Interview with Philipp Kohlschreiber: "My time is slowly coming to an end"
Philipp Kohlschreiber is celebrating his 39th birthday this year. In an interview with tennisnet.com, the man from Augsburg talks about the approaching end of his career, his expectations for the Challenger tournament in Marbella and the Davis Cup in Hamburg.
by Nikolaus Fink from Marbella
last edit:
Mar 28, 2022, 07:38 am
Mr. Kohlschreiber, you meet Jiri Lehecka in the first round in Marbella. How do you rate this task?
He is a young and complete player who plays well on any surface. I trained with him at the Australian Open and found him to be very solid. He's a typical Czech player with a slightly better backhand. He is a very good athlete and has a good attitude. It certainly won't be easy. I'm also not fully active anymore and play relatively few tournaments. I was reasonably satisfied with my last tournament to date in Indian Wells. I fought a lot but didn't play that well. My goal against Lehecka is to fight well and give everything. I hope that I can also play a little bit better.
Marbella is your first clay court event of the season. How did you find your way in the training sessions?
Actually not that bad. I am happy. Sure, sand suits me. The weather might not be quite as perfect yet because it's a bit windy and colder. But Spain and sand is just awesome. Marbella is a super great city. Here you have to feel good and just have fun playing tennis.
Dominic Thiem and Stan Wawrinka will also start in Marbella. What does that say about the tournament?
This is the big jackpot for the tournament. It's sensational that players with a total of four Grand Slam titles are playing here. There can't be many challengers who can show something like that. There are already a lot of people here and I hope that we will have a full house. That would be absolutely deserved because they are great players. Personally, I'm really happy to have seen Dominic again. In training it went very, very well. Matches are different than training, but I think he's at a great age and mentally ready too. I hope that everything fits on his wrist so that he can at least play fully. As far as it goes... I think both can play for the title.
At the Australian Open you said that you will definitely play until Wimbledon. Is there an update in terms of career planning?
The plan still stands. Realistically, you have to say that I don't have many points after Wimbledon. It also depends on which tournaments I can still play. I haven't played many Challengers in the past few years and I won't start at the age of 39 either. The only goal I have defined for myself is that this year I play the tournaments that are close to my heart or where I haven't been yet. This is the case in Marbella. Where better to start the clay court season? I can't say yet whether there will be five or ten tournaments. Of course I would like to play all German tournaments again, but I also understand the organizers, who might prefer to give up-and-coming players like Oscar Otte or Daniel Altmaier the wildcards. They deserve it too.
What role does the Davis Cup in Hamburg play in your mind?
Of course I would always like to play Davis Cup at home. That was a long time ago because with the new format it is no longer possible as often. But you have to say that I didn't deserve it in terms of performance. If all else fails and nobody can play, I'm happy to be called up to the team. But as I said: my time is slowly coming to an end.