es)	Žiga Janškovec
Prize money	$ 1,123,145
Official website	grega-zemlja.com
Singles
Career record	46–48
Career titles	0 6 Challengers, 11 Futures
Highest ranking	No. 43 (15 July 2013)
Current ranking	No. 179 (1 February 2016)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	1R (2010, 2011, 2013)
French Open	2R (2010, 2013)
Wimbledon	3R (2013)
US Open	3R (2012)
Doubles
Career record	15–20
Career titles	0 1 Challenger, 3 Futures
Highest ranking	No. 252 (21 November 2011)
Current ranking	No. 560 (1 February 2016)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	1R (2013)
French Open	2R (2013)
Wimbledon	1R (2013)
US Open	1R (2013)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	18-12 (singles) 12-10 (doubles)
Last updated on: 6 February 2016.

Grega Žemlja (born 29 September 1986) is a tennis player from Slovenia.

He has won five singles titles and one doubles title on the ATP Challenger Tour. In 2012, he reached the third round of the US Open, the first Slovenian male player ever to reach that stage in a Grand Slam tournament. He is also the first Slovenian ATP player who in 2013 reached third round at Wimbledon. He reached his highest ATP ranking, no. 43, in singles on May 22, 2013, becoming the first Slovene ATP player in top 50. He became the first Slovene player earning over 1 million US dollars in prize money, and he is the highest-paid Slovene player in history. He represents his country as a member of Slovenia Davis Cup team.

Tennis career

2009

2009 was Žemlja's first year at the main draw on the ATP Tour. For the first time in his career he qualified for the main draw of Wimbledon where he lost in first round against Albert Montañés. He was the second Slovenian male player ever to play in the main draw of the Grand Slam tournament.

2010

For the first time in his career he qualified for the main draw of the 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 a major upset over the #26 seed Juan Mónaco 7–6^(8–6), 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 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 first time in his career he participated in the ATP World Tour 500 series tournament at 2010 Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C. where he lost the second round match against Andy Roddick.

Together with Slovenia Davis Cup Team he won the 2010 Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II, ensuring Slovenia to advance to Europe/Africa Zone Group I.

2011

For the second consecutive year, he qualified for the main draw of 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.

2012

He played at 2012 Qatar Open in Doha and lost 2–6, 3–6 against Roger Federer in second round.

He received a wild card to participate in the 2012 Wimbledon Championships,^[1] where he lost the second round match against Fernando Verdasco.

On August 6, 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 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^[2] he lost against Janko Tipsarević.

At 2012 Erste Bank Open tournament in Vienna, Austria, he reached his and Slovenian first male historic ATP Final,^[3] 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.

2013

At 2013 Australian Open for the first time he directly entered Grand Slam tournament. He lost 6–7^(6–8), 6–7^(5–7), 0-1 retiring in 1st round against Marcel Granollers. He also played his first Men's Doubles Grand Slam tournament.

He played against Roger Federer for the second time in his career in Rotterdam at 2013 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament of ATP 500 series. He lost 3-6, 1-6 in 1st round.

For he first time in his career he played in main draw of ATP 1000 Masters series at 2013 Miami Masters. As a first Slovenian he reached 3R and lost 4-6, 4-6 against Gilles Simon.

At 2013 French Open he reached second round where he lost 1-6, 7-5, 1-6, 4-6 against Kei Nishikori. In Men's Doubles partnering Aljaž Bedene they lost 5-7, 1-6 against Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi/Jean-Julien Rojer in 2nd round. This is the first historic win in 1st round of Grand Slam Slovenian Men's Doubles and first Slovene Men's Doubles performance in Rolland Garros.

At 2013 Wimbledon Championships, he beat Michael Russell and 29th seed Grigor Dimitrov, becoming the first Slovene player in the third round of Wimbledon, where he lost in straight sets to Juan Martin del Potro. Partnering Aljaž Bedene in the first round of men's doubles they lost against Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana. This was the first Slovene men's doubles team at Wimbledon.

