Alexander Zverev has confirmed his status as best German tennis player at the 25th GERRY WEBER OPEN impressively. The 20 year-old polished off his Davis Cup colleague Philipp Kohlschreiber in the all-German clash of the Round of 16 6:3, 6:4.
"Philipp plays perticularly well on grass. The score looks clear, but it was still a tough match. I am very satisfied with my game, but I have very strong opponants now and it won't be easy to get to the finals again", Alexander Zverev stated after his first win in three matches his has played Kohlschreiber.
In front of around 11,000 spectators in the well filled GERRY WEBER STADION it was soon clear, that Zverev could play the more solid shots. The man from Hamburg was able to put pressure on his compratriote early on with his returns and dictated the speed in most phases of the match. Kohlschreiber tried to counterattack by playing a diverse game. The 33 year-old from Augsburg tried time and time again to get Zverev moving, to keep him in long rallies or occupy him with his back-hand. In between Zverev was not too happy with his exploitation of his chances, but in the end "Kohli" didn't have the means to get his opponant into real problems. While Kohlschreiber didn't have one chance to break in the whole of the match, Zverev used a small phase of weakness consequently in the eighth round to take his opponants' service and then brought the set home 6:3.
From there on the No. 12 of the world was not going to be stopped. In the second round last years' finalist used his first break chance with a strong back-hand return to make it 2:0 and controlled the match overall by his forehand and his service. Zverev seemed to speed through his own services. Not often enough Kohlschreiber was able to get a good feeling for his return, got only eight points against Zverev' service and even made 29 avoidable faults.
But the German No. two showed fighting spirit, fended off two match points, had to admit the advantage of his opponant after 64 minutes. Zverev ended the match in professional conduct with his tenth ace and will now meet Roberto Bautista Agut in the Quarterfinals. He had defeated the Spaniard last in the Semifinals in Munich - and then went on to win the tournament! A good sign also for the 25th GERRY WEBER OPEN?
