Gael Monfils downs Philipp Kohlschreiber to qualify for the next round – Moselle Open 2012
Second seeded, Philipp Kohlschreiber received a shocker at the hands of the local contender, Gael Monfils, in the quarter-finals of the Moselle Open 2012, held at the hard courts of Metz, France. Monfils summed
up his 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4 on the eve of Friday.
The seventh seeded was unable to strike any lead in the initial part of the match and the German busted his initial serve. He shattered his confidence and secured the initial two games without any difficulty.
The French challenger struggled hard to upset his contender and even broke his serve in the fifth game but it seemed impossible for him to dominate. Kohlschreiber proved excessively strong and closed the opener 6-7(3) after a tiebreaker round.
The seventh seeded, German had a 33 percent first serve accuracy, with 10 of 12 first and 11 of 24 second delivery points. His rival on the other hand manifested 70 first serve precision with 24 of 33 first and
four of 14 second serve points. From four serve breaks presented, Kohlschreiber capitalized only two.
In the second set the world number 44th, struggled hard to reverse the winning order and Monfils busted his rival’s serve in the fifth game. He confidently marched forward and dominating the game with
his proactive approach. He nudged forward and marked the set closure with a 6-4 lead.
The decider proved to be a tough challenge for the 28-year-old German. He broke his rival’s first serve and clinched the initial two games, securing a 2-love lead. The score line evened out to 2-all in the fourth
and 3-all in the sixth game respectively. The right-hander Frenchman swiftly progressed and concluded the final set by a 6-4 lead.
The local champion fired four aces onto his challenger committed double faults thrice. Though he a low initial serve accuracy of 44 percent, he converted 12 of 15 first and eight of 19 second serve points. The
second seeded German manifested 70 initial serve, with 13 of 21 points.
The duo encountered each other for the eighth time and Monfils sustained his lead over the higher ranked German professional. Prior to this, he defeated the Kohlschreiber 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-3 in the first round of
the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open 2012. In the next round, he will contest against the Italian, Andreas Seppi.
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