By Alberto Amalfi | Friday, August 7, 2015
Philipp Kohlschreiber beat top-seeded Dominic Thiem, 6-0, 7-6, to set up a Kitzbühel final against 33-year-old qualifier Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Photo credit: Generali Open Kitzbühel
Dominic Thiem took the court armed with a 10-match winning streak.
Philipp Kohlschreiber took the top seed's serve apart in the opening set of a 6-0, 7-6 (6) victory that sent the 31-year-old German into his second final of the season.
In a battle of bold one-handed backhands, Kohlschreiber won 13 of 20 points played on Thiem's serve in the first set, breaking three times in the process.
It's Kohlschreiber's second Kitzbühel final, he was runner-up to Robin Haase in 2012.
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Kohlschreiber has beaten two of the tournament's top three seeds en route to his 13th career final. He beat third-seeded Fabio Fognini, 7-6 (0), 6-4, in Thursday's quarterfinals.
The sixth-seeded Kohlschreiber will play 33-year-old Paul-Henri Mathieu in Sunday's final.
The Frenchman made history as the first qualifier to reach Kitzbühel final in the Open Era with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Nicolas Almagro. Mathieu has won three of four career clashes with Almagro.
Mathieu advanced to his first final since the 2009 Hamburg title match when he fell to the now-retired Nikolay Davydenko.
This will be the third meeting of the season between Mathieu and Kohlschreiber, who beat the French veteran, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 at the Australian Open in January. He followed that up with a tight 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory on hard court in Montpellier.
Mathieu won their only prior clay-court match, which came way back in 2003 on the red clay of Gstaad.