Melle van Gemerden (born 9 May 1979) is a former professional tennis player from the Netherlands.[1] Coined as ‘Mad Melle’ by the Dutch press, due to his ethics on court, was part of a scandalous doping process in a Mauritius ATP Challenger in 2004. He peaked his career as ATP singles world ranking as nr. 100 by June, 2006, maintaining it for a month.
 | |
| Country (sports) |  Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Residence | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Born | 9 May 1979 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Retired | 2014 |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Prize money | $214,727 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 4–9 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 100 (12 June 2006) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 1R (2005) |
| French Open | 1R (2006) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2006) |
| US Open | Q1 (2008) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 0–4 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 178 (4 April 2005) |
| Last updated on: 5 June 2021. | |
Career edit
Van Gemerden, coined as ‘Mad Melle’ by the Dutch press, due to his ethics on court; was part of a scandalous cannabis doping during a Mauritius Challenger in 2004. He was able to reach ATP singles world ranking nr. 100[2] by June, 2006, maintaining it for only a month. He made one time appearances in all Grand Slams and was also briefly a Davis Cup representative member of the Netherlands team.[3]
He marked the beginning of his career in 1997, with the Dutch Junior Champion under 18,[4] indoor and outdoor titles. In 1998–1999 he comprised the Jong Oranje [5]- a prized contract presented by the KNLTB to Netherlands' most proficient junior players. During a Mauritius Challenger tournament, late in December 2004, he was tested positive for a metabolite of cannabis or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Whilst the ATP tribunal accepted Van Gemerden had committed a doping offense[6] under the rules of the Tennis Anti-Doping Program with Exceptional Circumstances; the use of cannabis, in that case, was determined to not be for performance enhancing reasons. It was ruled he forfeit US$2,950 in prize money and all ranking points won at the Mauritius Challenger. Although he was eligible to return to competition immediately, Van Gemerden voluntarily sat out.[7][8] Coming after, in July 2005, he defeated Kristof Vliegen, triumphing the Scheveningen Challenger.
Van Gemerden played for the Netherlands Davis Cup team from 2004 to 2006. He took on Slovakia in the 2005 World Group quarter-finals and appeared both in the doubles, with Paul Haarhuis, and in the singles against Michal Mertiňák. He lost both of those matches and was also unable to register a win in the two other Davis Cup matches of his career, singles rubbers against Russians Nikolay Davydenko and Dmitry Tursunov in 2006.[9]
The Dutch tennis player begin his appearance at Grand Slams starting with the 2005 Australian Open, where he was drawn up against 31st seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, who won the match in four sets. The same year, he was a quarter-finalist in the 2005 Dutch Open, beating world number 46 Christophe Rochus en route. The following year, in 2006, he played in both the French Open and Wimbledon Championships.[10] In France he lost in the opening round to Juan Mónaco but he made the second round of Wimbledon, beating Josh Goodall,[11] before being eliminated from the tournament by Mardy Fish.[10] Van Gemerden made it to US OPEN by 2008, being defeated by Jean-Yves Aubone at the first round.[12]
Van Gemerden carried as a hitting partner, from 2008 to 2010 to Ana Ivanovic and Fernando Verdasco, coached at different times by Sven Groeneveld; and Sorana Cîrstea, coached by Rodrigo Nascimento. Then, turned into professional tennis coach to Thiemo de Bakker,from 2014 until 2015; and Christian Lerby, for 5 months, in 2018. Lastly, from January 2019 until he was fired in February 2020, children for the KNLTB, as a traveling freelance coach.
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures Finals edit
Singles: 9 (4–5) edit
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Jun 2000 | Germany F6, Villingen | Futures | Clay |  Nikolay Davydenko
|
6–1, 7–6(7–5) |
| Win | 2–0 | Jun 2000 | Germany F7, Trier | Futures | Clay | Nikolay Davydenko
|
4–6, 6–4, 6–3 |
| Loss | 2–1 | May 2004 | Germany F5, Esslingen | Futures | Clay |  Tobias Summerer
|
5–7, 6–7(5–7) |
| Loss | 2–2 | May 2004 | Hungary F2, Hódmezővásárhely | Futures | Clay |  Kornél Bardóczky
|
5–7, 3–6 |
| Win | 3–2 | Jul 2004 | Netherlands F2, Heerhugowaard | Futures | Clay | Fred Hemmes Jr.
