ATP: Halle: Kohlschreiber first German to reach the round of 16

Former title winner Philipp Kohlschreiber (34) was the first German to reach the round of 16 at the grass court tournament in Halle/Westphalia.

The native of Augsburg won on Tuesday against Marton Fucsovics from Hungary, who had to give up at 4:6, 6:3, 2:1 for Kohlschreiber. In the round of the last 16 of the Wimbledon dress rehearsal, the 2011 Halle winner will face the Australian Malek Jaziri or Matthew Ebden from Tunisia.

In Stuttgart, Kohlschreiber had failed in the first round at the beginning of the grass court season due to Uzbek player Denis Istomin. On Monday local hero Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein), Maximilian Marterer (Nuremberg) and Matthias Bachinger (Munich) were eliminated in the first round in Halle.

On Tuesday, five other German players will fight for a place in the last sixteen. Last year’s second seeded finalist Alexander Zverev (Hamburg) has a tricky task ahead of him with the Croatian Borna Coric. His brother Mischa plays against the Russian Karen Khachanov. Oldie Florian Mayer (Bayreuth) meets the Frenchman Richard Gasquet. There is a German duel between Peter Gojowczyk (Munich) and talent Rudolf Molleker (Berlin).