ATP career finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

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

Titles by Surface Hard (0–1) Clay (0–0) Grass (0–0) Carpet (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	21 October 2012	Erste Bank Open, Vienna, Austria	Hard (i)	Juan Martín del Potro	5–7, 3–6

Davis Cup

Singles performances (18–10)

Edition	Round	Date	Against	Surface	Opponent	Result	Outcome
2005 Europe/Africa Zone Group II	1R	3-04-2005	Ivory Coast	Hard (I)	Valentin Sanon	6–4, 6–4, 7–5	Win
	QF	7-15-2005	Latvia	Clay	Ernests Gulbis	5–7, 6–3, 6–1, 6–4	Win
	SF	9-25-2005	Portugal	Clay	Rui Machado	3–6, 3–6, 6–2, 4–6	Loss
2006 Europe/Africa Zone Group II	1R	4-07-2006	Algeria	Clay	Slimane Saoudi	7–5, 6–2	Win
		4-09-2006			Lamine Ouahab	3–6, 6–2, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6	Loss
	RPO	7-21-2006	Ireland	Grass	Kevin Sorensen	6–2, 7–5, 6–1	Win
		7-23-2006			Conor Niland	6–4, 6–2	Win
2007 Europe/Africa Zone Group II	1R	4-06-2007	Estonia	Carpet (I)	Jurgen Zopp	4–6, 6–4, 7–6^(7–3), 6–3	Win
		4-08-2007			Mait Kunnap	6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 6–7^(2–7), 6–3	Win
	QF	7-22-2007	Morocco	Hard	Younes El Aynaoui	6–7^(2–7), 2–6, 4–6	Loss
2008 Europe/Africa Zone Group II	RPO	7-18-2008	Tunisia	Clay	Malek Jaziri	3–6, 6–1, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4	Win
2009 Europe/Africa Zone Group II	1R	3-06-2009	Egypt	Carpet (I)	Sherif Sabry	7–5, 7–6^(8–6), 6–2	Win
	QF	7-10-2009	Lithuania	Clay	Ričardas Berankis	6–1, 6–4, 6–3	Win
		7-12-2009			Dovydas Sakinis	6–4, 2–6, 6–1	Win
	SF	9-18-2009	Latvia	Carpet (I)	Andis Juška	6–1, 6–1, 6–4	Win
		9-20-2009			Ernests Gulbis	2–6, 6–3, 3–6, 5–7	Loss
2010 Europe/Africa Zone Group II	1R	3-05-2010	Norway	Hard (I)	Erling Tveit	6–2, 6–2, 7–6^(7–2)	Win
	QF	7-09-2010	Bulgaria	Clay	Todor Enev	6–2, 6–1	Win
	SF	9-17-2010	Lithuania	Hard (I)	Ričardas Berankis	7–6^(7–2), 6–4, 6–3	Win
		9-19-2010			Laurynas Grigelis	6–3, 7–6^(7–4), 6–3	Win
2011 Europe/Africa Zone Group I	1R	3-04-2011	Finland	Clay (I)	Jarkko Nieminen	6–3, 3–6, 4–6, 3–6	Loss
		3-06-2011			Micke Kontinen	2–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–3	Win
	2R	7-08-2011	Italy	Clay	Fabio Fognini	6–1, 4–6, 4–6, 4–6	Loss
		7-10-2011			Simone Bolelli	5–7, 3–6	Loss
2012 Europe/Africa Zone Group I	1R	2-10-2012	Denmark	Hard (I)	Kristian Pless	6–0, 6–1, 6–4	Win
	2R	4-06-2012	South Africa	Hard	Izak van der Merwe	1–6, 6–3, 3–6, 4–6	Loss
2013 Europe/Africa Zone Group I	1R	1-02-2013	Poland	Hard (I)	Łukasz Kubot	3-6, 2-6, 0-6	Loss
		3-02-2013			Jerzy Janowicz	6–7^(4–7), 3–6, 3–6	Loss

Doubles performances (11–8)

