Philipp Kohlschreiber upsets Nicolas Almagro in the quarter-finals – Heineken Open 2012
Eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber shocked the world number 10, Nicolas Almagro of Spain, in straight sets at the Heineken Open 2012 on Thursday. He dusted away early resilience posed by the Spaniard and registered a 7-6(5), 6-4
victory at the ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland, New Zealand.
The German required almost one and half hour to overpower the high-flying Spaniard at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event. He confidently entered the opening set and smoothly held entire serves
by pinging the balls expertly onto the lines. He dusted away both breakpoints he came across but failed to find any break opportunity, leading the set to a tie-breaker. Kohlschreiber outshined the Spaniard in it and clinched the opener with a 7-6(5) score
line.
Ranked 42nd in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Kohlschreiber carried his glory ways in the second set and easily bagged his entire serves without facing any breakpoint. He then converted a break chance
to his advantage in the last game and sealed the success by winning six games to four.
Kohlschreiber was facing the world number 10 for the sixth time and after earning this victory, he not only avenged his loss at Hamburg last year but also levelled the head-to-head series by 3-3 against the Spaniard. The 28-year-old
hit nine aces and manifested an impressive 34 out of 46 points on his first serve to earn this victory.
Former world number 22, Kohlschreiber, is bidding for his seventh career title here. Last year he displayed exceptional skills and grabbed a title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle (earned a retirement victory over his compatriot,
Philipp Petzschner). Besides this, he made a final eight berth at this tournament last year and reached the title-rounds at the Dusseldorf ATP event (lost to Juan Ignacio Chela) and Istanbul Challenger (fell to fifth seed Denis Istomin). The German also made
a quarter-final showing at the Moscow ATP event but lost in his opening match of 2012 in Doha last week.
Next in line for the beaming German is the winner of the match between Belgian Olivier Rochus and the French qualifier, Benoit Paire.
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