KEY POINTS:
For some time last night it seemed that Philipp Kohlschreiber's defence of his Heineken Open tennis title was at an end.
The German fifth seed appeared to be on the way out as Juan Carlos Ferrero, the man he beat in last year's final, went up a service break in the final set of their second round clash.
In a match which was frequently of very high quality, Ferrero was looking the better player and Kohlschreiber seemed to be doing little more than staying in the match.
But the fifth seed managed to conjure up a crucial service break back soon after Ferrero broke him, got through to a tense tiebreak, and won on his first match point after being 5-4 down in the tiebreak.
"I thought during the match he was playing better than me," Kohlschreiber said.
"With every chance that I missed he played stronger afterwards. I had to try to hang in there and fight and I was lucky enough to come back."
Kohlschreiber's dominance early on turned an appreciative crowd's support to Ferrero, but by the final tiebreak the support seemed evenly shared. One fan even started waving a German flag in the latter games of the match.
"The crowd was very nice. I thought they were pushing for both of us pretty well. I think they enjoyed the match."
Kohlschreiber will this afternoon have to overcome another Spaniard, second seed David Ferrer, if he wants to play in tomorrow's semifinals.
Ferrer, the second seed, came from a set down to beat Marc Gicquel of France in a long three-setter in the heat on centre court yesterday afternoon.
"He maybe doesn't serve as well as Juan Carlos but he is a very good returner of serve. It will be a tough physical test and I will need to play well," Kohlschreiber said.
Kohlschreiber and Ferrer have both won three times against each other, though the German won two of their three matches last year.
All eight quarterfinalists had to play three sets to subdue their second round opponents yesterday. Few spectators could remember the last time all eight second round matches went to three sets at the open, if ever.
Despite the close matches, the top six seeds all progressed, with the top four seeds possibly benefitting in the three set clashes from not having to play first round matches.
Top seed Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina overcame the exciting Latvian Ernests Gulbis 4-6 6-4 6-1 and will today play the big-serving Viktor Troicki of Serbia.
Troicki yesterday beat Del Potro's countryman and eighth seed Juan Monaco 3-6 6-4 6-2 to set up a rematch of last year's Washington ATP tournament final, won by Del Potro.
Fourth seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain also dropped his first set before beating Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan, while third seed Robin Soderling dropped the second set of his match before beating American qualifier Bobby Reynolds.
Almagro and Soderling will both have American opponents today. Almagro faces the big-serving sixth seed Sam Querrey, who beat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg yesterday, while Soderling faces another American qualifier in John Isner, who finally got the better of fellow American Robby Ginepri 6-4 6-7 7-6 in a 2-1/2 hour epic on an outer court.
Isner, ranked in the 140s in the world before the tournament, has built up a good following in Auckland after winning three qualifying matches and two tournament rounds and hopes it will continue in tonight's match.
"I think there were a few Kiwis in my corner. Hopefully they'll be there tomorrow."
- NZPA
