ATP Munich: Philipp Kohlschreiber – a Spaniard on the tennis court
With his three-set defeat against Daniel Altmaier in the first round of the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Munich, Philipp Kohlschreiber probably said goodbye as a single player in the Bavarian capital.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Apr 25, 2022, 10:44 pm
Perhaps Philipp Kohlschreiber made more of player parties when he was younger, but on Monday evening the veteran was absent from the first floor of the VIP tent at the MTTC Iphitos facility. A few hours before the big party, Kohlschreiber gave a press conference on the ground floor of that tent after his defeat against Daniel Altmaier. There are many indications that it could have been the last of the long-standing German number one as a single artist in Munich.
The elephant in the room is often only addressed after a certain warm-up phase, with Kohlschreiber the questions got to the point rather quickly. 6: 7 (5), 6: 3 and 1: 6 the bare result, which of course does not reflect that Kohlschreiber was unable to use a 0:40 in the first set at 5: 5 for the probably decisive break. Or that the veteran had opportunities at the beginning of the third round to at least reach the round of 16 of the event he had won three times.
Kohli and Munich - is it over?
In any case, no concrete confirmation of this assumption could be elicited from Philipp Kohlschreiber (yet). That's not his style, he explained. But he also added that he no longer saw himself on the Challenger tour in order to make the connection again at least so far that he didn't have to fear for the right to start in most tournaments on the ATP tour. On the other hand: The qualification in Roland Garros is Kohlschreiber again, the blows are still there. That could also be seen against Altmaier.
Kohlschreiber was also asked what distinguished him the most. His attitude to work, then later the conviction that he could also implement the strong training performance in the matches, says the 38-year-old, who is only ranked 132 in the current world rankings. Kohlschreiber finally stated that he was actually not a German in terms of the mentality on the tennis court. Rather a Spaniard. One of the kind who give their all with scraped knees until the end of a game.
Philipp Kohlschreiber will be spared this fate this week at the MTTC Iphitos. At the side of the young Max Hans Rehberg there is still the doubles. The two Germans meet Matwe Middelkoop and Rohan Bopanna. It would be a surprise if Kohlschreiber and Rehberg progressed. The fact that Philipp Kohlschreiber will remain in tennis in Germany even after his resignation is not, by the way.