Former champions David Ferrer and Philipp Kohlschreiber will contest the final of the Auckland Open on Saturday after both recorded quick straight-sets victories.
The second seeded Kohlschreiber beat American Sam Querrey 6-4 7-6 in 76 minutes in his semi-final, while Ferrer beat a tired and injured Gael Monfils 6-1 6-2 in just 49 minutes.
Monfils, who is still on the way back from a knee injury, wasn’t up for the semi-final either physically or mentally after his two-hour, three-set triumph over Tommy Haas on Thursday night.
The French wildcard had his left hamstring strapped after three games and then had the strapping removed two games later, but he couldn’t handle Ferrer’s pressure.
He all but gave up in the latter stages of the first set and though he showed more effort at times in the second set, Ferrer was relentless.
Ferrer will now try to win his third consecutive Auckland title and his fourth overall when he takes on 2008 winner Kohlschreiber.
The German was able to overcome Querrey’s serve while serving well himself, taking the semi-final 6-4 7-6 in just 71 minutes.
Kohlschreiber broke Querrey in the third game of the first set and was able to hold his serve comfortably, not conceding a break point on the way to the first set.
The German broke again early in the second set, but Querrey was able to break back a few games later and the set went to a tiebreaker when Kohlschreiber was able to stave off a set point when serving at 5-6 down.
The tiebreak proved one-sided, with Kohlschreiber winning the first six points and sealing the victory with a forehand cross-court winner to take the tiebreak 7-2.