Philipp Kohlschreiber secured his place in the Indian Wells fourth round with an impressive 6-4, 6-4 win over Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic.
After playing one set of his second round match Philipp Kohlschreiber was down 1-6 against the United States Tim Smyczek. Kohlschreiber reeled off breaks late in sets two and three in that match to set up the Cilic clash.
Some may have thought that Kohlschreiber might struggle again in this one. However, the veteran German had an impressive 6-4 record against Cilic coming into this one, including two wins in their last three meetings.
Kohlschreiber broke to love in the third game. Cilic attempted to comeback with break chances in the sixth game only to see them both saved by the right-handed German.
The set then eased to a close as no points went against serve in the final three games.
Cilic was the first player to make a move in the second, but Kohlschreiber again saved a pair of break point back-to-back to stay in touch. Cilic held serve three times to love in a row, making it eighteen points since Kohlschreiber managed one against serve back in the first set.
That statistic meant nothing in the end though, as Kohlschreiber broke in the seventh game, and closed out the win for his seventh in eleven meetings with the former US Open winner.
The run to the fourth round in Indian Wells matches Kohlschreiber’s career best run in the California tournament. He also reached the Round of 16 in 2009 and 2011. It also marks a more recent return to form for the No.37. He had gone 0-3 in his first three tournaments of the year, and had failed to win back-to-back matches in 2018 before this week.
In other matches Novak Djokovic’s conqueror Taro Daniel was comprehensively beaten by Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-1. There might also be concerns about Gael Monfils’ participation in the Miami Masters next week. The popular Frenchman was forced to retire from his third round meeting with compatriot Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Herbert had been leading 6-2, 3-1.
