2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament: Kohlschreiber off to a strong start
German Philipp Kohlschreiber got off to a strong start at the 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament today as he won his opening clash against Taiwanese Yen-Hsun Lu in straight
sets.
Playing in his fourth year here, Kohlschreiber broke his two year first-round-exit-streak here as he made it to the next round this week after successfully dismissing Lu.
The German’s career best at the run stands at a quarter-final in his debut year in 2007 when he moved past two professionals before falling to eventual champion, Mikhail Youzhny in the quarter-final round.
Lu on the other hand, was making his debut appearance at the Rotterdam event this week.
Meeting the Taiwanese for the second time in their career, Kohlschreiber was able to extend his head to head lead to 2-0 after a match that lasted less than ninety minutes.
They had previously met in their third round match at the 2010 Rogers Cup.
Coming into the first set, Kohlschreiber landed an impressive 74% of his service inside the T and scored an equally notable 79% on it. Striking three aces and successfully
converting two break point opportunities, Kohlschreiber was able to secure a 6-4 win for himself in the first set.
Trailing the set score 0-1 Lu decided to fight back and put up some resistance for Kohlschreiber. Maintaining his first serve percentage, Kohlschreiber upped his winning
percentage on it to 81%. However, continued resistance from the Taiwanese kept the score tied at all times finally pushing the set into a tiebreaker. Lu even dominated the tiebreaker at one point, leading the score at 4-1. However, the German bounced back
with powerful aces and excellent returns. Holding Lu to five points, Kohlschreiber secured a 7-5 win for himself in the tie-breaker sealing his straight sets victory.
Kohlschreiber struck a total of six aces and successfully converted two of three break opportunities. Losing only 13 of 60 points on service, the German was able to ensure
his survival in the event.
Kohlschreiber moves on ahead to play either of the two Robins – Haase the local wildcard entrant or Soderling the defending champion.
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