Philipp Kohlschreiber battles past Lukasz Kubot in the second round – Gerry Weber Open 2012
World number 34, Philipp Kohlschreiber, bounced back from a set down to oust the 50th ranked Pole, Lukasz Kubot, in the second round of the Gerry Weber Open on Thursday. He lost the opening set in a tie-breaker 6-7(5)
but did well to bag the following two sets 6-1, 6-3 to book a spot in the last eight.
The opening set witnessed a very tight battle with no breakthroughs at all. Both players had opportunity to pound on to their rivals but didn’t make the full use of them and that enforced the tie-breaker round into play.
German star struck six aces and had two golden chances to break serve but couldn’t convert any one of them in his favour. Later on, it cost him a lot as the Pole bagged an early mini-break in the tie-breaker and won the opening
battle.
However, the tables were turned upon the visitor in the second set when the local hero trashed him to a trail of 0-5. Kohlschreiber broke serve twice in a row at the start to build a monumental lead and almost registered a bagel
but Kubot restored some respect and held serve to avoid a bagel.
Stage was set for an epic third set battle. However, the sloppy start from the Pole; giving an early breakpoint to the German lowered the tempo of the match. He went down to a trail of 2-0. Kubot did well to hold the following
three serve games in commanding fashion; dropping just two points but he wasn’t able to win the break back that was necessary to level the scores.
The pressure paid off and the Pole visitor dropped another serve game after a fierce battle. It was the last action from the match and the German crowd was on their feet praising the local hero.
In a post-match press conference, the German said, “I could have won the first set but he took his chances. I also think that he didn’t play on the same level in the second and third set. He gave me an early break in the second
which encouraged me. I always had the feeling that I was a hint better than he was. But that’s just a feeling. Sometimes you lose the first set and still think you are the better player. Fortunately, the feeling I had turned out to be true. As I said, I think
he didn’t keep up his level.”
Philipp Kohlschreiber will go head-to-head with the top seed Spaniard, Rafael Nadal, in a battle for a spot in the semi-final.
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