Gonzo on cruise control on home court.

Top seed Fernando Gonzalez dropped just three games as he cruised into the second round of the ATP Movistar Open in Santiago.

The Chilean, on home clay, hammered Spain’s Oscar Hernandez 6-2 6-1 in just 59 minutes.

Sixth-seeded Argentinian Jose Acasuso had a more straightforward passage with a 6-1 6-1 triumph over Chile’s Hans Podlipnik but Thomaz Bellucci suffered a scare before beating Nicolas Lapentti in three sets.

The Brazilian third seed fought back to claim his place in round two with a 3-6 6-1 6-1 victory over the Ecuadorian.

Three seeds did fall in the first round, however, with the biggest upset coming when Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas – seeded fourth – was dumped out in straight sets by Ricardo Mello, the Brazilian triumphing 7-6 (7/5) 6-3.

Poland’s Lukasz Kubot overcame fifth-seeded Argentinian Horacio Zeballos 3-6 7-5 6-3 and Brazil’s Joao Souza upset seventh-seeded German Simon Greul 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7/5).

Paul Capdeville saw off fellow home player Cristobal Saavedra-Corvalan 4-6 6-2 6-1, while Argentina’s Eduardo Schwank boosted the South American contingent in round two by beating Italian Paolo Lorenzi 4-6 7-6 (7/3) 6-3.

Roddick to face Cilic in quarter final.

Andy Roddick outlasted a strong challenge from Fernando Gonzalez to book a quarter-final clash with Croatia’s Marin Cilic.

The American came from two sets to one down to win the fourth-round match 6-3 3-6 4-6 7-5 6-2 in three hours and 25 minutes at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday night.

Gonzalez looked to be in control of the match early in the fourth set, and created a break point chance in the third game. However, Roddick managed to hold the service game, and as the set continued the Chilean tired significantly, and the American never looked back.

Roddick’s service game was incredibly consistent throughout the match, as he delivered a remarkable 32 aces and no double faults. Gonzalez on the other hand hit 83 winners, but produced 49 unforced errors to Roddick’s 17.

Early aces from the world No. 7 saw him looking the stronger player in the first set, and though Gonzalez hit some superb winners, a costly double fault in the sixth game helped the American break serve to 4-2 – a lead which he consolidated to take the set 6-3.

Gonzalez struck back hard in the second set as he made 17 winners to Roddick’s 10. He eventually broke the American’s serve in an epic 30-shot rally at the end of the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. Assisted by vocal support from a large Chilean contingent at the Rod Laver Arena, he took the set 6-3.

In the third set, 11th-seeded Gonzalez only improved as Roddick’s frustration grew. The Chilean looked to have an edge over the American, and took the set 6-4, blasting an impressive 23 winners, many of which came from his preferred forehand.

Roddick’s crucial hold early in the fourth set would be the turning point in the match. Having saved the break points in that game, he challenged Gonzalez’s serve at 5-4, but the Chilean managed to save four set points.

Two games later, it was a different story, as Roddick came from 0-40 down to take the game and the set. The set point came in dramatic circumstances as Roddick challenged a line judge that had called a forehand winner out. The challenge showed the ball was in, and Roddick took the set and plenty of momentum into the decider.

Roddick broke early in the fifth, and as the Chilean’s fatigue continued to affect his game, the American controlled the set and claimed it 6-2.

The victory was Roddick’s ninth in 12 meetings with Gonzalez, though it marked the first time the pair had reached five sets.

After the match, Roddick admitted he was fortunate to go through.

“I was lucky to get out of that. Sometimes if you fight and stick around you give yourself a shot – and that’s what happened,” he said.

Gonzalez agrees to meet with El Presidente!

Last month on a national television sports show, President Michelle Bachelet said she felt it important that Gonzalez, ranked 11th in the world, play for Chile’s Davis Cup tennis team (ST. Nov 2). Gonzalez responded by thanking the President and agreeing to meet with her to discuss his problems with Chile’s tennis federation.

Gonzalez defended the length of time it had taken for him to respond to Bachelet’s offer, insisting that he hadn’t been able to think about it until the tennis season ended earlier this month.