|
6–3, 6-3 |
| Loss | 3–3 | Sep 2004 | Tehran, Iran | Challenger | Clay |  Mariano Puerta
|
3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 4–3 | Jul 2005 | Scheveningen, Netherlands | Challenger | Clay |  Kristof Vliegen
|
6–4, 6-3 |
| Loss | 4–4 | Aug 2005 | Manerbio, Italy | Challenger | Clay |  Oliver Marach
|
3–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 4–5 | Jun 2008 | Netherlands F2, Alkmaar | Futures | Clay | Thiemo de Bakker
|
6–4, 1–6, 2–6 |
Doubles: 17 (6–11) edit
|
|
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Tier | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | Oct 1998 | France F10, Saint-Dizier | Futures | Hard | Gordon Bergraaf
|
 Pavel Kudrnáč Radim Žitko
|
4–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1–1 | May 1999 | Germany F4, Villingen | Futures | Clay | Martijn Belgraver
|
Patrick Sommer Rene Nicklisch
|
7–5, 6–2 |
| Loss | 1–2 | May 2000 | Germany F2, Esslingen | Futures | Clay |  Johan Settergren
|
 Ali Hamadeh Jicham Zaatini
|
4–6, 1–6 |
| Loss | 1–3 | Jun 2000 | Germany F6, Villingen | Futures | Clay | Johan Settergren
|
Kris Goossens  Ionuț Moldovan
|
6–7(6–8), 3–6 |
| Loss | 1–4 | Oct 2000 | France F23, La Roche-sur-Yon | Futures | Hard | Johan Settergren
|
 Martin Hromec Wim Neefs
|
3–6, 6–1, 6–7(8–10) |
| Win | 2–4 | Jun 2001 | Germany F4, Villingen | Futures | Clay | Johan Settergren
|
Frank Moser Bernard Parun
|
6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 2–5 | Mar 2002 | New Zealand F1, Blenheim | Futures | Hard | Fredrik Lovén
|
 Ashley Ford David Mcnamara
|
1–6, 7–5, 4–6 |
| Loss | 2–6 | Sep 2002 | Netherlands F2, Alphen aan den Rijn | Futures | Clay | Melvyn op der Heijde
|
 O. Hernandez-Perez Gustavo Marcaccio
|
2–6, 3–6 |
| Win | 3–6 | Oct 2003 | Greece F3, Athens | Futures | Clay | Christian Grunes
|
 Theodoros Angelinos Konstantinos Economidis
|
4–6, 6–3, 7–6(7–1) |
| Loss | 3–7 | May 2004 | Hungary F2, Hódmezővásárhely | Futures | Clay | Zsolt Tatár
|
Kornél Bardóczky Gabriel Moraru
|
5–7, 7–6(7–3), 3–6 |
| Win | 4–7 | Jul 2004 | Hilversum, Netherlands | Challenger | Clay | Fred Hemmes Jr.
|
Attila Sávolt Gabriel Trifu
|
7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–3) |
| Win | 5–7 | Aug 2004 | Samarkand, Uzbekistan | Challenger | Clay |  Jean-François Bachelot
|
Sebastian Fitz Florin Mergea
|
6–2, 3–6, 6–1 |
| Loss | 5–8 | Aug 2004 | Bukhara, Uzbekistan | Challenger | Hard | Paul Logtens
|
Michal Mertiňák Pavel Šnobel
|
4–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 5–9 | Oct 2004 | Bolton, United Kingdom | Challenger | Hard | Peter Wessels
|
 Jeff Coetzee  Jim Thomas
|
5–7, 3–6 |
| Win | 6–9 | Aug 2005 | Manerbio, Italy | Challenger | Clay | Peter Wessels
|
Oliver Marach Daniel Köllerer
|
6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 6–10 | Jun 2008 | Alessandria, Italy | Challenger | Clay | Matwé Middelkoop
|
 Flavio Cipolla Simone Vagnozzi
|
6–3, 1–6, [4–10] |
| Loss | 6–11 | Jul 2008 | Scheveningen, Netherlands | Challenger | Clay | Matwé Middelkoop
|
Rameez Junaid Philipp Marx
|
7–5, 2–6, [6–10] |
References edit
- ^ ITF Tennis Profile
- ^ "Melle Van Gemerden | Overview". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
- ^ "Davis Cup player profile". www.daviscup.com. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
- ^ "KNLTB winner titles" (PDF).
- ^ "KNLTB.nl". www.knltb.nl. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
- ^ "ITF TENNIS ANTIDOPING".
- ^ ITF Anti-Doping - Decision in the case of Melle Van Gemerden
- ^ "Laatbloeier Van Gemerden heeft haast". De Volkskrant. 21 July 2005. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
- ^ Davis Cup Profile
- ^ a b ATP World Tour
- ^ "Britons handed tough draw at SW19". BBC. 2006-06-23. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
- ^ "US OPEN 2008". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03.