Ferrer Rolls Into Auckland Semis; Faces Monfils

David Ferrer kept his bid to win a fourth Heineken Open title alive with a straight sets win. Sam Querrey also made a return trip to the semifinals.

By Erik Gudris

(January 10, 2013) -- Defending champion David Ferrer rolled into the semifinals of the Heineken Open in Auckland setting up a meeting against France's Gael Monfils.

Ferrer, who faced Lukas Lacko in the quarterfinals, saved the only break point against him in the first set and from there cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory in just under an hour.

Next up for Ferrer is Monfils who won an entertaining three set battle against Tommy Haas. Monfils, who is back on tour after spending most of 2012 dealing with a knee injury, defeated Haas 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

“I am happy because it’s been a while since I won two matches in a row but I’m still not 100 per cent happy with the way I played," Monfils told HeinekenOpen.co.nz. "There was too much defense.”

Monfils will next face Ferrer who he beaten in all three of their previous matches including their last one at Roland Garros in 2011. But Monfils is hoping his body will hold out on him despite his recent success against the Spaniard.

“Tomorrow is a massive challenge. It will be very hard because I don’t know how I will wake up tomorrow. if I will be tired, have sore legs or my lower back could be a bit painful. I will take it how it goes.”

Querrey Sets Up Semifinal Berth Versus Kohlschreiber

Sam Querrey, who will wind up as the lone seeded American male at next week's Australian Open, kept up his recent good form with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win over qualifier Jesse Levine. Querrey was only broken once in the opening set. But he needed several match points in the second set tiebreak before he closed it out with a final forehand winner.

Querrey next faces Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber who took out Xavier Malisse 7-6, 6-4. Kohlschreiber won the Auckland title back in 2008 while Querrey lost in the 2009 final to Juan Martin Del Potro.

Querrey leads the overall head to head two to one.

(Photo Credit: AP)