Nicolas Almagro and Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo fired 25 aces between them before the Spanish third-seed pulled away in the final set to post a 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 win into the quarterfinals of the Bank Austria Trophy.
Almagro will next face Argentine eighth-seed Juan Chela, who defeated Slovenian Grega Zemlja 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Fourth-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis beat German Bjorn Phau 7-5, 6-2, winning the last four games. Baghdatis, with 11 aces, next plays another German in Michael Berrer, who downed Pablo Cuevas 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
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Almagro, champion at two clay events this year, including at Bastad and Gstaad, needed more than two hours to defeat his 69th-ranked opponent.
The number 16 Spaniard, one of eight Iberians to win an ATP title in 2010, was pleased to win after playing only his second indoor match in the past 12 months.
“It was a tough match, but I must play better that this today. But I have to improve my serve when I play Chela.
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“This is a surface I must get used to, I need to play aggressive, much more than I did today. I felt good on court but I’m still not at my 100 per cent yet.” Top-seed Jurgen Melzer, defending his home Vienna title from a year ago, had the day off as he prepared for a Friday meeting with Kohlschreiber.
Kohlschreiber took a morning trip to the famed Vienna Schoenbrunn zoo, the world’s oldest founded in 1752, where he got up close with penguins and a zebra.
“The small penguins jumped on me, not caring that I was bigger than them,” he said after feeding the animals some fish for breakfast. “I was told they have pretty sharp beaks so I was a bit scared for my fingers.”