French Open: Philipp Kohlschreiber - The veteran's strong sign of life
With his victory over Aslan Karatsev, Philipp Kohlschreiber showed that he can still be reckoned with. In the third round, the German will meet Diego Schwartzman .
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit:
Jun 04, 2021, 07:13 pm
It was in the spring of 2020, in the first wave of the corona pandemic, when Philipp Kohlschreiber (37) decided to say goodbye to the tour operator's treadmill for the time being. The fun of tennis had long since been lost to him: his body no longer played in mid-thirties, it pinched every nook and cranny, and the hips in particular gave the veteran nomad severe pain. Kohlschreiber, a fixture in tennis Germany for a decade and a half, disappeared from the scene, from public perception, one no longer really knew whether he was still a tennis professional - or not. He still was, but after a six-month sabbatical, the Augsburg resident had found fitness again, but nothing more. Kohlschreiber said he had to deal with “low blows” again in series from autumn onwards, “it was a time that was not very pleasant.”
Kohlschreiber had to wait a long time for a moment that could really give him confidence again. On the big tour, since February 2020, the tournament in Dubai, he has actually lost every one of his games - he always had to pack up his tennis bags again after the first round. “I came to a hotel room many evenings and was just unhappy,” says Kohlschreiber. It helped him that he had some sense of achievement in smaller Challenger tournaments. But on the bigger stages he regularly left disappointed, in the spring he slipped out of the top 100 for the first time since 2006 (currently: 132). The repeated failure gnawed at him so much that for the first time he thought more seriously of quitting. Recently, on the fringes of the Neckar Cup in Heilbronn, Kohlschreiber said that if the 2021 season was unsatisfactory, it could have been the last. "You have to see how it goes for me," said Kohlschreiber.
Victories over Verdasco and Karatsev
And now that. The French Open 2021. The tournament in which the former top 20 player had already advanced to the second round twice. The tournament that could possibly send him to a more conciliatory final stage of his long, eventful career. First Kohlschreiber won in the beginning of the over 35 duel against the Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, then he managed a more than remarkable, almost sensational four-set victory against the Australian Open semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev (Russia). At outside court 7 it looked as if Kohlschreiber had awakened the old world-class player in himself, a man who was only too happy to trip the favorites in his career and gave them a lot of headaches. “Sometimes you just need a game that clicks,” said TV expert Boris Becker, “Kohlschreiber is still a great player. And he looks really fit and wiry. "
Kohlschreiber, who was born in Ausgsburg, was only one of many German winners, after all (in addition to Alexander Zverev, who has already won three times), Dominik Koepfer from the Black Forest and Jan-Lennard Struff from Sauerland advanced into the third round on Thursday - the best DTB - Result since 1993, at that time even five players had reached the third round (Michael Stich, Marc-Kevin Goellner, Carl-Uwe Steeb, Bernd Karbacher, Patrik Kühnen). Koepfer was able to look forward to a dream date with Maestro Roger Federer, Struff expected the tingling game against the 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcatraz, who was traded as Nadal's heir. And Kohlschreiber was waiting for Diego Schwartzman, the world number tenth from Argentina, a tireless speedster with a tendency to marathon matches in the sand. "A lot of rallies, a lot of tennis, a lot of maloche", prophesied Kohlschreiber.
Kohlschreiber without fear of the career afterwards
The veteran is not afraid to say goodbye to his sport at some point. The sport that has dictated his life for the past three decades. When he took the necessary break in 2020, he enjoyed the casual, free-floating existence. No commitments, no pressure, no busy schedule. Instead, more time with his wife Leni, also time to take care of the construction progress of his house in the south of Munich. Time to get into the day. "I got along well without tennis," says Kohlschreiber, "I certainly won't fall into a deep hole if I'm no longer on the tour."
Kohlschreiber is ambitious. He is always looking for a good performance, he goes on the pitch, “because I still want to win today as I did on the first professional day. It's in my DNA. ”But the absolute doggedness, the fanatical thirst for success have given way to his old days. Kohlschreiber wants to “give everything”, but his job, his sport - above all, it should be fun and make him feel good. In Paris everything just fits together with him, the success, the joy of the game, and again the signs of life from the fan stands. "It's a nice tournament, for many reasons," says Kohlschreiber. A tournament in which his mission is not finished yet.
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