AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- A day after ending a drought against Goran Ivanisevic, Greg Rusedski did the same in a
emifinal match with Jiri Novak at the Heineken Open.
Rusedski, the sixth seed, outlasted the fifth-seeded Novak, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), Friday and will face Jerome Golmard of France in the championship match.
A hard-serving lefthander from England, Rusedski had lost his first two meetings with Novak by idenitcal scores of 6-2, 6-2.
The last matchup came on hard courts in Vienna last year. The losing streak was nothing compared his skid against Ivanisevic, who had won the first nine matches between the two before Rusedski's 6-2, 0-6, 6-3 win in a battle between two of the ATP Tour's hardest servers.
Novak, the 1996 champion from the Czech Republic, made it to the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Felix Mantilla. He was 13-2 at this event and seeking his third title in nine months.
Golmard pounded Michel Kratchovil of Switzerland, 6-2, 6-2, and is a step closer to his third career title. He has been using a new Babolat racquet and has been without lower back pain, which hampered him in 2001.