The tennis star quit the Davis Cup team in April after the FTCh published details of how much he and fellow team members Nicolas Massu and Paul Capdeville were paid. Since then Gonzalez has publicly feuded with FTCh director Jose Hinzpeter.

Hinzpeter hailed Gonzalez’s words as a “positive gesture.” “I hope we can heal the wounds and talk about Fernando returning,” he said.

A government spokesperson also praised Gonzalez’s comments, but insisted that a firm date for the meeting was yet to be agreed upon due to the President’s busy schedule and the player’s tournament commitments.

The Davis Cup competition pits the best tennis players from countries the world over in an international knockout format. Without Gonzalez, the Chilean team defeated Austria in September to maintain their position in the cup’s top division – the World Group (ST, 22 Sept).

Gonzalez’s statement raised hopes he will play in Chile’s first match of the 2010 tournament against Israel in the north Chilean port city of Coquimbo next march.

Gonzalez spoke while publicizing next Monday’s exhibition game against Argentine world number five and US open champion Juan Martin del Potro. The game starts at 22.00 at Santiago’s Moviestar arena and is seen by both players as an important warm-up ahead of next month’s Australian open.

Seeded players advance to the 2nd. round in Shanghai.

Radek Stepanek was one of a number of seeded players to make certain of their place in the second round of the Shanghai Masters on Monday.

The 13th-seeded Czech raced past former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 6-0, breaking his Spanish opponent four times during the match.

David Ferrer, the number 16 seed, also progressed beating Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-3 in his opening clash.

The 14th seed, Tommy Robredo, was a 6-1 6-4 winner over French qualifier Michel Llodra, while 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez was handed his place in the next round when Germany’s Mischa Zverev retired hurt with a wrist injury in the third set.

James Blake was made to work hard by Ivo Karlovic before eventually overcoming the big Croatian 3-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-4 to set up a second-round clash with Rafael Nadal.

Marat Safin, who is set to retire at the end of the season, was a convincing 6-4 6-4 victor over Chinese wild card Gong Mao-Xin.

Stanislas Wawrinka fought back from a set down to see off Poland’s Lukasz Kubot 2-6 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/3), while other first-round winners included German duo Rainer Schuettler and Florian Mayer.

Soderling and Davydenko meet again…..

Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko overcame Gael Monfils of France 6-3, 6-3 on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Malaysian Open.

Davydenko rallied from a break down in the second set, showing no sign of the leg injury that forced him to retire during his fourth-round match in the U.S. Open. However, he said his groundstrokes were hampered by a hand problem.

“There is no injury … just a sore wrist,” he said. “It can take three to four days to get better. I made mistakes in my forehand and played slower.”

Davydenko will now get a rematch against Robin Soderling, the Swede he was playing when forced to retire at Flushing Meadows.

The third-seeded Soderling defeated Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-2.

“Soderling plays long and fast and he has good serves,” Davydenko said. “It’s difficult to play against him from baseline. I need to have good concentration.”

Second-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain also advanced after overcoming Richard Gasquet of France 7-5, 6-4.

Verdasco, who is playing his first tournament since reaching the U.S. Open quarterfinals, faced strong resistance in the first set but capitalized on Gasquet’s errors to convert his only break point in the second.

“I played much better today and I’m happy to have come this far after not playing in about three weeks,” Verdasco said.

He will take on No. 4 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who ousted Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4.

“I had a lot of good chances but I got nervous at the end as Youzhny managed some good shots,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzo opts to dump the match after a bad start.

Rafael Nadal quickly wrapped up victory in his U.S. Open quarterfinal against Fernando Gonzalez as the predicted rain in New York held off for an hour on Saturday. Rain washed out Friday’s play at the U.S. Open at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

The Spaniard had led 11th seed Gonzalez 7-6 (7-4) 6-6 (3-2) before rain stopped play on Thursday, and took a 2-0 lead after winning the first four points of the day upon resumption of play in cool, overcast conditions to clinch the tiebreaker. After just 3 minutes into the rescheduled match, Gonzalez lost the second set by making 4 unforced forehand errors. Knowing that Nadal has never lost a grand Slam match when leading two sets to none, he decided to cut his losses, go home and dry off, after the frustration of fighting the weather at the 2009 US Open. The whole mood of the Open has changed, dampened by the rain, leaving the players unmotivated, and the crowd angry and disappointed. Gonzo’s silent protest of disgust may have been lost on some of the CBS commentators, but with more rain on the way, and more match interuptions it’s as plain as the nose on Dick Enberg’s face that this year’s US Open is a total washout.

