Philipp Kohlschreiber fought his way into the semi-finals of the grass-court event at Halle on Friday after edging past fellow German Dustin Brown 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (18/16).
Kohlschreiber, who was on the losing end of a five-set marathon against Britain’s Andy Murray at the French Open, this time prevailed after an epic third set tie-break against world number 85 Brown in Germany.
The defeat came as a bitter disappointment to Brown, who had knocked off top-ranked Rafael Nadal just a day earlier.
Kohlschreiber, the 2011 champion, will now play 69th-ranked Alejandro Falla for a place in the final after the Colombian overcame another German Peter Gojowczyk 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2).
Wildcard Gojowczyk also saw his run come to an end in frustrating fashion, having claimed the scalp of third seed Milos Raonic of Canada in the previous round.
Later Friday, Roger Federer will continue his pursuit of a seventh Halle title with the Swiss star set to square off against Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu.
Also in action will be Japan’s Kei Nishikori, seeded fourth, who faces American Steve Johnson.