Ferrero Battles into Semifinals; Ferrer Upset
Fourth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero staged a successful comeback against Nicolas Massu, defeating the Chilean qualifier 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday in Auckland to set up a semifinal clash with Frenchman Julien Benneteau, who knocked out top seed and defending champion David Ferrer.
The former World No. 1 is making his fourth appearance at the Heineken Open with his previous best showing a quarterfinal finish in his event debut eight years ago.
Heineken Open TV Schedule
Ferrero improved to a 6-2 lifetime record against Massu, and also avenged last year's loss to the Chilean in their second round match in Auckland.
Benneteau recorded his fifth win in 15 meetings over a Top 10 player in the South African Airways ATP Rankings with a 6-4, 6-0 win over World No. 5 Ferrer, the top seed and defending champion in the fifth and final match on Stadium Court.
Benneteau won his second hard-court match against Ferrer (also Marseille 2007), improving to 3-2 overall against the Spaniard. The World No. 74 won 79 per cent of points on serve during the 65-minute victory.
Ferrer, who beat fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo for the 2007 Auckland title, was making his fourth appearance at the event. He didn't create a single break point opportunity and won just nine points on return of serve.
It took two tie-breaks for third seed Juan Monaco to end to Michael Llodra's perfect start to the 2008 season as he prevailed over last week's Adelaide titlist 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(5). Llodra served 15 aces and won six more points than the Argentine, but ultimately succumbed in two hours, 21 minutes.
Monaco, currently No. 23 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings, will next face No. 7 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, whom he has defeated in their two previous meetings. His last victory over the German came this past summer in Kitzbuehel en route to his third clay court title of 2007.
Kohlschreiber continued his march towards the Heineken Open final with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against compatriot Florian Mayer. He improved his career record against his countrymen to 3-2 as he comfortably defeated Mayer in 71 minutes.
The 24-year-old is coming off a career-best season in which he won a personal high 33 matches and his first singles title. Last week, he opened his 2008 ATP season by reaching the Doha singles quarterfinal and capturing the doubles title with David Skoch.
