Philipp Kohlschreiber became the sixth seeded player to fall before the quarterfinals in Halle, while Borna Coric backed up his surprise win over Alexander Zverev with an easy second round victory.
Kohlschreiber built a one-set lead on home grass, but then collapsed as Australian Matthew Ebden eventually rolled to a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory. Ebden won an impressive 64 percent of points on his second serve and tallied 14 break points to just two for the German — including none in the final two sets.
Ebden, who at age 30 sits at a career-high ranking of No. 60 and got into the Halle draw with a special exemption, failed to convert a pair of break point opportunities in the first set, but quickly erased that trend. He took advantage of break chances in both games he had them in the second set, then eased to the set win by dropping just one point in his last three service games.
The third set was even more lopsided. The No. 5 seed won just three points on Ebden’s serve all set; Ebden won three consecutive points on three separate occasions on Kohlschreiber’s racket. The No. 24 player in the world continued his poor recent form; he is just 1-2 on grass and has one win in his last five matches.
Ebden faces a ranked player of greater stature in the quarterfinals: No. 1 Roger Federer, who barely escaped Benoit Paire in three sets.
Coric, meanwhile, appears to be enjoying his time on the grass just as Ebden is. The 21-year-old Croatian rolled past lucky loser Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 20 minutes without facing a break point. The Georgian had six double faults to just three aces as Coric won 81 percent of first serve points and nearly three quarters on his second serve.
None of Coric’s service games even reached deuce.
His road has eased since his shock first round triumph over Zverev, the No. 2 seed. Basilashvili is ranked No. 85, and Coric will face veteran Italian Andreas Seppi, No. 50 in the world, in the quarterfinals. Seppi hammered 2016 champion Florian Mayer 6-2, 6-4, winning five straight games in the first set and breaking at love for the only advantage he required in the second.
