Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber is through to his second Auckland tennis final after a straight-sets victory over a flat Sam Querrey.
The second-seeded Kohlschreiber was able to overcome the American’s powerful serve, 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 opening set.
The German broke again early in the second set, but Querrey was able to break back a few games later and it went to a tiebreaker in which Kohlschreiber was able to stave off a set point when serving at 5-6.
The tiebreak proved one-sided, with Kohlschreiber winning the first six points and sealing the victory with a forehand cross-court winner to take it 7-2.
Querrey’s serve had been expected to be a dominating feature but Kohlschreiber matched the American with 10 aces and his percentage of first-serve points was 79 per cent, only just behind Querrey’s 82 per cent.
It will be the world No.19’s second final in Auckland. He beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in his previous final.
Kohlschreiber will play top seed David Ferrer or French wildcard Gael Monfils in Saturday’s final.