KOHLSCHREIBER OVERCOMES MATHIEU IN KITZBUHEL FINAL
TENNIS Phillip Kohlschreiber fought back from a set down to overcome Pierre Henri Mathieu in three sets with 2-6 6-2 6-2 after 1 hour and 42 minutes in the final of the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel. The German clinched his sixth career title in 13 finals. Kohlschreiber finished runner-up in 2012 when he lost to Robin Haase. Diego Sampaolo
. Mathieu broke twice in the 6th and in the 8th games of the opening set before converting his third set point to clinch it with 6-2. Kohlschreiber broke on his third break point chance in the first game of the second set and got a double break in the fifth game which featured 10 points. He dropped just three points on serve to win the second set with 6-2. He broke serve twice in the fifth game and in the seventh game to win the decider with 6-2.
“Winning here is very special for me. That’s the crazy thing about tennis. I have been working but lost many close matches that hurt me. I am now super happy. I got off to a bad start but managed to come back into the match and play well during the big points. I am very happy that I won the tournament. It doesn’t happen too often in a career. I spend a lot of time here in Kitzbuhel. I know the people and everybody is very friendly”, said Kohlschreiber.
Washington: Nishikori beats Cilic in the semifinal
Kei Nishikori fought back from a set down to edge Marin Cilic with 3-6 6-1 6-4 at the Citi Open in Washington taking a re-match of last year’s US Open final. Nishikori has reached the fourth final this year. Cilic broke serve in the first game and opened up a 3-0 lead in the opening set. Cilic fended off two break point chances at 3-1 before serving out for the set with 6-3 after 35 minutes. Nishikori raced out 5-0 in the second set but Cilic held his serve for 1-5. Nishikori won the next service game to force the match to the third set.
In the quarter finals Nishikori beat Sam Groth 6-4 6-4, while Cilic edged 18-year-old Aleksander Zverev 7-5 7-6.
Nishikori will face the winner of the all-American semifinal between John Isner and Steve Johnson. In the quarter finals Isner edged Ricardas Berankis 6-3 5-7 6-3. Bernakis knocked out Teymuraz Gabashvili who upset Andy Murray earlier this week.
In the quarterfinals Johnson beat Jack Sock 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 following up with his wins over Grigor Dimitrov and Bernard Tomic.
