Former title-holder Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany yesterday defeated second-seeded Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the semi-finals of the ASB Classic.
The unseeded German, who won the tournament in 2008, marked his 12th visit to Auckland with a win over Fognini in only 64 minutes.
Fognini called for the trainer at one point and in the second set made little effort to resist Kohlshreiber’s progress to his sixth win over the Italian in eight meetings.
“[Following] a tough pre-season, it’s always great to start a new season and to find the right rhythm,” Kohlschreiber said. “For me, [Fognini] is an entertaining guy and you never know what to expect.”
Kohlschreiber captured his first service break in the third game of the first set, held serve in the following game — which lasted 10 minutes and contained five deuces — and then clinched the set with relative comfort, breaking Fognini again in the ninth game.
In the semi-finals, Kohlschreiber is to face unseeded American Tennys Sandgren, who defeated Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 7-6 (7/5).
Sandgren had eight break-point chances, but converted only one.
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