[Tenisci]

Turkey's no 1 player is now Marsel İLHAN. Current Rank in singles :292

Winner (2) 2007- Turkey F5, Spain F37
Finalist (3) 2008- Croatia F2 ; 2007- Karshi Challenger, Tunisia F6 ;
Semifinalist (3) 2008- Switzerland F2 ; 2007- Turkey F6, Israel F5 ;

 

[Tenisci]

Re: <<<Marsel İLHAN>>>

some photos

 

[asma jaouadi]

cute

 

[Tenisci]

Turkey's no 1, world no 227, Marsel İLHAN, enters and plays Wimbledon qualifying directly

 

[Bashak]

Marsel lost in Qualifying 1st Round in AO 2009. Fingers crossed for Roland Garros.

 

[Bashak]

Turkish Number 1, Marsel Ilhan is currently number 212 in the world. He is of Uzbek origin and he was born in Uzbekistan. He moved to Turkey in 2004 and became a Turkish citizen. His birthday is 11 June 1987. He is the first Turkish player to enter top 300. He trains at Tacspor Club in Istanbul. He plays mostly challengers. He was ranked in the 1000s at the beginning of 2007. I hope he gets to play a major event in the main draw this season.

 

[Bashak]

Marsel Ilhan is currently seeded number 1 at Kazakhstan F1 Futures. He defeated Russian qualifier Victor Kozin in first round (64 62). He will face another Russian Andrei Plotniy in second round. Best of luck to him!
Marsel's current ATP rank is 222.

 

[Bashak]

Marsel is playing Bangkok Challenger. He defeated German Dieter Kindlman 62 63 in the first round. Good luck Marsel!

 

[Bashak]

Marsel made it to QF of Bangkok Challenger. His 2nd round opponent Korean Hyung Taik Lee retired at 6/2 4/1. Best of luck Marsel!

 

[Bashak]

Marsel made it to the Final Qualifying round of US Open by beating Sebastian de Chaunac of France 76 76.
He will be facing Ricardo Mello of Brazil in the final round. GOOD LUCK!

 

[Baghdatis#1]

I saw some of his match today. Honestly, I am shocked that he won. He had some great points, but De Chaunac was much better from what I saw and had a huge lead in the second set when I left. I guess he choked and Marsel stepped it up

 

[Bashak]

Last 5 mins of De Chaunac match:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB9NSDBh4sM

 

[Bashak]

Marsel defeated Mello 64 62 and he's in the main draw!
He will play Christophe Rochus of Belgium. Very tricky but I think he can find a way to win. Good Luck!

 

[Bashak]

Here's a short clip of Marsel right after his win over Mello. You can hear a woman sobbing with emotion in the background

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVrmjUkZNvE

 

[ezgi]

Thanks Bashak for videos.

Good luck Marsel

 

[Bashak]

You're welcome! Btw the videos are not mine, I just found them on youtube.

Marsel has some headshots taken at the US Open:

 

[Bashak]

There is an article about Marsel on the ATP website:

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2009/09/US-Open-Turkey-First-Winner-Ilhan.aspx

US Open

Ilhan Creates History For Turkey
Day 1
by Paul Macpherson | 31.08.2009

Marsel Ilhan created history at Flushing Meadows Monday when he became the first Turkish player to ever win a main draw match at a Grand Slam tournament. In truth, Ilhan had created history late last week when he won three qualifying matches to become the first Turkish player to ever take his place in the main draw of a major. Upon qualifying, Ilhan set himself the goal of reaching the third round and is now half way there after rallying to beat experienced Belgian Christophe Rochus 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 after serving 15 aces and breaking serve eight times.

Ilhan, 22, was born in Uzbekistan but moved with his mother to Istanbul five years ago for a better life and to further his tennis career. “I love Turkey very much and I do everything for Turkey. I have Turkish roots, I have so many friends there and the countries are very similar in their cultures. And the Turkish Tennis Federation has supported me for the last two years, which has allowed me to travel with my coach [John Uner]. I couldn’t find a sponsor in Uzbekistan.”

Ilhan, who lost his father at 14, says that he could afford to play only a handful of domestic tournaments each year and that finding money for equipment was a constant struggle. “My family lived on about $50 a month, so there was no chance to travel to tournaments. Racquets, balls, string, courts… everything was a problem. String was the biggest problem. It was so expensive and there were times I couldn’t practise because I couldn’t get my racquet strung. Balls were also a problem. I couldn’t afford to practise with new balls before a tournament. And we just had one indoor court in Samarkand, with 20 or 25 guys wanting to play.”

“I think if I had the opportunities that many players have, that I could be a Top 50 player by now. But I want to play for a minimum of 10 years, so I have time. Now that I have had this success I want more, more, more. “

In the second round Ilhan will play big-serving American John Isner.

 

[Bashak]

Against Christophe Rochus - Warm up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6zw79zhWYg

 

[Bashak]

Marsel Ilhan qualified for the Bangkok Main Draw. He was seed number 7 in the qualifying draw. He won all his qualifying matches in straight sets:

QR1: ILHAN, Marsel TUR def.RATIWATANA, Sanchai THA 75 75
QR2: ILHAN, Marsel TUR def. SIRIBUTWONG, Peerakit THA 62 64
QRF: ILHAN, Marsel TUR def MEFFERT, Dominik GER 75 63

His first round match is on Tuesday. He will play Benjamin BECKER (GER).
Good Luck!

 

[Bashak]

Marsel won his second ever ATP main draw match by beating Benjamin Becker (GER) 46 76 63 in Bangkok

Here is a photo gallery of his final round qualifying match against Meffert from the Thailand Open tournament website.
http://www.thailandopen.org/photo_gallery.php?gsid=35