What A Difference One Week Can Make
What A Difference One Week Can Make
Tennis can be a roller coaster of a sport.
One week, you might be wondering when your season will start gaining speed. The next, you’re the surprise story of one of the biggest tournaments of the year.
Such is life this week for German Philipp Kohlschreiber, who before the BNP Paribas Open hadn’t won back-to-back matches in 2018. But on Wednesday in Indian Wells, Kohlschreiber won his third match of the week, beating Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 7-6(1) to make the quarter-finals at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in California.
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It’s Kohlschreiber’s first Masters 1000 quarter-final since 2010 Toronto and only the fifth of his career (also 2007 Monte-Carlo, 2008 Cincinnati, 2010 Monte-Carlo). The 34-year-old right-hander is the first German to reach the Indian Wells quarter-finals since current tournament director Tommy Haas in 2008.
“I felt like the level of tennis I played in the past weeks got better and better, and then luckily here it all come together. I like the conditions. I like the weather. I think I played some good tennis here already in the past, so I knew it could be a good tournament for me,” Kohlschreiber said.
Herbert was seeking his maiden Masters 1000 quarter-final, and the Frenchman nearly pushed the fourth-round match to three sets. Kohlschreiber broke in the first game of both sets, but when it came time to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set, he faltered as Herbert broke for the first time when Kohlschreiber sailed a forehand wide.
In the tie-break, however, the German regrouped, sprinting to the finish by winning seven of eight points. He will next meet either Juan Martin del Potro or Leonardo Mayer, who compete later Wednesday.