German tennis gained a backyard boost on the grass of Halle today.
German No. 2 Philipp Kohlschreiber, the 2011 Halle champion, advanced to the the Gerry Weber Open quarterfinals for the ninth time in 10 appearances. While Kohlschreiber's straight-sets win over qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert was expected, compatriot Peter Gojowczyk pulled off the unexpected.
The 120th-ranked German wild card took the court with exactly one grass-court career win, but played like a lawn doctor in a 6-4, 6-4 dissection of No. 3 seed Milos Raonic. An aggressive baseliner, Gojowczyk won 81 percent of his first-serve points and did not drop serve in the 72-minute victory.
Facing one of the game's most explosive servers on grass can feel as futile as hitchhiking on the Autobahn. But Gojowczyk, a snowboarder in his spare time, likes the rush of speed and feels pace feeds his return.
"I just love it when somebody serves hard and fast because it serves my return, which actually is my best shot," said Gojowczyk. "[I was] a bit nervous at the beginning because I wasn’t sure whether I will be able to see his serve, but I read it very well."
Gojowczyk, who trains in Munich, made his breakthrough as a 162nd-ranked qualifier in Doha last January. He defeated Dominic Thiem, Kohlschreiber and Dustin Brown in succession to reach the semifinals where he took a set off world No. 1 Rafael Nadal before losing.
Nadal opens against Brown on Wednesday in his first match since capturing his record-extending ninth Roland Garros title. He is playing for his 700th career win and should he prevail he'll advance to a quarterfinal against Kohlschreiber, who beat Nadal in the 2012 Halle quarters—the German's lone win in their 12 meetings.
The 27th-ranked Kohlschreiber is most inspired on home soil. He won his fifth career title in Dusseldorf last month, which was his fourth championship on German soil. None of today's singles matches exceeded 90 minutes; Kohlschreiber says grass puts a premium on the first strike—and coming off a 12-10 in the fifth-set French Open loss to Andy Murray, he probably appreciates the brevity.
"On grass it goes quickly if it’s best of three," he said. "The rallies are short and I think I dominated them today, I was the aggressive player and made him run, dictated the points."
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Long Distance Runaround