Edition	Round	Date	Partnering	Against	Surface	Opponents	Result	Outcome
2005 Europe/Africa Zone Group II	1R	3-05-2005	Rok Jarc	Ivory Coast	Hard (I)	Claude N'Goran Valentin Sanon	6–2, 6–2 ret.	Win
	SF	9-24-2005		Portugal	Clay	Frederico Gil Leonardo Tavares	4–6, 2–6, 4–6	Loss
2006 Europe/Africa Zone Group II	1R	4-08-2006	Rok Jarc	Algeria	Clay	Lamine Ouahab Slimane Saoudi	2–6, 2–6, 4–6	Loss
	RPO	7-22-2006	Luka Gregorc	Ireland	Grass	James Cluskey Stephen Nugent	6–7^(7–9), 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 7–5	Win
2007 Europe/Africa Zone Group II	1R	4-07-2007	Luka Gregorc	Estonia	Clay (I)	Mait Kunnap Jurgen Zopp	2–6, 6–3, 6–3, 6–7^(5–7), 4–6	Loss
	QF	7-21-2007		Morocco	Hard	Reda El Amrani Younes El Aynaoui	6–7^(2–7), 6–4, 6–4, 6–4	Win
2008 Europe/Africa Zone Group II	1R	4-12-2008	Marko Tkalec	Cyprus	Hard	Marcos Baghdatis Photos Kallias	6–7^(4–7), 6–4, 2–6, 6–4, 1–6	Loss
	RPO	7-19-2008	Luka Gregorc	Tunisia	Clay	Haithem Abid Malek Jaziri	6–3, 5–7, 6–7^(5–7), 5–7	Loss
2009 Europe/Africa Zone Group II	1R	3-07-2009	Marko Tkalec	Egypt	Carpet (I)	Karim Maamoun Sherif Sabry	6–2, 6–3, 6–3	Win
	QF	7-19-2009	Andrej Kračman	Lithuania	Clay	Ričardas Berankis Vadim Pinko	7–6^(7–2), 6–3, 6–3	Win
	SF	9-19-2009	Luka Gregorc	Latvia	Carpet (I)	Ernests Gulbis Deniss Pavlovs	6–7^(5–7), 6–4, 6–2, 2–6, 6–4	Win
2010 Europe/Africa Zone Group II	1R	3-06-2010	Luka Gregorc	Norway	Hard (I)	Erling Tveit Stian Boretti	7–6^(7–2), 7–6^(7–5), 7–5	Win
	QF	7-10-2010		Bulgaria	Clay	Grigor Dimitrov Ivaylo Traykov	6–7^(3–7), 7–6^(7–2), 7–6^(14–12), 6–3	Win
	SF	9-18-2010		Lithuania	Hard (I)	Ričardas Berankis Laurynas Grigelis	7–5, 6–4, 1–6, 3–6, 3–6	Loss
2011 Europe/Africa Zone Group I	1R	3-05-2011	Luka Gregorc	Finland	Clay (I)	Harri Heliovaara Jarkko Nieminen	6–7^(5–7), 6–4, 6–4, 7–5	Win
	2R	7-09-2011	Blaž Kavčič	Italy	Clay	Simone Bolelli Daniele Bracciali	6–7, 6–7, 2–6	Loss
2012 Europe/Africa Zone Group I	1R	2-11-2012	Blaž Kavčič	Denmark	Hard (I)	Thomas Kromann Frederik Nielsen	6–4, 6–7, 6–4, 7–5	Win
	2R	4-07-2012	Blaž Kavčič	South Africa	Hard	Raven Klaasen Izak van der Merwe	7–6^(7–5), 6–7^(4–7), 1–6, 4–6	Loss
2013 Europe/Africa Zone Group I	1R	2-02-2012	Blaž Kavčič	Poland	Hard (I)	Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski	6–3, 2–6, 6–2, 4–6, 13-11	Win

