Leonardo Martín Mayer (; ''Mayer'' locally or , ; born May 15, 1987) is a former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

player from Argentina. Mayer achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 21 in June 2015 and world No. 48 in doubles in January 2019. He was coached by Alejandro Fabbri and Leo Alonso. He was born in

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It ha ...

and resides in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Career

Early career

Mayer started playing tennis at age nine.

2005-2008: Juniors and ITF

As a junior, Mayer won the 2005 French Open Boys' Doubles and the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in ...

with

Emiliano Massa Emiliano Massa (born 5 December 1988) is a former professional tennis player from Argentina who won two junior grand slam boys' doubles titles at the French Open. Biography Massa, who comes from Formosa, is the younger brother of top 100 player ...

, reaching as high as No. 2 in the combined world rankings in June 2005. He won one

Challenger Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to: Entertainment Comics and manga * Challenger (character), comic book character * ''Challengers'' (manga), manga by Hinako Takanaga Film and TV * ''The Challengers'' (TV series), a 197 ...

singles title in 2008 and lost in three other finals.

2009–2013: Becoming a professional tennis player

Mayer qualified for his first Grand Slam at the 2009 French Open and beat 15th seed James Blake in straight sets in the first round. He lost to Tommy Haas in five sets in the second round. At Wimbledon, he beat Óscar Hernández in straight sets in the first round. He lost to Fernando González in four sets in the second round. Mayer had a successful American summer, reaching the semifinals of the

LA Tennis Open The Los Angeles Open was a former tennis tournament held in Los Angeles, United States from 1927 until 2012. It included a women's draw until 1974 when Linda Lewis won the last ladies title. Subsequently, it became a men-only event and integrate ...

(lost to

Carsten Ball Carsten Thomas Ball (born 20 June 1987) is an American-Australian retired professional tennis player. Although born and based in the United States, Carsten has represented Australia on tour. Tennis career Carsten Ball was born in Newport Beac ...

) and the quarterfinals of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

(lost to

Igor Andreev Igor Valeryevich Andreev (russian: link=no, И́горь Вале́рьевич Андре́ев, BGN/PCGN: ''Andreyev'', ISO 9: ''Andreev'', ; born 14 July 1983) is a Russian former professional tennis player. He won three ATP Tour singles t ...

). At the 2009 US Open, Mayer reached the second round, losing to

Radek Štěpánek Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 10 ...

in straight sets. In 2011, Mayer qualified for the Brasil Open and defeated world no. 73

in the first round of the main draw. In the second round, he played seventh-seeded Italian Potito Starace and lost. Mayer reached the third round of the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...

for the third time and the US Open in 2012, losing to

Nicolás Almagro Nicolás Almagro Sánchez (; born 21 August 1985 in Murcia, Spain) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2008, 2010 and 2012 (losing each time to Rafael Nadal, the eventual ...

in straight sets at Roland Garros and

Juan Martín del Potro Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...

in New York.

2014: First ATP title and top 30

In February 2014, Mayer reached his first career ATP final at

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located within ...

, defeating second seed

Tommy Robredo Tomás Robredo Garcés, known as Tommy Robredo (, ; born 1 May 1982), is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the Hamburg Masters ea ...

en route. Mayer lost to top-seed

Fabio Fognini Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. He is currently ranked (July 2022) in 64th place by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP ...

in straight sets. At Oeiras and Niza, he reached the quarterfinals as a qualifier in both. He was defeated in the third round of the French Open by

Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked world No. 1 for 209 weeks, and has finish ...

. At Wimbledon, he reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time. He defeated No. 25 seed Andreas Seppi, former Wimbledon semifinalist and

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Ope ...

runner-up Marcos Baghdatis, and Andrey Kuznetsov before being defeated by

Grigor Dimitrov Grigor Dimitrov ( bg, Григор Димитров, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved o ...

in straight sets. With this run, Mayer was ranked in the top 50 for the first time in his career. Next, Mayer played in the 2014 MercedesCup, where he lost in the second round to Mikhail Youzhny. Then, he played at the 2014 International German Open, where he beat Guillermo García-López and Philipp Kohlschreiber, reaching the final without dropping a set. In the final, he defeated top seed

David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP 250, ATP 500, Masters 1000) except at a major, ...

