Philipp Kohlschreiber doesn’t seem to find himself in the season. After a catastrophic start to the year 2018, the German has to pack his suitcases again early in the quarter-finals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships following a defeat against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
In the duel between the two one-handed backhands “Kohli” had the game well under control at the beginning of the match. From the first point on, the Augsburg resident appeared focused and acted solidly from the baseline. His Greek opponent tried to force the Germans from the baseline with fast balls to dictate the rallies.
Kohlschreiber answered skillfully with short stops and broke the rhythm of the 19-year-old.
Despite his 1.93 meter body height, Tsitsipas scored only few free points at his own service and could not build up any pressure on his opponent. Kohlschreiber remained aggressive and won the first set 6:4 with a break.
Even in the second half, spectacular rallies were rare. A curious scene took place at 1:2 and 15:00 on impact Kohlschreiber. Tsitsipas’ shoe slipped during the rally from the foot of the Greek, who continued to play unswervingly and scurried over the course with his shoe hanging from his foot. The footwear was so damaged after the slide that it had to be replaced. The amazement in Kohlschreiber’s gaze, when he saw his opponent continue to play in this form, caused laughter in the audience.
Tsitsipas didn’t let himself be deterred by this and struck out with a new pair of shoes to regain control. In the middle of the second set the level of the game increased and Kohlschreiber had to leave his mark. His younger opponent was more aggressive and took his first break of the match to zero, taking a 4-2 lead. As a result, Kohlschreiber was unable to match his opponent’s service games and had to accept the equalization of the set 3:6.
The decisive passageway began very unfavourably for the Augsburg team. Right at the beginning, Kohlschreiber suffered a break and was trailing until the end of the game. With 6:4,3:6 and 4:6 Kohlschreiber says goodbye to a tournament again early on and doesn’t really get into the game in 2018.
The single panel in Dubai