Philipp Kohlschreiber labours past Cedrik-Marcel Stebe into the second round – Gerry Weber Open 2011
German Philipp Kohlschreiber rallied past his countryman, Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in a three set nail biter match at Gerry Weber Open 2011, one of the first grass court tournament held in Halle, Germany after the clay spell. Kohlschreiber
registered a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 victory over his qualifier compatriot to advance into the second round on Monday.
27-year-old Kohlschreiber took two hours and ten minutes to triumph over his countryman, seven years younger than him, in a three set thriller. He clinched the opener with a single break of serve and despite losing the second set,
the elder one got berserk in the decider to pocket a breadstick at Gerry Weber Stadion.
Ranked 49 in the South African Airways ATP World Tour rankings, Kohlschreiber completely outshined Stebe, ranked 161 places below him, to seal the opener by winning six games to four. He faced zero breakpoint and converted one
out of seven breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to win easily. In addition to this, the higher ranked produced a better first serve share of 77 percent as compared to his opponent’s 66 percent and registered a spectacular 80 percent win on it.
The youngster got on track in the second set and held his serve in the first game convincingly. He saved one out of two breakpoints and converted two out of five breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to bag the equaliser with
a 6-3 win. Stebe clobbered a higher first serve share and earned an impressive 65 percent win on it.
The elder one took full advantage of his countryman’s exhaustion in the final set. He raised his level of game and earned a superb 91 percent win on his higher first serve share. In addition to this, Kohlschreiber faced zero breakpoint
and converted two out of three breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to pocket a breadstick.
“I think the younger players are always madly motivated, you really have to be careful,” Kohlschreiber said after the match. “They are hungry, so you have to watch out for them. I also think that he shouldn’t be underestimated
because he played three rounds of qualification. He already [had] three matches on grass under his belt. It was definitely not always easy to play him.”
Next challenger for the winner is the seventh seeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov who is making a debut in this tournament this week. He bounced from a set down to win against Netherlands’ Robin Haase by a 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 victory.
If Kohlschreiber stuns the seed, he will be reaching last eight of this tournament for the sixth time in his seven appearances.
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