Kohlschreiber Off To Winning Start

There’s something about the hard courts at the ASB Classic that agrees with Philipp Kohlschreiber’s game. The 34^th-ranked veteran has posted some impressive results over the years in Auckland, winning the title in 2008, and reaching the final in 2013, the semi-finals in 2010 and 2012, and the quarter-finals on four other occasions.

On Tuesday the 32-year-old improved to 25-8 at the tournament, downing countryman Benjamin Becker in a rain-delayed all-German affair 7-6(8), 6-3 to move into the second round.

The 34-year-old Becker, a qualifier ranked No. 98 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, had the better serving day when it came to aces (8/4), doubles faults (2/5) and first-serve percentage (72%/52%), but couldn’t close out the first set in the tie-break. Kohlschreiber, who had won their only previous meeting in Vienna in 2014, carried the momentum into the second set and went on to cap the match in one hour and 24 minutes.

Kohlschreiber moves on to face No. 2 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.

Joining the German in the second round will be No. 8-seed Roberto Bautista Agut after the Spaniard dethroned defending champion Jiri Vesely 6-3, 7-5 in 76 minutes. Last year, Vesely qualified for the main draw and beat fellow lefty Adrian Mannarino in the final. It was his first ATP World Tour title.

Leading 6-7(5), 7-6(10), 2-1, Sam Querrey advanced to the second round when Great Britain’s Aljaz Bedene retired with an injury.