Marsel İlhan explained

Marsel İlhan
Residence:Istanbul, Turkey
Birth Date:11 June 1987
Birth Place:Samarkand, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
Turnedpro:2006
Plays:Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach:Erhan Oral
Careerprizemoney:$1,398,278
Singlestitles:0
Highestsinglesranking:No. 77 (2 March 2015)
Currentsinglesranking:No. 1094 (25 September 2023)
Australianopenresult:2R (2010)
Frenchopenresult:2R (2011)
Wimbledonresult:2R (2010, 2015)
Usopenresult:2R (2009, 2011, 2015)
Doublesrecord:0–7
Doublestitles:0
Highestdoublesranking:No. 564 (25 May 2009)
Updated:1 October 2023

Marsel İlhan (Uzbek: Marsel Qahhorovich Hamdamov; born 11 June 1987) is a Turkish professional tennis player, who was ranked No. 1 in Turkey and with a career-high singles ranking of world No. 77 in March 2015.[1] [2] He is the first ever Turkish player to reach the second round in a Grand Slam tournament, as well as the first Turkish player to win a Challenger Tournament and also the first to enter the top 100 in the world rankings (first ranked at No. 96 in September 2010).[3] [4] [5]

Early Tennis Career

Born in the Uzbek SSR in the Soviet Union (now Uzbekistan), he emigrated to Turkey with his mother in 2004 and he started to play for the Taçspor Tennis Club of İstanbul. He was initially sponsored by Kia Motors Turkey. After several years of intensive training with his new coach Can Üner, a former Turkish tennis player, he made an unprecedented jump within one year from No. 1320 to No. 320 in 2007.[6]

2007–2008

During 2007 and 2008 he won several Future Tournaments and in July 2008, he won his first ATP Challenger title at Ramat HaSharon Israel Open by defeating Ivo Klec from Slovakia by 2 sets 6–4, 6–4.

2009

At the 2009 US Open, İlhan qualified for the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. In doing so, he became the first Turkish player in the modern era to do so.[7] In the first round, he defeated Christophe Rochus from Belgium in a five-set thriller. It was his first career ATP and Grand Slam win.[8] He lost his second-round match against John Isner in straight sets.

İlhan, in October qualified for the 2009 PTT Thailand Open. He defeated his first-round opponent Benjamin Becker, but then lost to Jürgen Melzer.

2010

In the first qualification round of 2010 Australian Open he defeated Canadian Peter Polansky 6–1, 6–2. In the second qualification round he beat British No.2 Alex Bogdanovic with the same score 6–4, 6–4. In the 3rd qualification round Marsel lost 1–2 to German tennis player Dieter Kindlmann after a tough game in which he lost the first set 5–7, won the second easily 6–1 and lost the final set 9–11, in a game that lasted well over 3 hours.

However, due to Gilles Simon's injury a spot opened up for an additional player to appear on the main draw. Marsel became the "Lucky Loser" and progressed to the 1st round of Australian Open 2010. Marsel İlhan proved that he was a worthy "Lucky loser" as he easily defeated former World No. 4 Sébastien Grosjean in 3 sets 6–4, 6–3, 7–5. In the second round Marsel lost to world No. 11 Chilean Fernando González in three sets: 3–6, 4–6, 5–7.

In the first round of Wimbledon 2010 he defeated Brazilian Marcos Daniel 3–2, where he made a superb comeback from 0–2 and eventually won the match. In the second round, he played against current World No. 37 player, Victor Hănescu and lost in four sets: 4–6, 4–6, 6–3 and 3–6.

On 20 September 2010 he won his second ATP Challenger Tournament, in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina on clay by beating Pere Riba in the final 2–0, 6–0, 7–6.[9] In the following Challenger Cup, the 2010 Türk Telecom İzmir Cup, he reached the final and despite losing, his ranking increased to a career-record 96th in the world – the highest ever for a Turkish tennis player.[3]

2011

He got his highest ATP ranking position of No. 87 in January 2011. Therefore, he played directly in the main draw 2011 Australian Open for the first time during a Grand Slam tournament in his professional career. He lost in the first round to world No. 10 Russian Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets 6–2, 6–3, 7–6.

