AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Fourth-seeded Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil is one win away from equaling his title haul of last year as he defeated a pair of Argentines on Saturday to advance to the final of the Heineken Open.
Kuerten, looking to win here in his Auckland debut, outlasted seventh seed Guillermo Coria, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, before cruising past Mariano Zabaleta, 6-3, 6-3, and into Sunday's final against Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty.
"It is the best I have felt all week," Kuerten said. "I had more confidence on the big points. Mariano and I have practiced a lot together, but this was the first time we have met in competition."
Rain interrupted play on all but one day of this hardcourt event.
Last season, Kuerten endured an injury-riddled campaign and finished outside of the top 10 for the first time since 1998. The three-time French Open champion managed to capture his 17th career ATP crown in September at the Brasil Open.
Zabaleta rolled into the final four with a 6-2, 6-1 rout of Stefan Koubek of Austria, who won his third career title last week at the Qatar Open.
Hrbaty, the 2001 Auckland champion, recorded a 7-5, 6-3 quarterfinals victory over David Ferrer before routing another Spaniard, Felix Mantilla, 6-2, 6-2, in the semifinals.
Hrbaty, who seeks his fourth career title, is 2-0 lifetime against Kuerten.
Mantilla rallied to oust top seed Jiri Novak, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), in the quarterfinals. The Czech won in Auckland in 1996 and made it to the semifinals in 1997 and 2002.