in three sets, winning his first ATP title. Seeded 23rd at the 2014 US Open, Mayer reached the third round, being defeated by Kei Nishikori. In the doubles tournament, he partnered with compatriot

Carlos Berlocq Carlos Alberto Berlocq (; born February 3, 1983) is an Argentines, Argentine retired professional List of male tennis players, tennis player nicknamed ''Charly'', ''Panther'' and ''Warlocq''. His favourite surface was clay and he was last coach ...

and made it to the quarterfinals, beating the reigning Wimbledon champions

Jack Sock Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American professional tennis player. He has won four career ATP singles titles and 17 doubles titles, and has career-high rankings of world No. 8 in singles (on 20 November 2017) and world No. 2 in dou ...

and

Vasek Pospisil Vasek Pospisil ( ; cs, Vašek Pospíšil, ; known in born June 23, 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player. Pospisil has a career-high world singles ranking of No. 25, and No. 4 in doubles. Along with partner Jack Sock, he won the 2014 ...

. Mayer won his two singles rubbers against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in the Davis Cup Play-offs, helping

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

to secure a place in the 2015 World Group. Mayer lost in the second round at the Malaysian Open to

Jarkko Nieminen Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born 23 July 1981) is a Finnish former professional tennis player. His highest ranking of world No. 13, achieved in July 2006, is a Finnish record. He has won two ATP singles titles and five doubles titles in his care ...

and in the first round of the China Open to

Martin Klizan Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aust ...

. He lost in the second round of the Shanghai Masters to

Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-e ...

, who saved five match points against Mayer.

2015: Career high ranking of World No. 21

Mayer started the year at

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor, it is home to m ...

, where he lost in the first round in a tight three-set match against Andreas Seppi. Then, he competed in the Apia International Sydney, where he reached the semifinals but was defeated by Mikhail Kukushkin. In the

, he was seeded 27th but was defeated by

Viktor Troicki Viktor Troicki ( sr-Cyrl, Виктор Троицки, ; born 10 February 1986) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup, and his second and third ATP singles titles at the 2015 ...

in four sets in the second round. Next, Mayer reached the quarterfinals at the

Brasil Open The Brasil Open was a tennis tournament held annually in São Paulo, Brazil. It was part of the ATP Tour 250 series, and was one of the main events in the Brazilian tennis calendar alongside ATP Tour 500 Rio Open. Since 2004, it was a part of th ...

, being defeated by local favourite

João Souza João Olavo Soares de Souza (; born 27 May 1988) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. Before receiving a lifetime ban for match-fixing, Souza competed mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour, both in singles and doubles. He reached his hi ...

. On March 8, 2015, he played in the longest singles match in

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organi ...

history, beating João Souza in 6 hours and 42 minutes, 7–6^(7–4), 7–6^(7–5), 5–7, 5–7, 15–13. Mayer was unable to recover in time for the

Indian Wells Masters The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is ...

and was defeated in the third round of the Miami Masters by Kevin Anderson. The Argentine started the European clay-court swing with a first round loss in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Then, he reached the third round at

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and the second round in the Rome Masters. In the Open de Nice Côte d'Azur, he reached the third ATP final of his career, losing to Dominic Thiem. Mayer reached the third round of the

as the 23rd seed, being defeated by Marin Čilić in straight sets. In the grass court season, Mayer reached the quarterfinals at

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

(lost to

Denis Istomin Denis Olegovich Istomin (born 7 September 1986) is an Uzbek professional tennis player. He has won two singles titles (at the 2015 Aegon Open Nottingham and 2017 Chengdu Open) and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in A ...

) and the third round of Wimbledon where he was the 24th seed before he (lost to Kevin Anderson) in straight sets.

2016: Davis Cup Champion

Mayer lost in the first round of the 2016 Australian Open and the 2016 French Open. He had minor success in the 2016 Indian Wells Masters beating Sam Groth and 20th seed

before losing to Marin Čilić in the third round. In the

2016 Wimbledon Championships The 2016 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam tennis tournament which took place at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The main draw commenced on 27 June 2016 and concluded on 10 July 2016. 2016 ...