In the 2011 Indian Wells Masters, he lost against Milos Raonic from Canada in straight sets 6–2 and 7–6. Marsel participated in the second ATP Masters tournament the Miami Masters as a qualifier after negative results from the beginning of 2011. However, he reached the second round in Miami again, but in this round he lost to world No. 17 Serbian Viktor Troicki in 2 sets 6–3, 6–3.

In late May, he qualified as a lucky loser into his first French Open and progressed to the first round. Marsel defeated former World No. 2 Tommy Haas 6–4, 4–6, 7–6, 6–4 in the first round. However, after a gruelling 3h 58m battle with Guillermo García López, he succumbed in five sets 4–6, 6–1, 2–6, 6–4, 11–13.

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 41 (23–18)

Legend
ATP Challenger (4–10)
ITF Futures (19–8)
Finals by surface
Hard (18–10)
Clay (5–8)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0Turkey F5, İzmirFuturesHard Dekel Valtzer6–4, 6–2
Loss1–1Qarshi, UzbekistanChallengerHard Denis Istomin1–6, 4–6
Win2–1Spain F37, CórdobaFuturesHard Miguel Ángel López Jaén6–3, 6–3
Loss2–2Tunisia F6, JerbaFuturesHard Jonathan Eysseric5–7, 4–6
Loss2–3Croatia F2, ZagrebFuturesHard Pavel Šnobel1–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss2–4Turkey F5, AntalyaFuturesClay Andrei Gorban4–6, 6–1, 0–6
Loss2–5Turkey F6, AntalyaFuturesClay Jonathan Eysseric6–3, 4–6, 4–6
Win3–5Uzbekistan F2, NamanganFuturesHard Pavel Šnobel6–0, 6–7(4–7), 6–4
Win4–5Turkey F7, IstanbulFuturesHard Sebastian Rieschick6–3, 5–7, 7–5
Win5–5Ramat HaSharon, IsraelChallengerHard Ivo Klec6–4, 6–4
Win6–5Turkey F4, AntalyaFuturesHard Martin Killemose6–3, 6–2
Win7–5Turkey F5, AntalyaFuturesHard Hans Podlipnik Castillo6–1, 6–1
Loss7–6İzmir, TurkeyChallengerHard Andrea Stoppini6–7(5–7), 2–6
Win8–6Banja Luka, Bosnia & HerzegovinaChallengerClay Pere Riba6–0, 7–6(7–4)
Loss8–7İzmir, TurkeyChallengerHard Somdev Devvarman4–6, 3–6
Loss8–8Scheveningen, NetherlandsChallengerClay Steve Darcis3–6, 6–4, 2–6
Loss8–8İzmir, TurkeyChallengerHard Lukáš Lacko4–6, 3–6
Loss8–9Astana, KazakhstanChallengerHard Evgeny Donskoy3–6, 4–6
Win9–9Turkey F42, AntalyaFuturesHard Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi7–6(10–8), 6–2
Win10–9Turkey F44, AntalyaFuturesHard Yannik Reuter6–3, 6–2
Loss10–10Turkey F9, AntalyaFuturesHard Radu Albot3–6, 6–3, 6–7(7–9)
Win11–10Turkey F12, AntalyaFuturesHard Matteo Fago6–2, 6–2
Win12–10Turkey F18, AntalyaFuturesHard Jules Marie6–1, 6–2
Win13–10Turkey F21, MersinFuturesClay Michael Linzer7–6(7–5), 3–6, 6–4
Loss13–11Eskişehir, TurkeyChallengerHard David Goffin6–4, 5–7, 2–6
Win14–11Turkey F31, İzmirFuturesHard Dane Propoggia6–2, 6–4
Win15–11Turkey F34, AntalyaFuturesHard Maximiliano Estévez6–4, 6–2
Win16–11Turkey F35, AntalyaFuturesHard Maximiliano Estévez6–1, 3–1 ret.
Win17–11Kazan, RussiaChallengerHard Michael Berrer7–6(8–6), 6–3
Loss17–12Astana, KazakhstanChallengerHard Ričardas Berankis5–7, 7–5, 3–6
Loss17–13Mouilleron-le-Captif, FranceChallengerHard Pierre-Hugues Herbert2–6, 3–6
Loss17–14Mersin, TurkeyChallengerClay Kimmer Coppejans2–6, 2–6
Win18–14İzmir, TurkeyChallengerHard Cem İlkel6–2, 6–4
Win19–14Turkey F14, AntalyaFuturesClay Mate Delić6–2, 7–5
Loss19–15Turkey F16, AntalyaFuturesClay Martín Cuevas6–4, 4–6, 2–6
Win20–15Belarus F1, MinskFuturesHard Jonathan Gray6–1, 6–2
Win21–15Belarus F2, MinskFuturesHard Dzmitry Zhyrmont6–3, 6–3
Win22–15Turkey F33, AntalyaFuturesClay Bastian Trinker4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss22–16Turkey F13, AntalyaFuturesClay Thomas Statzberger4–6, 6–1, 5–7
Win23–16Turkey F19, AntalyaFuturesClay Bogdan Borza6–4, 6–4
Loss23–17Turkey F21, AntalyaFuturesClay Peter Heller6–2, 2–6, 3–6
Loss23–18M15 Antalya, TurkeyWorld Tennis TourClay Paul Woerner6–3, 3–6, 0–6

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

Legend
ATP Challenger (0–1)
ITF Futures (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Turkey F7, IstanbulFuturesHard Arsen Asanov Riccardo Ghedin
Jiří Krkoška
6–4, 7–6(10–8)
Loss1–1Istanbul, TurkeyChallengerHard Grigor Dimitrov Fred Gil
Filip Prpic
6–3, 2–6, [6–10]
Loss1–2Turkey F18, AntalyaFuturesHard Haluk Akkoyun Gleb Alekseenko
Vadim Alekseenko
walkover

Performance timeline

Singles

Tournament200820092010201120122013201420152016SRW–LWin%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian OpenAQ12R1RQ1Q3Q21RQ10 / 31–3
French OpenAQ1Q32RQ2Q1Q21R1R0 / 31–3
WimbledonQ1Q12RQ1Q2A1R2RQ10 / 32–3
US OpenQ12RQ12RQ1Q1Q32RQ10 / 33–3
style=text-align:leftWin–loss0–01–12–22–30–00–00–12–40–10 / 127–12
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian WellsAAA1RQ1AAAA0 / 10–1
MiamiAA2R2RQ1AAAA0 / 22–2
MadridAAAQ1AAAQ2A0 / 00–0
RomeAAAAAAA2RA0 / 11–1
CanadaAAAQ2AAAAA0 / 00–0
CincinnatiAAQ11RAAAQ2A0 / 10–1
ShanghaiNHA1R1RAQ1AAA0 / 20–2
ParisAAQ1Q1AAAAA0 / 00–0
style=text-align:leftWin–loss0–00–01–21–40–00–00–01–10–00 / 73–7

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: İlhan at career-best 77th spot in rankings – Turkish News.
  2. Web site: Marsel İlhan yükseliyor.
  3. Web site: Marsel ilk 100'de! – ATP. 27 September 2010.
  4. Web site: Nadal zirveyi kimseye kaptırmıyor.
  5. Web site: Marsel İlhan Makes History Again. 28 February 2015.
  6. http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/spor/tenis/9169177.asp?gid=211&sz=80319 Marsel İlhan Wimbledon'da – Hürriyet
  7. https://www.sports-central.org/sports/2015/02/26/marsel_ilhan_makes_history_again.php Marsel İlhan Makes History Again
  8. http://www.atptour.com/News/Tennis/2009/09/US-Open-Monday-Turkey-First-Winner-Ilhan.aspx Marsel İlhan creates history for Turkey
  9. Web site: Marsel İlhan şampiyon oldu.