Tennis: Tennys Sandgren demolishes Philipp Kohlschreiber to reach ASB Classic final

Tennys Sandgren. Photo / Photosport

Unheralded American Tennys Sandgren has progressed to the final of the ASB Classic, with a comprehensive straight sets win over Philipp Kohlschreiber.

World No 61 Sandgren was the last player accepted into the main draw at the time of cutoff last Saturday morning, but has been in imperious form in Auckland.

That continued on Friday afternoon, as he demolished the 2008 ASB Classic champion Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-3 in 70 minutes.

It takes the 27-year-old Sandgren into just the second ATP final of his career, after he reached the decider in Houston last year, where he lost to compatriot Steve Johnson.

It also continues a renaissance for Tennessee-born player, who only broke into the top 100 in 2017, after spending the most of his professional career grinding away on the Challenger circuit.

Sandgren came to prominence at the Australian Open last year, when as world No 97, he progressed to the last eight, becoming the lowest ranked quarter finalist in 22 years.

During that remarkable run in Melbourne he beat world No five Dominic Thiem and three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka, before falling to Korean Hyeon Chung.

In sweltering conditions in Auckland, Sandgren struggled on serve for his first game, but was dominant from there.

Kohlschreiber couldn't find his range, and was constantly under pressure from Sandgren's power, accuracy, and ability to retrieve from anywhere.

Sandgren couldn't miss either, as he commented after the game "I just closed my eyes and swung".

The world No 34 Kohlschreiber was appearing in his fifth Auckland semi-final but it was a miserable afternoon for him.

He sprayed a forehand wide to concede the first set, then was broken early in the second set when he dumped a simple volley into the net, after a wondrous Sandgren lob had brought up break point.

The German never stopped trying, but was up against it; at 1-4 down in the second set, the American was yet to make an unforced error.

Kohlschreiber saved two match points at 5-2 down, but conceded the third with a double fault, which epitomized his day.