Dubai: Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber sees more to life than merely playing as he remained just two wins shy from reaching the 400-wins milestone while knocking out eighth seed Gilles Muller of Luxembourg at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Monday.
Kohlschreiber, a semi-finalist in 2014 and a quarter-finalist last year, improved his overall Dubai record to 9-7 and his career record against Muller to 2-0.
Currently ranked No. 32, Kohlschreiber’s break in the third game was just enough to see him through 6-4 in the set in 39 minutes. In the second, the German broke in the fifth to nose ahead, only to see the eighth seeded Muller mixing up his game to break back, draw level and go clear 5-4.
However, the German clearly wanted to finish off things in straight sets as he held through and then won a dominant tie-breaker 7-1 to advance to a likely meeting with seven-time champion and 18-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer.
Coming in to Dubai, the German’s best this season was a third round appearance at the Australian Open where he lost in the third round to Frenchman Gael Monfils. Always at ease with himself, Kohlschreiber tried to explain his easy-going disposition. “Being happy is normal for Germans,” he joked.
“I don’t really put in any effort, but I try to be always the guy who tries to make other people smile. Sometimes I do few things too much trying to be funny. I’m a happy person. It’s a very good environment. There are many players on tour with whom I have been with on tour for more than ten years now. It’s the same faces, and along the way you have some friendships. These are people you see almost every week. So it’s a good connection,” Kohlschreiber explained.
“I always try to be, or I could be more funny on court. But, I have to be honest. Outside the court, I think I’m very open and funny guy,” he added.
Muller has already captured his first title of the season — and also his career on the ATP World Tour — with his triumph over Dan Evans in the final of the Sydney Open. He also made it to the quarter-finals in Sofia where he lost to Roberto Bautista-Agut.
Later in the afternoon, sixth seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain handed 20-year-old Karen Khachanov his sixth straight loss on the tour this season with a 6-1, 7-6 (4) result against the Russian.
Handed out a wild card entry here, the sixth-seeded Bautista-Agut will get a day’s rest before he prepares to face the winner of the match between Florian Mayer and fellow Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco that is scheduled to be played on Tuesday.
Also on action today will the UAE’s wild card entry Omar Behroozian as he takes on the challenge of Russia’s Daniil Medvedev probably at 6pm on Court 1. “It’s a big stage for me and I want to do well. The goal would be to focus on each and every point and see how best I can possibly get through to the next round,” Behroozian said.
RESULTS
Men’s Singles Round One
Philipp Kohlschreiber bt Gilles Muller 6-4, 7-6 (1); Roberto Bautista-Agut bt Karen Khachanov 6-1, 7-6 (4); Marcel Granollers bt Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-2; Guillermo Garcia-Lopez bt Viktor Troicki 6-4, 6-3.
Men’s Doubles Round One:
Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau bt Mate Pavic/Alexander Peya 7-6 (2), 6-1; James Cerretani/Philipp Oswald bt Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan/Andreas Seppi 7-5, 6-3; Henri Kontinen/John Peers bt Omar Behroozian/Amirvala Madanchi 6-1, 6-1; Daniel Evans/Gilles Muller bt Andy Murray/Nenad Zimonjic 6-1, 7-6 (2).
Order of Play for Tuesday
Centre Court (Start at 2pm) Damir Dzumhur vs Stan Wawrinka; Adam Pavlasek vs Lucas Pouille; (Not before 7pm) Andy Murray vs Malek Jaziri; Tomas Berdych vs Lukas Rosol
Court 1 (Start at 2pm) Florian Mayer vs Fernando Verdasco; Daniel Evans vs Dustin Brown; Omar Behroozian vs Daniil Medvedev; Robin Haase vs Denis Istomin
Court 2 (Start at 2pm) Rohan Bopanna/Marcin Matkowski vs Ivan Dodig/Marcel Granollers; Karen Khachanov/Benoit Paire vs Florin Mergea/Viktor Troicki
Court 3 (Start at 2pm) Mikhail Youzhny vs Evgeny Donskoy; Marius Copil vs Jan-Lennard Struff; James McGee/David O’Hare vs Daniel Nestor/Eduoard Roger-Vasselin
