Tennis: Hrbaty into final after straight sets win

3.15pm - By DAVE WORSLEY

Slovak Dominik Hrbaty has gained his revenge on Gustavo Kuerten with an easy straight-set win in the singles semifinal at the Heineken Open.

In 2003 Kuerten defeated Hrbaty in the final of the Heineken Open but this time it was the multitude of winners from Hrbaty that won the match.

The match took an hour and seven minutes and featured a solid first serve percentage of 64 per cent by Hrbaty who is currently ranked 54th.

Hrbaty started the match well by holding his serve before breaking Kuerten's serve in the fifth game and eventually winning the set 6-3.

In the second set it was one-way traffic as the Slovak broke the Brazilian's serve in the first game and then again in the seventh game for a 6-2 set score.

Hrbaty is now on a roll of nine straight victories already in 2004 after he won the tournament title in Adelaide last week.

The final is his 10th with his record being four wins and five runners-up finishes.

In Auckland he has a record of reaching the quarters in 1998 and 1999.

He won the tournament in 2001 but lost in the first round in 2002.

He returned last year, falling to Kuerten in the final and could go one better this year, however the inexperienced but promising Rafael Nadal will not be easy to beat in the final.