Indian Wells – Philipp Kohlschreiber has become the first German tennis professional to be eliminated from the Masters in Indian Wells. The 38-year-old from Augsburg lost 3-6, 3-6 to Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland in the first round on Friday.
“It was definitely the best match I played here today. Emil played very solid, very well. It’s just maybe a different level than the opponents I had before,” said Kohlschreiber, who had to qualify for the main draw. “I fought well the days and worked well and I was more satisfied with the performance than in the other matches, even though I lost today.”
Oscar Otte, meanwhile, defeated France’s Richard Gasquet 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 in parallel play at the US$8,584,055 hard-court tournament, and will face Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, the eleventh seed, in the next round.
Olympic champion Andy Murray also reached the second round. The Briton defeated Japan’s Taro Daniel 1:6, 6:2, 6:4 and recorded his 700th win on the ATP Tour – a mark that only Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have reached among the players still active apart from him.
The Masters in Indian Wells is one of the most important tennis tournaments on the ATP Tour. Olympic champion Alexander Zverev is seeded number three and had a bye in the first round.
