KEY POINTS:
Fresh from defeating world No 5 David Ferrer, Julien Benneteau is on the hunt for the scalp of a third seeded player from Spain at the Heineken Open tennis today.
Benneteau, ranked 74th in the world, caused the biggest upset of the tournament when he thrashed Ferrer 6-4 6-0 in just 64 minutes in their quarterfinal yesterday.
His third victory over Ferrer came on top of a second-round victory over sixth seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, and he faces another Spaniard, fourth seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, in today's semifinal.
Benneteau's record against Ferrero - they have beaten each other once - suggests he is not without a chance.
"I think I have to try to play like I did (yesterday)," Benneteau said.
"I might make more mistakes but I will try to give my best. If I do that and Juan Carlos beats me because he was better than me, then okay. But if I play like (yesterday) then I know I will have a chance."
Yesterday's result surprised most people given Ferrer's status as the defending champion, his world ranking and the way he disposed of two opponents in quick fashion on Wednesday.
But Ferrer was wary of Benneteau, having lost to him twice in five previous encounters, and yesterday had no answer to the Frenchman's speed, power and accuracy.
"He played very consistent and I made some mistakes at important times in the first set. In the second I think I didn't play so good but that was because he played so well," Ferrer said.
"Now is a bad day but tomorrow is another day and I have to work and get ready for the Australian Open."
Benneteau, who only won direct entry to the tournament following some late withdrawals, said he was at the top of his game.
"It was a very, very good match for me. I tried a lot of things and it worked nice. It was a special feeling."
Benneteau has been as high as 35 and said he was aiming to break into the world top 30 this year.
Ferrero took 2-1/2 hours to beat the doughty Chilean Nicolas Massu 4-6 6-3 6-4.
It was a case of sweet revenge for Ferrero, who lost to Massu in the first round at Auckland last year.
"Last year was very different. He played very good and I played so bad," Ferrero said.
"This year was different. It was a good battle and we both played good tennis."
The other semifinal sees the third seed Juan Monaco of Argentina play seventh seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.
Monaco has won both their previous encounters, though one victory was gained when Kohlschreiber retired with the score at one set each.
Monaco showed great fight and focus to beat in-form Frenchman Michael Llondra 4-6 7-6 7-6 yesterday after 2-1/2 hours.
He also won through to the quarterfinals of the doubles and could face three matches tomorrow as he has a possible two doubles matches scheduled.
Monaco, a baseline player, said his match against the serve-and-volleying of Llondra was difficult.
"I had to stay very concentrated during the match and had to take my chances to break him. I tried to stay very aggressive with my serve, try to move him around, and be focused."
Kohlschreiber was off the court after 1 hour 20 minutes, beating fellow German Florian Mayer 6-3 6-4.
Kohlschreiber was solid in beating his compatriot, coping well with Mayer's adventurous array of drop shots and ground strokes.
"With him you have to fight to stay calm because sometimes he plays unbelievable shots," Kohlschreiber said.
"At the end he's a tough opponent and you never know what to expect."
Kohlschreiber's effort continues the good form he showed at Doha, Qatar, last week when he made the quarterfinals of the singles and won the doubles.
Kohlschreiber didn't see Monaco's match yesterday, preferring to relax and watch an action movie and leaving the last-minute study to his coach.
- NZPA
