Golubev Completes The Miracle Run

When Andrey Golubev awakens tomorrow, he will no longer be the 82nd ranked player on the ATP tour. In a dream-come-true run, the 23-year old moved through the field in Hamburg without losing a set. 82nd ranked players just do not do that, especially if the run to the throne includes Nikolay Davydenko,  homestanding Florian Mayer and Austrian Jurgen Melzer, three of the tour’s finest competitors.

So raw is Golubev’s resume that his Thursday birthday win over the tour’s sixth ranked player and top seed, Davydenko, is his first victory over a top ten player. In the finals, his Austrian opponent, Jurgen Melzer, is having a terrific year with a semifinal appearance in Paris and a Grand Slam doubles win in the same tournament.

Perhaps the problem was that Melzer thought what everyone else thought; that Andrey has run his course. After all, this was the business end of the tournament and Golubev has not won a tournament in his five years on the tour. Melzer is highly regarded as an up and coming star who has been on the big stage and performed well.

Golubev had eared a final round berth in St. Petersburg in 2008 where he fell quietly to Andy Murray. Since then, he has been a passive competitor on the tour and often failing to get through the qualifying rounds. Those days may now be over.

This week, everything came together for the quiet, polite competitor. His serve was sharp. His strategy to mix the pace and use the volley was executed perfectly. Most importantly, his piercing one handed backhand seemed to catch opponents by surprise. Meanwhile, his positive, confident demeanor refused to become undone. Quite clearly, this young man has seen it all.

In the first set, Golubev lost just five points on his serve. In the eighth game, Melzer jumped to a 30-15 lead but played a series of loose points that gave Golubev the only break opportunity he would need.

In the second set, Andrey sealed the 6-3, 7-5 win by saving five break points in the sixth game. In the 11th game, Golubev broke through. He then came back from 0-30 to hold off Melzer’s charge and seal the win.

Golubev has said that he prefers the indoor hard court to any other surface. This makes his Hamburg triumph on red clay even more surprising. Not only does the champion take away his largest professional paycheck but he earns 500 South African Airways ATP ranking points. Perhaps, his qualifying days are gone for good.

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