ATP: Stuttgart: Kohlschreiber fails to start with Istomin

Philipp Kohlschreiber had to accept his next first-round defeat at the start of the grass court season at the ATP tournament in Stuttgart. The 34-year-old lost to the Uzbek Denis Istomin 6:7 (2:7), 6:7 (3:7).

The Augsburg player did not have a single break point on his opponent’s serve. Kohlschreiber, who was seeded fifth at the Weissenhof, also failed at the French Open.

In the round of 16 Istomin will face Florian Mayer, who celebrated his first main field victory on this year’s ATP Tour on Monday against local hero Yannick Maden.

In the afternoon, Maximilian Marterer, the fourth German player to play Croatia’s Lucky Loser Viktor Galovic, will make it into the round of the last 16. On Monday, 17-year-old talent Rudolf Molleker, Mischa Zverev and Oldie Mayer had already won their opening matches.

Zverev will meet the world’s top-seeded Roger Federer on Wednesday afternoon, who returns to the tour after a break of two and a half months. After his first victory on the ATP Tour, the world ranking 303rd Molleker has to deal with the second seeded title defender Lucas Pouille from France.