Playing singles and doubles for the rest of the Heineken Open tennis tournament might seem a tough schedule but Nicolas Almagro says he's more than happy to do so.
The Spaniard earned himself a spot in the semifinals of both singles and doubles in Auckland today, his best result in either form of the game in five visits to the tournament.
Today he needed three sets to beat French qualifier Adrian Mannarino of France 7-6 6-7 6-2 in the singles, and he then joined fellow Spaniard Marc Lopez to win a doubles quarterfinal in straight sets.
He spent three hours in total on court today and looked a little tired after his second match.
But he said it was great preparation ahead of the year's first grand slam, the Australian Open, in which every game is the best of five sets.
"In Melbourne I need to play five sets," Almagro said. "Today I played five. I think it is the same."
If Almagro, the second seed in the singles, wants the extra time on court on finals day he will have to beat the in-form sixth seed David Nalbandian, who has spent as little time on court as anyone left in the draw.
Almagro and Nalbandian have shared the honours in two previous clashes and Almagro says he has confidence he can win again.
"Nalbandian is one of the top players of the world. He's strong from the baseline, has a good forehand, he's serving good and the backhand is amazing," Almagro said.
"But when I have played with him I play really good. I beat him in the final of Acapulco and the other one was I think in Rome -- both on clay, but I need to play my best tennis if I want to beat him tomorrow."
The Argentine continued his march through the tournament with a 6-4 7-6 straight sets win over defending champion John Isner of the United States.
In a tournament in which 14 of the 24 singles matches have gone to three sets, Nalbandian has yet to drop a set, something he thought could be to his advantage against Almagro tomorrow.
"I think he's going to be very tough because a very complete player; he has a good forehand, good backhand, good serve," Nalbandian said.
"But he's playing a lot of long matches today. I didn't, so that's better for me."
Top seed David Ferrer, the 2007 title winner, also earned a semifinal spot when he beat eighth seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3 6-7 6-3.
Ferrer's game was the expected clash between Kohlschreiber's aggression and Ferrer's seemingly endless running and retrieving.
"I think Philipp played very good. Maybe in the second set I not serve like the first set and the third set, but with Philipp it's the same always when I play with him, a long match," Ferrer said.
Ferrer had a good 2010, ending up in the top 10 for the second time, but he said it was tough taking on most people in the top 70.
"I think the top five are at another level; Murray, Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Soderling, at this moment it's difficult to pass them," he said.
"But tennis now is very level. Maybe I am seven in the world but yesterday I played with one guy at 70 and I needed to fight a lot to beat him."
Ferrer's semifinal opponent will be unseeded Colombian Santiago Giraldo, who tonight beat seventh seed Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-2 6-4 in front of a good crowd which included a small but enthusiastic Colombian contingent.
NZPA