Familiar foes Philipp Kohlschreiber and Lukas Rosol will square off for a semifinal spot on Friday in Hamburg. Fellow veterans David Ferrer and Pablo Andujar are set for an all-Spanish clash.
(7) Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Lukas Rosol
Kohlschreiber and Rosol will be facing each other for the fourth time in their careers and for the second time in two weeks when they do battle in the quarterfinals of the bet-at-home Open on Friday. The head-to-head series stands at 2-1 in Kohlschreiber’s favor, but Rosol won their recent Stuttgart showdown 7-5, 7-6(5). The German’s wins came via a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6(6) decision at Wimbledon in 2012 (one round after Rosol had stunned Rafael Nadal) and a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 scoreline just one month later on the clay court of Kitzbuhel.
Rosol is making a smooth transition to clay from grass, a surface on which he fell to Nadal in a competitive four-setter in the Wimbledon second round. The 42nd-ranked Czech finished runner-up to Roberto Bautista Agut last week in Stuttgart and he booked his spot in the last eight this week by cruising past Julian Reister, Joao Sousa, and Tommy Robredo. Kohlschreiber has also refused to drop a single set in scalps of Gastao Elias and Gilles Simon. The 26th-ranked German is a solid 28-16 for the year. Rosol obviously knows he is capable of pulling off what would be a minor upset, but Kohlschreiber is once again playing at home, where he has been awesome throughout his career and likely will not lose to Rosol twice in succession. Four of the 30-year-old’s five career ATP titles and seven of his 11 finals have come in Germany.
Pick: Kohlschreiber in 3
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(1) David Ferrer vs. Pablo Andujar
Ferrer and Andujar will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Friday. Both of their previous encounters have gone Ferrer’s way; 6-3, 6-4 six years ago in Valencia and 6-2, 6-4 at the 2012 Acapulco event (both tournaments were held on clay at the time). The 32-year-old Spaniard may no longer be at his very best at this point in his career, but he is still force with which to be reckoned–especially on a slow surface. Ferrer is 35-13 for his 2014 campaign following wins this week over Mikhail Kukushkin and Andreas Seppi, both in three sets.
Andujar had little trouble reaching the quarterfinals. The 78th-ranked Spaniard crushed Mate Delic, needed three sets to beat Thomaz Bellucci but dominated the third 6-2, then took care of Dustin Brown 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday. Andujar is still a disappointing 9-13 at the ATP level for the season, which includes a semifinal showing in Rio de Janeiro–where he lost to Nadal 12-10 in a third-set tiebreaker. Ferrer is in far from invincible form right now and he could be somewhat fatigued, so this should be competitive. Still, his tenacity and his past history against Andujar suggest he will likely be able to get the job done.
Pick: Ferrer in 3
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Last time i checked Stuttgart was in Germany as well! So the home edge you give Kohlschreiber is surely moot? Rosol in 3 for me. with a tie break or two for good measure
phenomenal point!
#Facepalm
#KohliStillFTW
Yeah, Rosol is not a bad player, he reached the Irving Challenger final by beating Sergiy Stakhovsky, who stunned Federer at Wimbledon in 2013.
Haha!!! @ gussie, love the way you never fail to mention Federer when you mention Stakho!! After all he too was stakoed like Rafa was rosoled 😀
vmk1 ( at 12:18 am),
I am wondering WHY you help pro-Fed people to use ae-rosol bombs against Rafa.
🙄
😛 I can see both these matches going either way, despite Alba apparently being 4/1 to beat Ferrer.
Pablo has a good chance, yes
Mightily impressed by Zverev Junior!!
Greatly impressed by young Zverev Junior !!
Young Zverev Junior continues to impress……………………..
Davide turned it on big style there. Never gave Pablo a sniff. And Zverev looks to me like he’s going to be the real deal. I was so impressed with every aspect of his game after that second set today, and when i realised he was 6ft4 that was the final straw. The kids got everything.
I hope the tennis Gods reward us with a Zverev/Kyrgios match in the not too distant future, with the winner playing Karlovic, then Isner………….
#GiantsDeserveOneAnother
Well you will never see more than one of these guys in Feds path.
Let’s hope this Zverev kid can take out Fedal at the coming U.S. Open.
he prob won’t get in
“Let’s hope this Zverev kid can take out Fedal at the coming U.S. Open.”
That’s the only way Djokovic can escape another Slam thrashing at the hands of his daddy, Rafa.
It doesn’t matter who beats Fedal so long as they lose. Djokovic is at least a worthy world #1.
Yes indeed, worthy of being Rafa’s Slam punch-bag……