Singles performance timeline

Tournament	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	Career W–L
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	LQ	1R	1R	LQ	1R	A	0–3
French Open	A	A	A	A	LQ	2R	LQ	LQ	2R		2–2
Wimbledon	A	A	A	A	1R	LQ	2R	2R	3R		4–4
US Open	A	A	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	3R	1R		2–2
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–2	1–2	3–2	3–4		8–11
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Miami	A	A	A	A	A	A	LQ	LQ	3R		2–1
Montreal/Toronto	A	A	A	A	A	LQ	A	A	1R		0–1
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–2		2–2
ATP World Tour 500 series
Rotterdam	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R		0–1
Barcelona	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R		0–1
Washington, D.C.	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A	A	1R		1–2
Beijing	A	A	A	A	A	LQ	1R	LQ	A		0–1
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	0–3		1–5
ATP World Tour 250 series
Doha	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	2R	A	2–2
Auckland	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	0–1
Zagreb	A	A	LQ	LQ	A	A	A	2R	2R		2–2
Casablanca	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF		2–1
Munich	A	A	A	A	A	LQ	A	A	2R		1–1
Düsseldorf	World Team Cup								2R		1–1
London/Queen's Club	A	A	A	A	A	LQ	A	A	3R		2–1
Eastbourne	Not Held				A	A	A	A	1R		0-1
Newport	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A		0–1
Umag	A	A	A	A	1R	LQ	A	A	A		0–1
Winston-Salem	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R		0–1
St. Petersburg	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	A		1–1
Kuala Lumpur	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R		0–1
Vienna	A	A	A	A	A	2R	LQ	F	A		5–2
Win–Loss	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	7–5	8–10		16–17
National Representation
Davis Cup	3R	PO	2R	PO	3R	W	2R	2R	1R		18-10
Win–Loss	2–1	3–1	2–1	1–0	4–1	4–0	1–3	1–1	0–2		18–10
Statistics
Overall Win–Loss	2–1	3–1	2–1	1–0	4–3	7–4	2–6	11–8	13–21		45–45
Win %	67%	75%	67%	100%	57%	64%	25%	58%	38%		50%
Year End Ranking	335	340	323	267	175	142	116	55	121		N/A

* Statistics correct as of January 13, 2014.

ATP profile cites incorrect 44–45 W–L career singles statistics (correct is 45–45). His win 6–2, 6–2, 7–6^(7–2) against Erling Tveit^[4] (NOR) in 1R of 2010 EAG II (SLO vs. NOR) on March 5, 2010 is missing.

ATP profile cites incorrect 13–17 W–L career doubles statistics (correct is 14–17). His win 7–6^(7–2), 7–6^(7–5), 7–5 partnering Luka Gregorc vs. Stian Boretti/Erling Tveit^[5] (NOR) in 1R of 2010 EAG II (SLO vs. NOR) on March 6, 2010 is not counted.

Head-to-head statistics

vs. Top 10 ranked players

Žemlja's win–loss record against players who have been ranked World No. 10 or higher:

Players who have been ranked World No. 1 are in boldface.

Opponent	Highest ranking	Matches	Won	Lost	Win %	Last match
Roger Federer	1	3	0	3	0%	Lost (3–6, 2-6, 5–7) at 2013 US Open 1R
Andy Roddick	1	1	0	1	0%	Lost (7–6^(8–6), 3–6, 7–5, 6–3) at 2010 Washington, D.C. 2R
Tommy Haas	2	1	1	0	100%	Won (6–4, 4–6, 6–2) at 2012 Vienna QF
Juan Martín del Potro	4	2	0	2	0%	Lost (5–7, 6–7^(3–7), 0-6) at 2013 Wimbledon 3R
Gilles Simon	6	1	0	1	0%	Lost (4–6, 4–6) at 2013 Miami 3R
Tomáš Berdych	6	1	0	1	0%	Lost (3-6, 4-6) at 2013 London/Queen's Club 3R
Gaël Monfils	7	1	0	1	0%	Lost (6–4, 3–6, 3–6, 6–7^(7–9)) at 2011 Wimbledon 2R
Fernando Verdasco	7	1	0	1	0%	Lost (6–7^(4–7), 6–7^(4–7), 6–3, 3–6) at 2012 Wimbledon 2R
Richard Gasquet	7	1	0	1	0%	Lost (7–6^(9–7), 4–6, 6–7^(3–7)) at 2013 Doha 2R
Mikhail Youzhny	8	1	0	1	0%	Lost (1–6, 3–6) at 2012 Zagreb 2R
Janko Tipsarević	8	3	1	2	33%	Lost (4–6, 2–6) at 2013 Munich 2R
Marcos Baghdatis	8	1	0	1	0%	Lost (6–3, 5–7, 1–6, 6–4, 2–6) at 2011 Australian Open 1R
Marin Čilić	9	1	0	1	0%	Lost (2–6, 3–6) at 2013 Zagreb 2R
Juan Mónaco	10	1	1	0	100%	Won (7–6^(8–6), 3–6, 7–5, 6–3) at 2010 French Open 1R
Total	––	19	3	16	16%

* Statistics correct as of January 13, 2014.

