Ferrer does a hat-trick at the Heineken Open

David Ferrer of Spain holds the trophy following his singles final against Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany during day six of the Heineken Cup

David Ferrer got his year away to a winning start by trouncing Phillip Kohlschreiber 7-6(5), 6-1 to take his third straight title in Auckland. Ferrer had won his first Heineken Open in 2007 and his fourth title in nine appearances helped the consistent Ferrer emulate the great Aussie Roy Emerson, who won here in 1960, ’65, ’66 & ’67. Ferrer had beaten the German on his way to the title last year too as he improved his record to 7-3 against the second seeded Kohlschreiber.

At the outset, it was Kohlschreiber who had the opportunities – leading by a break of serve twice in the first set, the German failed to capitalise on both occasions. Kohlschreiber broke serve in the third game to inch ahead of his Spanish rival. The German did not drop a point on serve in his first three service games, but the relentless Ferrer broke him in the eighth game to level scores at 4-4. The world No. 19 hit back immediately to retake the advantage in the ninth game. The second seed, winner here in 2008, had a set point on his serve at 5-4 but his nerve failed him and Ferrer accepted the generosity to force the tie-break.

The Spaniard got an early mini-break and held on to take it 7-5. Ferrer made quick work of his opponent in the second set converting three of the six break points – to take the third, fifth and seventh games while not even offering a single break point in the bargain to clinch victory in 78 minutes. In the end, unforced errors cost Kohlschreiber dearly – 26 in the first set that helped Ferrer reverse the tide and 41 in all putting paid to the German’s hopes of a second title in Auckland. Kohlschreiber, like Ferrer has played the tournament nine times and won the title in 2008.

“I’m so happy,” Ferrer said. “It was amazing for me to win here four times. Now I can say this is my favorite tournament.”

“I had a very good start,” said Kohlschreiber. “It’s very hard to play against David, he never gives up. He gives you all the time one more shot to play. I think I still played unbelievable. I didn’t take the first set and he raised his level and I dropped a bit which is why the second set went too fast.”

Even at 30, Ferrer is showing no signs of slowing down – in fact, he is also a three-time defending champion at another tournament, the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco where he has been winning each year since 2010. He had a tour leading seven titles in the last year and with a solid start to the season, he will look to build on it at the Australian Open where he is drawn to meet Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals. The one big hole in the Spaniard’s resume is the absence of a Grand Slam title. The win in Auckland marked the 19th career title for Ferrer.

Ferrer finds himself in the top half of the Aussie Open draw – where he shall begin his campaign against Belgian Olivier Rochus before most likely facing the daunting serve of the Coratian giant Ivo Karlovic in the second round. The Spaniard’s third round opponent is likely to be Marcos Baghdatis; the Cypriot made the semi-finals at the Kooyong Classic where he lost to Juan Martin Del Potro.

The doubles event was won by the top seeded pairing of Colin Fleming of Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil, who defeated Swede Johan Brunstrom and Dane Frederik Nielsen in two tie-breaker 7-6(1), 7-6(2).