10 Jan 2014

Ferrer, Isner, through on quarter-final day

1:18 am on 10 January 2014

The American third seed John Isner is through to the Heineken Open semi-finals, after defeating the German fifth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7 7-6 7-6 in a hard-fought quarter-final in Auckland.

Neither player gave the other an inch as both seeds fought for every point, with the games remaining on serve for most of the two-hour-24-minute match.

Isner will meet the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in Friday's first semi-final, after he defeated the American wildcard Jack Sock, 6-1 6-3 in the first quarter-final of the day.

Rain disrupted play throughout the afternoon, forcing Bautista Agut and Sock off the court on several occasions during the one-hour-3 minute match.

The weather delays did not help the young American's form, with Bautista Agut dominating right throughout the match.

In the other quarter-finals, the American lucky loser Steve Johnson couldn't continue his good run against the higher-ranked players, losing 6-4 6-4 to the world number 62, Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan.

Then the defending champion David Ferrer had another epic three-set battle with fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, before prevailing 6-3 5-7 6-4.