Full list

Žemlja's career win–loss record in singles matches on ATP World Tour, Grand Slam and Davis Cup Main Draw:

* ATP statistics doesn't include Walkovers (w/o), Qualifying matches, or matches at a Challenger or Futures event, Hopman Cup, or any other fraction of the exhibition event.

Players who have been ranked World No. 1 are in boldface.

45–45

From 4 March 2005 to 13 January 2014

Kevin Anderson 0-1 Pablo Andújar 0-2 Matthias Bachinger 1-0 Marcos Baghdatis 0–1 Roberto Bautista-Agut 1-0 Benjamin Becker 1–1 Ričardas Berankis 2–0 Ilija Bozoljac 1-0 Tomáš Berdych 0-1 Sergei Bubka 1–0 Simone Bolelli 0–1 Juan Ignacio Chela 0–1 Flavio Cipolla 0–1 Marin Čilić 0–1 Grigor Dimitrov 1-0 Ivan Dodig 0–1 Younes El Aynaoui 0–1 Matthew Ebden 1-0 Kyle Edmund 1-0 Todor Enev 1–0

Alejandro Falla 0–1 Roger Federer 0–3 Fabio Fognini 1–3 Teymuraz Gabashvili 0–1 Guillermo García-López 0–1 Richard Gasquet 0–1 Santiago Giraldo 1-0 David Goffin 1–0 Josh Goodall 1–0 Marcel Granollers 0–1 Laurynas Grigelis 1–0 Ernests Gulbis 1–1 Tommy Haas 1–0 Marsel İlhan 1–0 Jerzy Janowicz 0–1 Malek Jaziri 1–0 Andis Juška 1–0 Micke Kontinen 1–0 Łukasz Kubot 0–1 Mait Kunnap 1–0

Lukáš Lacko 2–0 Henri Laaksonen 1-0 Rui Machado 0–1 Xavier Malisse 1–0 Florian Mayer 1–0 Ricardo Mello 1–0 Izak van der Merwe 0–1 John Millman 1-0 Juan Mónaco 1–0 Gaël Monfils 0–1 Albert Montañés 0–1 Jarkko Nieminen 0–1 Conor Niland 1–0 Kei Nishikori 0-1 Lamine Ouahab 0–1 Kristian Pless 1–0 Juan Martín del Potro 0–2 Rajeev Ram 0–1 Andy Roddick 0–1

Michael Russell 1-0 Sherif Sabry 1–0 Dovydas Sakinis 1–0 Valentin Sanon 1–0 Slimane Saoudi 1–0 Gilles Simon 0–1 Kevin Sorensen 1–0 Serhiy Stakhovsky 1-0 Potito Starace 0–1 Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 1–0 Tim Smyczek 0–1 Janko Tipsarević 1–2 Viktor Troicki 0–1 Erling Tveit 1–0 (missing match in his ATP career W-L statistics) Antonio Veić 1–0 Fernando Verdasco 0–1 Mikhail Youzhny 0–1 Jurgen Zopp 1–0

References

1. "Melanie Oudin receives wild card into Wimbledon". Yahoo! News. Associated Press. 17 June 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
2. "Janko Tipsarevic topples Grega Zemlja in the third round – US Open 2012". bettor.com. 2012-09-02.
3. "Del Potro beats Zemlja to win 12th title at Vienna". bigstory.ap.org. 2012-10-22.
4. "Grega Zemlja vs. Erling Tveit - Davis Cup, Group 2, 1R, NOR-SLO 0-5 - compare (official result)". TennisLive.us. 2010-03-05.
5. "Luka Gregorc/Grega Zemlja vs. Stian Boretti/Erling Tveit - Davis Cup, Group 2, 1R, NOR-SLO 0-5 - compare (official result)". TennisLive.us. 2010-03-05.

External links

• Grega Žemlja at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Grega Žemlja at the International Tennis Federation
• Grega Žemlja at the Davis Cup