Gael Monfils beat 18-year-old German Alexander Zverev 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to advance to the semifinals at the ABN AMRO Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
Monfils got the first break in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. Zverev broke back to draw level to 5-5 as Monfils was serving for the first set. The first set was decided by the tie-break. Monfils got a double mini-break to clinch the tie-break 7-4.
Zverev had to dig deep to battle past Gilles Simon on Thursday and the effort took its toll on the young German who was not able to keep up with Monfils in the second set.
Monfils broke serve at 2-1 in the second set. He faced a break-back point at 0-40 twice in the fifth game at 3-1 and in the 8th game at 5-3 but held his next service games until the end to take the second set 6-3. Monfils has reached the semifinals equalling his best result in this tournament achieved in 2009.
“I know from my own experience that the day after a tough match it’s very hard. That’s why I played a lot of drop shots. I am very happy with the way I am playing at the moment”, said Monfils.
Monfils will face Phillip Kohlschreiber who rallied from a set down to edge past Marin Cilic 3-6 6-3 6-4 in 2 hours and 9 minutes thanks to his powerful backhand. Kohlschreiber has won for the sixth time in his nine head-to-head matches against Cilic.
The German player converted two of his nine break point chances to qualify for his first semifinal of the year and reach his best result in eighth appearances at this tournament where he reached the quarter finals twice in 2007 and 2014.
In the first set Cilic saved four break points and converted the only break point chance of the set at 3-2. Kohlschreiber drew level by winning the second set. The German broke serve early in the third set and held his next service games to take the third set 6-4.
“I gained a lot of confidence after my break in the second set. It gave me belief that I could win the match. It feels great to stun a great player like Marin in such a big tournament. Sometimes everything falls into place. Looking back, I made the right decisions in the decisive moments”, said Kohlschreiber
