Kohlschreiber survives third set scare in Auckland

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Champion Philipp Kohlschreiber fought back from a third-set break of serve to beat Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4 4-6 7-6 in a tense second round clash at the Auckland Open on Wednesday.

The pair, who met in last year's final, traded the first two sets before former world number one Ferrero broke the German in the seventh game of the decider and an upset seemed on the cards.

The 25-year-old fifth seed, however, broke straight back and while he wasted a three-point lead in the tie-breaker managed to seal a quarter-final match against second seed David Ferrer.

Ferrer, Auckland champion in 2007, had earlier scraped past France's Marc Gicquel 6-7 6-4 6-4.

"My first match of the year was really tough for me. He played really well," Ferrer told reporters. "He served very well and played well in the third set.

"He had some chances but didn't take them and I was able to take my chance."

Top seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, also playing his first match of the year, was rusty in his clash with Latvia's Ernests Gulbis.

The world number nine, however, eventually found his timing and touch and raced away with the second and third sets to claim a 4-6 6-4 6-1 victory as the Latvian's game deserted him.

"It was a good match for my first time of the year," said Del Potro. "He is a very good player but I think he got tired in the third set."

Del Potro set up a quarter-final with Viktor Troicki after the Serbian upset eighth-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco 3-6 6-4 6-2.

Fourth seed Nicolas Almagro also advanced to the quarter-finals but he was forced to work hard to beat Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun 6-7 6-3 6-2.

"It was a tough match to start the year," said Almagro, who had received a bye into the second round.

"I think I served well and I was hitting well on my forehand. I had a little bit of a problem on a backhand but as the match went on it got better."

Almagro will meet sixth-seeded American Sam Querrey, who had trouble against big-serving left-hander Gilles Muller before running out a 3-6 6-3 6-4 winner.

(Writing by Greg Stutchbury in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)