 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France |
A relieved Tsonga performed his victory twirl around Court One after breaking Kohlschreiber for the second time in the fourth set to win an engrossing but sometimes scrappy encounter in two hours 48 minutes.
The fifth seed sealed victory on his first match point after rushing to the net and firing a forehand crosscourt winner.
"It was difficult today. Philipp played well, he served well, he was better than me on the baseline, he was very aggressive," Tsonga said.
"But I'm through, and I'm happy. It doesn't matter who I play in the semi-final. It's a second chance after last year.
Tsonga, who lost to Djokovic in the semis last year, will next meet the winner of the quarter-final between fourth seed Andy Murray and Spain's David Ferrer.
The 27-year-old Frenchman took a while to get into his stride, struggling with his first serve and forehand which went straight into the net more times than he will care to remember.
One occasion unfortunately coincided with a huge cheer from Centre Court, where Murray and Ferrer were locked in battle, to the amusement of the watching fans.
For three sets, 27th seed Kohlschreiber was a match for his higher ranked opponent and appeared happy to come into the net or it slug out from the baseline with Tsonga.
The German saved five break points in the third set, three thanks to Tsonga netting forehands, and the final with a delectable backhand volley at the net.
But Tsonga, who had a 5-1 career record against Kohlschreiber, took the tiebreak when his opponent netted and that seemed to galvanise the French number one.
He raced through the fourth set, breaking Kohlschreiber for a 3-1 lead and the German sent a forehand long to set up matchpoint for Tsonga.