Melbourne – Tennis veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber had no explanations for his chance-less performance at the Australian Open. The 38-year-old had a very bad day in Melbourne
With a 1:6, 0:6, 3:6, the Augsburg player suffered a heavy second-round exit and became the penultimate German tennis professional to be eliminated. “I really can’t explain it myself. I’m very rarely speechless,” the 38-year-old lamented: “I can’t say what the problem was.”
Kohlschreiber was without a chance. After only 1:28 hours of play, the former top-20 player, now only ranked 134 in the world, had to congratulate Spain’s Bautista Agut. 44 unforced errors by the oldest player left in the men’s field were far too many against the consistent Spaniard.
“Jinxed through and through “
“I can’t even be mad, angry, disappointed,” Kohlschreiber said. “It was jinxed through and through today. It couldn’t have gone worse.” In the first round, the Augsburg native had won in three sets against Italy’s Marco Cecchinato 6:4, 7:5, 7:6 (7:0) – two days later, nothing went right. “I would personally say it was probably the most inexplicable feeling on the court that I have seen so far,” he said. He could only take this defeat with “gallows humour”, he said, and reported: “My coach said: He’s going to eat a burger now”.
Of the initial twelve German tennis professionals – nine men and three women – only Alexander Zverev is now in the field for the first Grand Slam tournament of the season. The world number three from Hamburg is the clear favourite to meet Radu Albot from Moldova on Friday. The 24-year-old is aiming for his first Grand Slam title in Australia.
Struff/Koepfer continue in doubles
There was at least one German success in the doubles. The Davis Cup players Jan-Lennard Struff and Dominik Koepfer won 6:3, 6:3 against the Serbs Filip Krajinovic and Matej Sabanov. In the singles, Struff had already finished in round one and Koepfer in round two. In the women’s singles, neither Angelique Kerber nor Andrea Petkovic or Tatjana Maria survived their first-round exit.
The second-round exit of Garbiñe Muguruza, the Spanish world number three, was a surprise in the women’s competition. The 28-year-old world-class tennis player lost to unseeded Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet 3-6, 3-6. Former Wimbledon and French Open winner Muguruza reached the Australian Open final two years ago. Another top ten player to be eliminated in the second round was Estonian Anett Kontaveit. The world number seven lost to the 19-year-old Dane Clara Tauson 2:6, 4:6.
