ATP: Philipp Kohlschreiber is in the semi-final of Vienna

Philipp Kohlschreiber is in the semi-final of the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Vienna. Germany’s longstanding number one defeated Diego Schwartzman 7-5 and 7-6 (6) and could meet Alexander Zverev in the final round.

By Jens Huiber from Vienna

Diego Schwartzman and Philipp Kohlschreiber were allowed to sit on their chairs for the first time in a solid quarter of an hour after the start of the game. The second quarter-finals at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Vienna were extremely even-tempered, no wonder, with only eight places separating Schwartzman and Kohlschreiber in the current ATP World Ranking.

The Argentinean is playing an amazing season, having only had to admit defeat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final of Antwerp last week. Kohlschreiber, on the other hand, won his last final, which was a few weeks ago, in Kitzbühel against Joao Sousa, the current residence of the Augsburg native. Kohlschreiber always plays particularly well in German-speaking regions, whether in Munich, Halle/Westphalia or one day in Düsseldorf.

However, Diego Schwartzman, who scored the first trick in the match, won the break 5:3 and then immediately lost his serve – just like the next one for 5:6. Kohlschreiber again allowed a break point as a serve, but still managed to secure the first set 7:5 after 56 minutes.

The longtime German number one has his 34th birthday a few days ago. Until recently, this event was celebrated in Vienna. At that time, it was part of the ATP World Tour 250 tournament. Due to the higher categorisation, the Stadthallen tournament has slipped to parallel date to Basel, Kohlschreiber can now be experienced elsewhere.

And in the quarter-finals against Schwartzman, he proved to be the fresher player – the one who made the right decisions at the right moment. In a playful way, Philipp Kohlschreiber can only fool the fewest professionals on the ATP tour anyway, when the body and the psyche join in, the now 34-year-old can beat almost anyone. Against Andy Murray in Dubai, Kohlschreiber had failed as close as possible, once again. Against Roger Federer at the US Open, the German was then without a chance – but had fulfilled his duty before.

In the second set Kohlschreiber took the lead with a break in the fifth game, in his 50th set. Match of the year 2017. Schwartzman has a few more on his hunchback, the Argentinean who was nine years younger than he was when he only made a limited comeback. Kohlschreiber helped to compensate for the 5:5 draw. In the tiebreak, the routine prevailed, Kohlschreiber put the last ball on the line with the forehand.

In the semi-finals, Philipp Kohlschreiber could now face Alexander Zverev, the number one in Vienna. In an internal German comparison, the seasoned player has a 2:1 victory over Germany, but the last match in Halle/Westphalia this year clearly went to Zverev. Kohlschreiber sees it as the second semi-fanle in the 500cc category 2017 – in Hamburg he had to give up injured against Florian Mayer.

Here the single tableau from Vienna