Philipp Kohlschreiber celebrated his first victory in the fourth attempt in 2018. The Augsburg player won his opening match at the ATP tournament in Rotterdam against the Russian Karen Khachanov 3:6,7:6 (1), 7:6 (5).
In the round of sixteen, there is now a duel with superstar Roger Federer (Switzerland/No. 1), who will play his first-round match against Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans.
At the beginning of the year, Kohlschreiber had lost his opening match three times in three tournament participations. In Sydney, the 34-year-old was against Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev, and at the Australian Open against the world rankings-168. Yoshihito Nishioka from Japan and last in Sofia against Mirza Basic (Bosnia-Herzegovina). Kohlschreiber is currently ranked 36th in the world ranking.
In Rotterdam, in addition to Kohlschreiber, Alexander Zverev is also in the last sixteen. His brother Mischa Zverev (both from Hamburg) and Florian Mayer (Bayereuth) are eliminated. Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein) will play his first-round match against Viktor Troicki (Serbia) in the afternoon.