ATP Munich: record winner Philipp Kohlschreiber fails at the beginning
Philipp Kohlschreiber was eliminated in the first round of the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Munich against Dominik Koepfer . The record champion of the BMW Open was defeated by Dominik Koepfer 6: 4, 4: 6 and 3: 6.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Apr 27, 2021, 04:53 pm
When you talk about tennis player Philipp Kohlschreiber these days, you can hardly avoid arguing with "still". So please: Yes, Philipp Kohlschreiber is still a man who can wield a seldom fine blade on the court. But no longer always leads, in between, Kohli sprinkles his forehand in a way that he would have bit his butt in earlier years.
Speaking of earlier, maybe three years ago: Kohlschreiber would have simply stepped in with a score of 4: 4 in the second set when Dominik Koepfer offered him a break chance at the start of the BMW Open. The veteran did not accept, instead gave immediately afterwards and had to go into the third set.
Kohlschreiber beats Thiem, Cilic, Youzhny
Philipp Kohlschreiber has not played much tennis in the last few months, with a world ranking of 114, the starting places in the main fields of tournaments on the ATP tour are basically not possible. The now 37-year-old recently served at a Challenger in Belgrade, after an opening win against Maxime Cressy was over against Damir Dzumhur. These were Kohlschreiber's first matches since October 2020, where he ended the season with a loss to Marco Cecchinato in Parma.
The fact that the record champion of the BMW Open would receive a wild card from tournament director Patrik Kühnen was never an issue. The fun factor in front of the empty stands was for Kohlschreiber, who had defeated Dominic Thiem (2016), Marin Cilic (2012) and Mikhail Youzhny (2007) in his three triumphs at the MTTC Iphitos in front of a sold out house, fell very little regardless of the result against Koepfer out.
In the decisive set, Kohlschreiber first caught up a break deficit, but gave up his serve again to make it 3-1. In the seventh game Koepfer fended off two chances of a comeback of his opponent, served after a game of 2:24 hours to 4: 6, 6: 4 and 6: 3.
Zverev wants third title
In lap two, Jan-Lennard Struff is another compatriot waiting for Dominik Koepfer. The Warsteiner had no problems with Lucky Loser Andrej Martin. Such are not to be expected for Alexander Zverev either. The tournament favorite will join the Open Bavarian Tennis Championships 2021 on Wednesday. Against Ricardas Berankis, who is coached by DTB Vice President Dirk Hordorff.
Zverev used Tuesday afternoon to work on his serve parallel to Kohlschreiber's match against Koepfer. The bad elbow may not be at full power yet. But still fast enough to be a real problem for the average ATP professional. Should Zverev live up to his favorite position in Munich, he would catch up with Philipp Kohlschreiber in terms of the title. Who hopefully still feels enough bite to come to the Aumeister in the coming year.
Here the single tableau in Munich
miphitos