Kohlschreiber Into Gerry Weber Semis; Federer, Nishikori Also Advance
In one of the more exciting matches of the season so far, German Philipp Kohlschreiber hung on to defeat fellow German Dustin Brown 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(16) to reach the Gerry Weber Open semifinals in Halle, Germany on Friday.
The unseeded Kohlschreiber saved five match points in the third set tiebreaker to capture the match. He was facing defeat at 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13 and 14-15 but managed to fight off his compatriot Brown to win the tiebreaker 18-6 to reach the final four.
The match lasted two hours and 11 minutes with a chunk of that time coming in the final tiebreak. Kohlschreiber won this event back in 2011 and will look to return to the finals when he battles Colombian Alejandro Falla in the semifinals.
Falla disposed of German wild card Peter Gojowczyk 7-6(4), 7-6(2) in his quarterfinal match on Friday.
In the other semifinal match from Germany, second-seeded Roger Federer will take on the fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori.
Federer couldn’t have had an easier quarterfinal matchup, receiving a walk over because his opponent Yen-Hsen Lu pulled out due to an injury. Nishikori took down the only American left in the draw, Steve Johnson, in a 6-1, 7-6(4) straight set victory.
