Juan Carlos Ferrero
AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Seventh-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany beat third-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-2, 6-1 on Friday to advance to the Heineken Open final.
Kohlschreiber will face fourth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Frenchman Julien Benneteau.
Kohlschreiber kept up a strong start of the 2008 season, after reaching last week’s quarter-finals at Qatar, when he swept past Monaco, taking the first set in 30 minutes and the second in 36.
"I’ve had an unbelievable start here," Kohlschreiber said. "I’m feeling great. I came out of the locker room and I was very loose after a good night’s sleep and everything went well. I just hope I can take one of these good results to Melbourne (for next week’s Australian Open).
Kohlschreiber broke Monaco in the third and seventh games of the first set and again in the first game of the second. Kohlschreiber dropped serve in the fourth game of the second set, but clinched the game when he broke Monaco again in the seventh game, winning on his first match point.
Ferrero faced a much tougher battle before beating Benneteau, who beat top seed and defending champion David Ferrer 6-4, 6-0 in the quarter-finals.
Ferrero had the only service break of the first set, taking the eighth game, then held serve to love and took the set with an ace on his first set point.
The second set also went with serve, through several marathon games, before Ferrero served out the match on his fourth match point.
Kohlschreiber is bidding for his second ATP title Saturday, while Ferrero, the former world No. 1 and French Open champion, is looking for his 13th career title in his 28th final.
Source: Kohlschreiber, Ferrero off to final
