Philipp Kohlschreiber stuns Marcel Granollers in round one – ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament 2012
German veteran, Philipp Kohlschreiber, battled past the eighth seed, Marcel Granollers, in a three set see-saw match at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament 2012 on Tuesday. He formulated a 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 score line to upset the Spaniard at this ATP (Association
of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 series event taking place on the hard courts in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The 28-year-old remained on track to bag €290,550 prize money after shocking the Spanish star in almost two hours in their second outing. He not only maintained his winning record against Granollers but also improved to a 2-0 record in their FedEx ATP Head2Head
series.
Currently number 30 in the South African Airways ATP World Rankings, Kohlschreiber flashed at the Ahoy Rotterdam and quickly bagged the breadstick. After Granollers held his serve in the second game, the German went berserk and wiped out the last five games
successively.
The eighth seed sought his winning ways in the second set and crushed Kohlschreiber in a similar way. He went on a five games killing spree after the German held his opening serve and pulled out the equaliser with an exceptional 6-1 success. Granollers was
never challenged with any breakpoint and cashed in half of the four break chances to earn the limelight.
The match could go in either direction but the contender who outplayed his opponent was the Swiss resident. Kohlschreiber suffered the first blow in the third game and was trailing at 2-4 when he redeployed his strategy. The German blasted massive forehands
and backhands to stroke out the last four games in a row, ultimately clinching the decider with a 6-4 score line.
Next challenge for the high flying German is the Italian challenger, Andreas Seppi, who earned a comeback win against South Africa’s Rik de Voest in a three setter to set-up this clash.
Fourth seed Feliciano Lopez also became a casualty in this tournament. The Spaniard was ousted by the French qualifier, Paul-Henri Mathieu, in their eighth meeting.
"I almost cannot believe it," said the beaming French. "I panicked a bit at the beginning of the match, he played very well. I'm moving better now and started playing better during the important points. I'm happy to win three matches in a row in three days
during my first month back in competition."
The French not only avenged his loss at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells but also extended lead in the head-to-head series by 5-3 against Lopez.
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