Philipp Kohlschreiber is a familiar fixture in the second week at Flushing Meadows. So when the German veteran stepped up on Saturday to take on countryman and fourth seed Alexander Zverev he paid no regard to the 30 places separating them in the ATP Rankings.
Kohlschreiber banked on his variety and measured aggression to rattle the 21-year-old in the biggest upset of this year’s US Open so far. His 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 triumph sent him through to the fourth round in New York for the fifth time in seven years.
Kohlschreiber had lost both clashes with the player 13 years his junior in 2018, including the BMW Open by FWU final in May. But their FedEx ATP Head2Head ledger read 2-2 and while it had been three years, Kohlschreiber would have recalled how he held off a then 18-year-old Zverev in five sets to claim their lone Grand Slam encounter in the first round at Flushing Meadows.
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This was a player acutely aware aware of his younger opponent’s struggles to push deep on the Grand Slam stages. And it only bolstered his belief.
Kohlschreiber’s propensity at net and clever use of the drop shot consistently frustrated Zverev throughout. He raced in to to put away a backhand volley to bring up three set points on the No. 4 seed’s serve in set No. 2 and clinched the final eight points of the set to level the match.
Ignoring his record of having beaten just three of 22 Top 10 opponents in the Grand Slams, Kohlschreiber ripped a crosscourt forehand winner on the run before a double fault from Zverev stretched the scoreline to 5-1 in the third.
Zverev’s new coach, the typically steely Ivan Lendl, gave his charge a nod and a clap in an attempt to spark a revival and it seemed to work when his young charge jumped to 3-1 in the fourth.
But Kohlschreiber’s confidence had not diminished. He reeled off the final six games of the match and leapt in elation. The 2014 runner-up, Kei Nishikori, or Argentine Diego Schwartzman would be next.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2N8Lwyh
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