Kohlschreiber Sparks German Fightback in Hannover

HANNOVER, GERMANY: Germany and Czech Republic are tied at 2-2 in Hannover after Tomas Berdych was forced to withdraw with a hamstring injury after dropping the first two sets to Philipp
Kohlschreiber.
The Czech went off court for a lengthy treatment after being broken in the fifth game of the first set and returned with some heavy strapping on his upper right thigh. He lasted one hour and 41 minutes on court before calling it a day with Kohlschreiber leading 63 75.
Sasha Zverev, the talented 18-year-old making his debut, will now be trust into the spotlight once more when he goes up against Lukas Rosol with a Davis Cup by BNP Paribas quarterfinal spot on the line.
Despite Berdych’s injury, credit must still go to Kohlschreiber who played some sensational tennis. He looked sharp and zoned in from the start, considerably improving on his level from Friday’s scratchy win over Rosol.
Kohlschreiber controlled the rallies superbly, keeping the ailing Berdych on the move with a combination of depth, angles and some cheeky drop shots. While the Czech continued to move okay, he struggled to really load his legs into shots, sending many groundstrokes crashing into the net.
Kohlschrieber played the better tennis on the important points throughout, converting on three of his five break point opportunities to pile the pressure on Berdych. The Czech, on the other hand, went 0-8, failing to break the German’s serve.
The Czechs, champions in 2012 and 2013, have won 12 of their last 14 Davis Cup ties. Their hopes now rest with Rosol.

Source: DavisCup.com

Czech Dream Team on Fire Again in Hannover

The Czechs celebrate

Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek have given Czech Republic an all-important 2-1 lead over Germany in Hannover after combining superbly to clinch the all-important doubles point.
The Czech duo saw off the threat of Philipp Kohlschreiber and Philipp Petzscher in two hours and 43 minutes to edge a tight encounter 76(7) 75 64.
Berdych and Stepanek improve to 16-2 in Davis Cup doubles with the win, strengthening their status as Czech Republic’s most successful pair in the history of the team competition. It also brought up half a century of victories for Berdych in Davis Cup.
The scoreline at the end of play read three straight sets, but this was a match of fine margins with just two breaks - both on Petzschner’s serve - deciding the outcome.
Despite playing away from home the Czechs came into the match as the slight favourites. It had been 18 months since Berdych and Stepanek last teamed up but as captain Jaroslav Navratil explained on Friday night, “they just understand each other. Not just on the court, but privately too. They are very good friends.”
It didn’t take long for either team to settle into the occasion and why would it? With 168 combined rubbers played between them, the importance of today’s doubles point needed no explaining and the tennis was high quality from the start with the contrasting styles of all four players adding to the appeal.
Seven break points came and went in the first set - three for the Germans and four for the Czechs - and after 12 lengthy games a tiebreak was upon us. It seemed to swing in the Germans’ favour at 4-4 when Petzschner, superbly, picked up a deep Stepanek volley off his shoelaces, sending it back over the Czech’s head to go 5-4 up.
But it was a case of anything you can do we can do better, and back came the Czechs with Stepanek rising to the occasion. The veteran put up a stunning topspin lob, which left the Germans stranded, to go 8-7 up and they finally found the breakthrough on their third set point when Kohlschreiber sent a backhand crashing into the net.
The Czechs won 58 points to the Germans’ 57 in that first set and their tug-of-war battle continued until 5-5 in the second when Berdych lit up the TUI Arena with some spectacular tennis.
He ripped a backhand return winner for 0-30 before his exquisite lob evaded Kohlschreiber at the net. With three break points on their racket the visitors only needed one, and a delightful dipping return from Berdych onto Petzschner’s feet set up Stepanek to put away the volley for the break and essentially, the set.
At 1-1 in the third, the Czechs broke for the second time in the match to seize control. With Stepanek producing some wonderful touches around the net, the victors served out the rest of the set in style to seal a vital win.

Source: DavisCup.com

Davis Cup: Kohlschreiber Gives Germany 1-0 Lead Over Czechs

Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated Lukas Rosol 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to give Germany a 1-0 lead over the Czech Republic in their Davis Cup first-round tie on Friday.
German No. 1 Kohlschreiber, ranked 30th, converted his first match point to beat the 50th-ranked Czech in 2 hours, 57 minutes.
Tomas Berdych was aiming to level the tie against Germany's 18-year-old Davis Cup debutant, Alexander Zverev, later Friday.

Berdych was playing for the first time since the 2014 semifinals.
The Czech Republic is bidding to make up for its first-round loss last year — its first since 2011 — while Germany aims to improve on its 10-4 record against the visitors.
The winner faces Canada or France in July's quarterfinals.

Source: DailyMail

Berdych and Kohlschreiber Win at Dubai

Czech tennis player Tomas Berdych and german Philipp Kohlschreiberadvance in ATP Dubai Duty Free Championships. Berdych edge past Thomas Fabbiano 2-0 in sets (6-2; 6-2), while Kohlschreiber beats croatian talent Borna Coric with 2-0 (6-2; 7-6).

Berdych and Kohlschreiber Advance in Dubai

Tomas Berdych advanced to the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships by beating Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-1, 6-4 on Tuesday.
"A first match, playing outside after a while, it's a good test," Berdych said. "Don't make it more complicated than needed."
The seventh-ranked Berdych is a two-time finalist in Dubai, in 2013 and '14. He's reached at least the semifinals four of the last five years.
Also, eighth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany defeated wild-card entry Marsel Ilhan of Turkey 6-1, 7-5, and Borna Coric of Croatia beat Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4.

Source: ATP Dubai Duty Free tennis Championships