Philipp Kohlschreiber missed a surprise at the Rolex Paris Masters against fifth seed Marin Cilic and was eliminated in the second round of the indoor tournament.
The world rankings-43rd Kohlschreiber quickly lost against the former US Open winner Cilic and had to admit defeat after 72 minutes with 3:6, 4:6. In the end, the strong Croatian was in the lead in all decisive statistics. For Kohlschreiber it was the last game in 2018.
“Marin played unbelievably, he brought my first serves back hard and played almost flawlessly,” said “Kohli” at Sky and said: “The season was okay. Now is the time to gather strength and give it all by 2019.”
In the Night Session, the Augsburg player could only earn two break chances in the second set at a score of 1:4 and shortly thereafter shortened his serve to 3:4. He himself had to give up his serve three times.
The German number had entered the match against the 1.98 metre tall serve giant Cilic with good spirits. Kohlschreiber had won three of the previous four matches – including the spring match in Indian Wells.
But the Croatian was dominant and won the first set with a break to 4:2. He did not let the lead be taken away and looked like the safe winner after a quick 4-0 lead in the second set.
The 35-year-old Kohlschreiber, who had defeated the Dutch qualifier Robin Haase in three sets in his opening game, fought his way back once again. But it wasn’t enough to turn it around.
On Wednesday the fourth seeded Alexander Zverev intervenes in the action. The 21-year-old will face American Frances Tiafoe in his opening match.