Kohlschreiber calls time on storied career

Two decades of toil drew to a close for Philipp Kohlschreiber in Roehampton and while there was inevitable sadness at calling time on his career, that feeling came with an equal measure of relief. The veteran German announced that this would be his final tournament after coming through the first round of Wimbledon qualifying on Monday, with the curtain coming down after a hard-fought three-set defeat to Mikhail Kukushkin, 7-6 (4) 3-6 4-6 in round two in Roehampton. Ad/> The dream was to bow out at the All England club up the road, for a player who was once ranked as high as 16 in the world and sits fifth on the all-time table for most Grand Slam appearances by a male tennis player.

Tennis'Perfect to play a couple of matches' — Nadal wins on grass return at HurlinghamAN HOUR AGO In some ways though, the relative anonymity of the ending is fitting for the 38-year-old, who had not even planned to announce his retirement ahead of time. It was simply a case of honesty from Kohlschreiber, who has known for some time that the end was coming. He explained: «There are two sides of the feelings.

One side is the sad side, on the other it's also a relief. I had the decision already for a long time in my mind that it's time to stop. I wasn't feeling the right motivation anymore.

But when it's final, it's more emotional, of course. »When I won the first match, I didn't plan it. I arrived on Sunday, I didn't play any matches on grass, I practised on hard court.

I hadn't won my last matches so how should I? I was pretty relaxed coming into this tournament. I was surprised that there was an on-court interview. I think my mother raised me well and after the question about what is next? I said 'Ok, there is no next'.