Halle/Westphalia (DPA) – His quarter-final in Halle, Westphalia, a good week before the start of Wimbledon, made tennis legend Philipp Kohlschreiber more confident than frustrating.

With a 6:7 (4:7), 2:6 against top ten player Lady Rublev, the Augsburg players missed the semi-finals and were the last Germans to be eliminated. Unlike top star Roger Federer or German number one Alexander Zverev, preparations for the Grand Slam classic were not disappointing for the 37-year-old.

kolschreiber satisfied

“A great week,” Kohlschreiber said. “I am happy and look forward to a fair draw at Wimbledon. If I can keep level and have no physical problems, I am definitely on the right track.” The third Grand Slam tournament of the year is starting in London on 28 June.

The preliminary tournament in Halle, Westphalia, moves to the final weekend, when Kollschreiber left without German participation. Big names are missing after their round of 16 defeats to Federer and Zverev. Except for Rublev, none of the seeded players reached the quarter-finals.

4:2 lead not used

The long-injured Kohlschreiber started well against the ambitious Russian. In the tiebreak he was initially ahead against number four in the seeding list. But then Kolschreiber couldn’t use a 4-2 lead to win the set, with Rublev, 14 years his junior, winning five points in a row. After set losses, the lone German quarter-finalist of this year’s tournament lost his first service game of the second round with no chance of coming back.

«I went out of the way not to give him too much rhythm. I would also say that in some cases it worked out very well,” said Kohlschreiber, but fumed with his return: “What did matter was that he was able to walk through his service game comfortably.

First quarter final in two years

For the former top 20 player, it was the first quarter-final entry in two years as he finished in the top eight in Munich 2019. At the French Open in Paris, Kolschreiber surprised everyone by making it to the third round. In Halle he won the first two rounds against Austrian Jurij Rodionov and Frenchman Corentin Moutet. “You can see that I win against really good players,” said the Augsburg resident.

Rublev will face Georgian Nikolos Basilashvili in the semi-finals on Saturday (12 noon), who beat South African Lloyd Harris 6:4, 7:6 (7:5). In the second semi-final round (not before 2:20 pm), Stuttgart finalist Felix Auger-Aliassim of Canada and French Ugo Humbert face each other.