For the eighth time in 13 attempts, David Ferrer is among the last four standing at the ASB Classic in Auckland. The four-time champion routed Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung on Thursday 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the semi-finals.
Ferrer has yet to drop a set in Auckland this week and is looking very much like the Ferrer of 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2013, the four years he took home the Auckland trophy.
“I tried to play consistent and aggressive because with Chung, he plays with power, and it's never easy,” Ferrer said on court. “He has a really great future.”
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Ferrer broke the 21-year-old South Korean five times during the 75-minute victory. The seventh-seeded Spaniard will next face second seed and 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, who beat Russian Karen Khachanov later in the day.
[ALSO LIKE]In other quarter-final action, Ferrer's countryman Roberto Bautista Agut, the 2016 champion, prevailed past Czech Jiri Vesely, the 2015 champion, 7-6(1), 6-2. The Spaniard crushed Vesely's second serve, winning 63 per cent of those points (15/24).
Bautista Agut will next play Dutchman Robin Haase, who beat Peter Gojowczyk of Germany in two tight sets, 6-4, 6-4. Haase also reached the quarter-finals last week at the Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune. Gojowczyk was coming off his second Top 10 win, a second-round upset against top seed and World No. 8 Jack Sock.
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