Querrey aces way into Auckland semifinals

Sam Querrey's booming serve carried him past Jesse Levine 6-4, 7-6 (5) on Thursday and into the semifinals of the Heineken Open. Fourth-seeded Querrey had 16 aces, to go with the 19 he had in his second-round match against Olivier Rochus, to earn a semifinal spot opposite second-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber. Querrey and Levine, both 25, first played each other as teenagers at a futures tournament in 2006 when Canada's Levine was a winner in three sets. Their careers have since diverged and Querrey has lifted his world ranking to 22 while Levine was forced to qualify in Auckland on his ranking of 104. Top-seeded David Ferrer had an easy match into the semifinals, downing Slovakia's Lukas Lacko 6-2, 6-1.