Tennis: Rochus upsets Kohlschreiber to reach final

Olivier Rochus. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Olivier Rochus has made a habit of long three-setters this week but it has all been worth it and today he progressed to his second Heineken Open final when he beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-7 6-1 6-4.

Today's match took two hours and 29 minutes, and came hard on yesterday's two-and-a-half hour defeat of Benoit Paire and his three-hour 15 minute epic over sixth seed Thomaz Bellucci in the second round.

Rochus coped better with the blustery conditions on centre court at Stanley St today as Kohlschreiber became increasingly rattled as the match went against him. The German eighth seed endured a difficult last game with two disputed line calls and was put off by a member of the public courtside who motioned during a point.

Rochus will play the winner of the other semifinal between top seed and defending champion David Ferrer and third seed Fernando Verdasco.