Ferrer, Kohlschreiber into Auckland quarters

Updated January 09, 2013 21:16:43

Top seeds David Ferrer and Philipp Kohlschreiber both survived scares to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP men's tournament in Auckland on Wednesday.

Defending champion and number one seed Ferrer suffered a mid-match slump as he came under pressure from Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan in the warm-up event for next week's Australian Open, eventually grinding out a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory.

"The court was very fast and sometimes I couldn't defend, but anyway, I won the match," a relieved Ferrer said.

Chasing a record-equalling fourth Auckland title, the Spanish world number five made a perfect start by breaking Lu in the second game, aided by three double faults from his opponent.

The dogged Lu broke back seven games later, only for Ferrer immediately to regain his advantage and take the first set 6-4.

But the Spaniard's serve misfired in the second and Lu, ranked 60 in the world, helped himself to a double break, claiming the set 6-2 to force a decider.

Ferrer regrouped and won the set 6-3 to set up a quarter-final on Thursday with Slovak Lukas Lacko, who defeated eighth seed Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-3, 7-5.

Kohlschreiber, the second seed, was also unconvincing and committed 52 unforced errors and four double faults in a rusty 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-3 win over Colombian Alejandro Falla.

The German managed an early break and appeared to be cruising as he raced to a 5-2 lead in the first set before Falla broke back to force a tie-break, which the German comfortably won 7-4.

But Falla, a quarter-finalist here last year, continued to press Kohlschreiber in the second, breaking the world number 19's serve in the 10th game to claim the set 6-4.

Kohlschreiber finally took control to win the third set 6-3, with the German opening up a double break over Falla as his ground shots finally found their range.

"It was very tough, Alejandro played very good points and it was very difficult for me to hang in there," he said.

"In the end, I was very happy with my performance."

Kohlschreiber, the 2008 Auckland champion, will face Belgian veteran Xavier Malisse in the quarters.

There were no form problems for former world number seven Gael Monfils, who never looked threatened as he disposed of Australian qualifier Greg Jones 6-4, 6-2.

The Frenchman, whose ranking plummeted to 77 while he was sidelined with a knee injury, was back to his acrobatic best, showing no sign of discomfort as he threw himself around the court.

"Obviously I was moving great, so I'm happy and pleased with my performance," he said.

A wild card entry in Auckland, Monfils lines up against Tommy Haas in the last eight after the German third seed downed Igor Sijsling 6-3, 6-4.

Fourth seed Sam Querrey defeated Belgium's Olivier Rochus 7-5, 6-3 to set up a quarter-final with Jesse Levine of Canada.

AFP

Tags: tennis, sport, new-zealand

First posted January 09, 2013 21:16:43

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Kohlschreiber ends Almagro's run

Updated January 12, 2012 20:03:07

German Philipp Kohlschreiber upset second seed Nicolas Almagro in the quarter-finals of the ATP event in Auckland with a straight sets 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 victory over the Spaniard.

In a tense match, the sole service break came in the final game of the second set when Almagro gifted the match-winning point with a double fault.

Eighth-seed Kohlschreiber heads into a semi-final encounter with unseeded Olivier Rochus of Belgium who beat Frenchman Benoit Paire in a marathon three-set encounter 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4).

The other quarter-finals between Spaniards Fernando Verdasco and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and Spanish top-seed David Ferrer and Alejandro Falla of Colombia were on hold because of evening rain.

Kohlschreiber has now beaten Almagro in four of their seven clashes but conceded luck was on his side against the world number 10 this time.

Rochus and Paire took two hours and 28 minutes to complete their quarter-final with the match further disrupted for two and-a-half hours by rain.

Paire, who had enjoyed wins over former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero and fourth seed Juan Ignacio Chela earlier in the week, found his power game was no match for the precision placements of Rochus on the key points.

AFP

Tags: tennis, sport, new-zealand

First posted January 12, 2012 20:03:07

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Federer crushes Kohlschreiber in clay start

Updated April 13, 2011 05:00:00

Roger Federer boasted he could finish a point at will as he reminded the tennis world of his destructive power with a 6-2, 6-1 rout of Philipp Kohlschreiber in the Monte Carlo Masters second round.

All the talk in the build-up to the first men's clay-court tournament of the year had been about the in-form Novak Djokovic and his recent domination of world number one Rafael Nadal.

But record 16-times grand slam champion Federer took the chance to lay down a marker and show he is not yet a spent force by immediately finding his rhythm against German Kohlschreiber with forehand and backhand.

"It's clearly a good start for me to the clay-court season," the 29-year-old said.

"I was able to do all the things I wanted to. I was consistent. I could finish a point almost when I wanted to."

The day had started grey and cold but just as the Swiss stepped on court the sun burst through the clouds, the stands filled up and the crowd gave him a superb reception.

Second seed Federer, who has never won the title in Monte Carlo, has long battled an inferiority complex on clay despite his 2009 French Open title but there was no sign of nerves against the hapless German apart from a mini wobble late in the first set.

Top seed Nadal starts his quest for a record seventh straight title in the wealthy principality on Wednesday when he takes on Finland's Jarkko Nieminen in the second round, as stuttering third seed Andy Murray faces Radek Stepanek.

World number two Djokovic, who beat Nadal in the final in his last two events, is skipping Monte Carlo with a knee injury.

"Nadal will be hard to beat," added Federer, who could meet the Spaniard in Sunday's final at one of the circuit's most glitzy events.

"He is clearly the overwhelming favourite even though I haven't seen him play yet. But I still wouldn't be happy losing to him in the final."

As soon as Federer had stormed to victory, the clouds rolled in again but they failed to dampen fifth seed Tomas Berdych's spirits as he swatted aside Belgium's Olivier Rochus 6-2, 6-3 in their second-round encounter.

The Czech will face Ivan Ljubicic in the third round after the Croatian ruined the party on centre court by beating flamboyant French crowd favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6, 6-4.

Among first-round matches, Frenchman Gilles Simon powered to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci and Feliciano Lopez beat Serb Janko Tipsarevic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 to set up a second-round match with fourth seed David Ferrer.

The winner of the all-Spanish tie will play Milos Raonic in round three after he overcame Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 7-5.

-Reuters

First posted April 12, 2011 22:09:00

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