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| Home crowd favorite Nicolas Kiefer outgrinded qualifier Jurgen Melzer 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to post his fourth clay-court win of the season. (Watch Highlights) The German, who played in only three clay-court events in 2006, reached the semifinals of the Australian Open (l. Federer) in January. Kiefer played with a shirt with his name and the number 69 on the back. "That is my official number at Hanover 96," said Kiefer. "Every fan can buy it together with the other jerseys. It doesn’t sell as well as the footballer ones, but one can work on that." Hannover 96 is one of the soccer teams in the German Bundesliga (National Soccer League). Kiefer, who has several good friends at the club and often practices with the team, had the opportunity to choose an official number (69). "I was allowed to pick a number and I thought the 69 was the funniest," he added. |