Out of the Wimbledon qualifier: Kohlschreiber says goodbye to the big tennis stage after 21 years as a professional

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Philipp Kohlschreiber (picture from January 2022)

Photo: Frank Molter / picture alliance / dpa

Tennis veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber made it into the main draw at Wimbledon and thus missed the last Grand Slam tournament of his career.

The 38-year-old lost in the second round of qualifying against the Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin 7: 6 (7: 4), 3: 6, 4: 6.

Kohlschreiber had already announced his decision on Monday after his first-round qualifying match against Frenchman Gregoire Barrere (6: 2, 6: 2): "This will be my last tournament.

I'll retire after Wimbledon 2022.«

The end after 21 years as a professional came on Wednesday at one of the many qualifying grounds in south-west London, just a few minutes' drive from Wimbledon's legendary Church Road.

The last match of his career lasted 2:18 hours.

Had Kohlschreiber defeated Kukushkin, he would have had to clear yet another hurdle to make it into the 128-player main draw.

He looks back on a "great and wonderful career," he said.

Many wishes came true, but he missed the last goal, a final point in the All England Club.

Nevertheless: »It was a very long journey, I have great memories.

Especially here with my greatest success at a Grand Slam.«

At Wimbledon he reached the quarterfinals

Kohlschreiber won eight tournaments in his career, winning the title on clay three times in Munich and winning once on grass in Halle.

In Wimbledon, the long-time German Davis Cup player was in the quarterfinals in 2012, and in the other three Grand Slam tournaments he made it to the round of 16.

At the end of July 2012, Kohlschreiber was even 16th in the world rankings.

Most recently, Kohlschreiber was only ranked 230th in the world.

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