Kohlschreiber into last eight

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 13:00

German fifth seed Kohlschreiber’s next opponent will be France’s Marc Gicquel, who surprisingly thrashed Spanish fourth seed Nicolas Almagro 6-0 6-3.

Kohlschreiber won the Auckland event in 2008 and is seeking his third career ATP title.

Swiss qualifier Michael Lammer also reached the last eight after his opponent, former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero, was forced to retire after injuring his ankle in their second-round clash. Ferrero rolled his ankle in the fifth game of the first set, when trailing 3-1, and was forced to re-strap his ankle before making his way back onto court.

Although the Spaniard tried his best to continue, his ankle was giving him too much grief and he was forced to exit the match.

Lammer, a former flatmate of Roger Federer, arrived in New Zealand just hoping to make the main draw but is now just two wins away from the final.

Top seed Tommy Robredo needed two tie-breaks to oust Germany’s Simon Greul. The Spaniard won 7-6 (7/1) 7-6 (7/2).

Rubin Statham, New Zealand’s last hope, bowed out of the tournament with a straight-sets defeat to Spaniard Albert Montanes.

Montanes struggled with the New Zealand number two in the first set and was forced to a tie-break, winning it 8-6, before shutting down the Kiwi to claim the second set 6-2.

Austrian Jurgen Melzer, the sixth seed, beat France’s Sebastien Grosjean 6-2 6-7(7/5) 7-6 (7/1), while American John Isner overcame Argentinian Juan Monaco 5-7 6-4 6-3.

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