, he lost in the first round to Donald Young. In the Davis Cup semifinal between Great Britain and Argentina, Mayer beat Daniel Evans in the fifth and deciding rubber, sending Argentina into its fifth Davis Cup Final. Mayer teamed with

for doubles in the Davis Cup Final against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

. They lost to Marin Čilić and Ivan Dodig. However, Argentina won their first championship 3 to 2.

2017: Second ATP title and back to top 50

Mayer lost in the second round of the 2017 Argentina Open and the 2017 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships (lost to

John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...

). In July he lost in the 2nd round of qualifying to a teenager in the

2017 German Open The 2017 German Open (also known as the 2017 German Tennis Championships) was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor red clay courts. It was the 111th edition of the German Open Tennis Championships and part of the ATP World Tour 500 series ...

only to enter the MD as ''lucky loser'' and win his first tournament as a father (his son Valentino was born in February 2017). He became the first

lucky loser A lucky loser is a sports competitor (player or team) who loses a match in a knockout tournament or loses in qualifying, but who then enters the main draw, usually when another competitor withdraws during the tournament because of illness, injury ...

to win an

ATP 500 The ATP 500 tournaments (previously known as the ''ATP World Tour 500'' tournaments, ''ATP International Series Gold'', and ''ATP Championship Series'') are the fourth highest tier of annual men's tennis tournament after the four Grand Slam tour ...

tournament. In the final, he defeated

Florian Mayer Florian Mayer (; born 5 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. Mayer reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in June 2011. Also in 2011, Mayer won his first ATP title after four previous defeats in ATP fi ...

in three sets, winning his second ATP 500 title. Due to winning his second Hamburg title, Mayer climbed 89 spots, breaking into the top 50 for the first time since 2016, at number 49.

2018: 3rd Hamburg Final

Defeated 3 players ranked outside Top 100 to reach ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells 4R (lost to his boyhood friend and eventual champion

Juan Martin del Potro ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanis ...

in 3 sets). Reached QFs at Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo. Improved to 2–29 vs. Top 10 players by beating Kevin Anderson in 3rd-set TB at London/Queen’s Club. Fell to A. Zverev in ATP Masters 1000 Madrid 3R, but earned only break point faced by German en route to title. Squandered 6 MPs vs. Nicolas Jarry in the ATP Estoril 1R (most of all players to lose a match this season). Blew a 2-set lead for 1st time in career at Wimbledon (lost to Struff in 1R). Finished as Brisbane doubles runner-up in 1st event with Zeballos since 2010 Wimbledon (l. to Kontinen/Peers).

2019: Australian Open doubles semifinal and French Open singles fourth round

Mayer reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam in doubles for the first time in his career at the 2019 Australian Open partnering João Sousa. The pair also reached the quarterfinals at the 2019 US Open. He made the fourth round of the

where he lost to world No. 3

in straight sets.

2020: Severe dip in form

Mayer only played eight matches in 2020 and lost all eight. His final Grand Slam was the 2020 US Open where he lost in the first round to 25th seed

Milos Raonic Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...

in straight sets.

2021: Retirement

Mayer played his last ATP tournament at the 2021 Chile Open where he lost in the first round to

Pedro Sousa Pedro Barreiros Cardoso de Sousa (; born 27 May 1988) is a Portuguese professional tennis player who competes on the ATP Tour. In February 2019, he achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 99. ATP career finals Singles: 1 (1 runner- ...

in straight sets. His last event was 2021 Wimbledon qualifying where he lost in the first round to compatriot

Marco Trungelliti Marco Trungelliti (; born 31 January 1990) is an Argentine professional tennis player and competes mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour and ITF Futures, both in singles and doubles. On 4 March 2019, Trungelliti achieved his best singles rankings o ...

in straight sets. On October 7, 2021, Mayer announced his retirement from tennis.

ATP career finals

Singles: 5 (2 titles, 3 runner-ups)

Doubles: 5 (1 title, 4 runner-ups)

Team competitions finals

Davis Cup: 1 (1 title)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

Singles: 22 (10-12)

Doubles: 19 (11–8)

Junior Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

Performance timelines

Singles

''Current through the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.

Doubles

Top-10 wins per season

*He has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

Personal life

Mayer is married to fellow Argentinian Milagros Aventin.

Notes

References

External links

Official website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Leonardo 1987 births Living people Argentine male tennis players Argentine people of German descent People from Corrientes Tennis players from Buenos Aires French Open junior champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles