Interview with Philipp Kolhschreiber

Written by: Staff on 10th June 2010

Interview with Philipp Kolhschreiber |

The following is the press conference with Philipp Kolhschreiber following his 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 victory over Ruben Bemelmans at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.

Q: When did you learn that your opponent was not going to be Stepanek?

KOHLSCHREIBER: I would say approximately an hour before. I was upstairs watching Simon’s match and taped myself when the physio said that he had heard that he wasn’t really fit and didn’t feel too well.

Q: Did you know him?

KOHLSCHREIBER: No, I didn’t know him. I was surprised. I was getting prepared, preparing my racket when I was told. Of course, I am not too sad. I think Radek Stepanek is a very uncomfortable opponent. He won the last three matches against me. So, I was a little relieved. But I think my opponent today wasn’t that pleasant either. He played well, served well; he is a leftie. It’s not that tragic not to train with a leftie the day before, but of course I had prepared for a different opponent. It was a good match and I am glad that I got out of such a good test today.

Q: Did you try and get some information about him?

KOHLSCHREIBER: I don’t want to say that I googled him (laughs) but I did ask what my opponent looks like to avoid talking to him before the match and saying something like “now I’m going to play some lucky loser”, not knowing that it’s him. My coach told me that he is a leftie and lost a close match in qualies but played some good grass court tennis. He likes playing on grass and that I should be alert right from the start. That’s also the way it turned out. He served really well, didn’t hide and surely wanted to use his second chance which he also did as far as possible.

Q: Does it happen often that you play someone you don’t even know what he looks like?

KOHLSCHREIBER: Yes, sometimes but not too often. Some play quails at Grand Prix and I watch. I knew him by name, just not what he looked like.

Q: Does yesterday’s doubles victory and today’s singles victory give you a lot of self-confidence for the next round or are the five match points still on your mind?

KOHLSCHREIBER: No, not at all. Of course, the double fault was entirely down to me, but I think with one match point I got a bit unlucky at the net, then a good serve. Actually I only gave one match point away easily, with the other’s I didn’t really have a chance. I am glad. Today, it was a tough test, also in ht second set where I always broke myself, came back, was match point up, then down, but stayed in the match, stayed mentally strong, even if I might have acted a bit calmer. I always kept believing. That helps much more than playing a lucky loser and beating him one and one. Then I just would have said ‘great, you played well.’ But today I played great and had a tough test. That was surely beneficial for my game.

Q: How tired are you now? It was a tiring match?

KOHLSCHREIBER: Yes, but grass is always tiring. I won the tiebreak quite easily, used the momentum with him being a bit down but then made him strong immediately.

Q: But do you have the feeling that the match took out some substance?

KOHLSCHREIBER: No, not really. And I just came back from a Grand Slam. I like playing – of course, not always more than two hours – but it wasn’t too tiring. You need to be alert on grass which is good. I have to train that. I can’t always say I just want to play an hour because the biggest tournaments are the Grand Slams and you need to be fit.

Q: How long did it take for you to get Paris out of your mind?

KOHLSCHREIBER: It wasn’t that bad because I had said beforehand to be glad to go there. Before the match against Carol Beck I was even thinking of pulling out because I was really feeling bad. And Andreas Seppi: I thought that he is a tough fighter, not a player, who lives from his serve but I was a little worried that I wouldn’t make it, but I did. After a really tiring set – even if I won 6:2 against Verdasco, I felt that my legs were tired. So, already on the drive home it was no longer on my mind. Other things were more important.

Topics: Bemelmans, Close Match, Coach, Court Tennis, Faul, Gerry Weber Open, Grand Prix, Grass Court, Kohlschreiber, Leftie, Lucky Loser, Match Points, Opponent, Philipp, Physio, Quails, Radek Stepanek, Second Chance, Self Confidence, Train, Victory