Kohlschreiber One Set From Stuttgart Final
Kohlschreiber One Set From Stuttgart Final
The German has raced to an early lead over Juan Martin del Potro
Philipp Kohlschreiber is one set away from reaching yet another ATP World Tour final in Germany. The No. 7 seed leads wild card Juan Martin del Potro in their semi-final at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, 6-3, 2-2.
Winning 88 per cent of points when he got his first serve in, Kohlschreiber held serve comfortably throughout the set and put consistent pressure on del Potro with his return. The Argentine hadn’t dropped serve all tournament, but lost his serve early in the opening set and saw Kohlschreiber break again at 5-3 to take the opening set.
The players traded service holds in the second set up to 2-2, when the match was suspended due to rain with Kohlschreiber serving at 15/15.
Kohlschreiber is looking to move into the third grass-court final of his career and his first since 2011. Five of his seven career ATP World Tour titles have come in Germany, as well as 10 of his 15 career ATP World Tour finals.
Del Potro aims to reach his first ATP World Tour final since winning in Auckland in January 2014. A win over Kohlschreiber would also put him into the first grass-court final of his career.
The winner of this match will play No. 3 seed Dominic Thiem in Sunday’s final.