Nadal, seeded third after a year of injury problems, must be grateful to his Chilean opponent for the 6-0 third set gift as it sets up a semifinal clash with sixth-seeded Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro on Sunday, or Monday, or Tuesday.

No play today…..tomorrow not looking good…build a roof!!

Rafael Nadal’s bid for his first US Open title has been disrupted by strong winds and rain which forced his quarter-final with 11th seed Fernando Gonzalez to be halted last night with the Spaniard leading 7-6 and 3-2 up in the second-set tiebreak.

Nadal, struggling once again with an abdominal strain, was desperate to get the match completed to allow his aching body a full day’s rest. Instead, he and Gonzalez were kept until midnight before play was finally called off.

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, who contest the other semi-final, have 24 hours longer to recover after completing their quarter-finals on Wednesday.

There are concerns that further rain is likely to interrupt today’s women’s semi-finals between Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters and Caroline Wozniacki against Yanina Wickmayer, which could force the final to be delayed 24 hours until Sunday.

Last year, the lack of a roof saw Andy Murray’s final against Roger Federer put back until the Monday, causing logistical problems for everyone involved.

Nadal is ahead in a gut wrenching duel.

Rafael Nadal shook off a nagging abdominal strain to seize the lead against Fernando Gonzalez, only to have his quest to win the US Open and complete a career grand slam put on hold by rain late last night.

Showers stopped the six-time major champion’s quarter-final match with the Chilean 11th seed in a tension-packed moment, with Nadal leading 7-6, 6-6 and Gonzalez preparing to serve in cold and windy conditions.

Nadal, the Spanish third seed, had taken a medical timeout after winning the first set to have a trainer poke at his stomach muscles, at times prompting a grimmace from the reigning Australian Open champion. Nadal had grabbed his stomach area with his right hand after his foot slipped when he struck a running forehand during a point in the tie-breaker, appearing to aggravate a muscle strain suffered last month at Cincinnati.

“In the first set it was very, very bad,” said Toni Nadal, Rafael’s coach and uncle.

Nadal had missed more than two months with knee tendinitis before returning last month but showed no sign of knee trouble while his serves at times seemed to suffer with the abdominal distress. He had a chance to rest though, when rain halted the match for 76 minutes at 2-2 in the second set, but the showers were unrelenting when they returned and after waiting more than 90 minutes, officials postponed the resumption.

Both men held serve unbroken until the rain although each faced down tests as they played for a semi-final berth against Argentine sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro, who earlier beat Croatian 16th seed Marin Cilic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.

Gonzo next up for Nadal in QF.

Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday to book a last-eight clash with Rafael Nadal.

Gonzalez, the 11th seed, advanced past French seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.

Gonzalez, trying to become the first South American man to win the US Open in 32 years, is 3-6 lifetime against Nadal.

“I have a lot of confidence,” he said after completing his victory. “I have to be worrying about myself only and try to play my best tennis.”

Gonzalez, the 2007 Australian Open runner-up in his best Slam showing, had not reached the US Open final eight since his 2002 maiden Slam quarter-final appearance but denied Tsonga on 13-of-14 break-point chances to advance

Not one, but two casulties in Montreal!

Rafael Nadal’s return from injury was short but successful as he advanced to the third round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal because fellow Spaniard David Ferrer was forced to retire from the match with an injury of his own.

This was Nadal’s first singles outing after more than two months on the sidelines with a knee injury. during which time he has seen his Wimbledon title and world number one ranking snatched back by Roger Federer.

He traded breaks with Ferrer in their encounter tonight before the latter left the court after seven games with Nadal leading 4-3, apparently with a leg problem. It was Ferrer who had his knee taped, and it was Ferrer who called the trainer after 6 games to examine his knee or leg. A bizarre ending to much anticipated return for Nadal. We can draw no conclusions from the 7 games he played.

Nadal will now face Philipp Petzschner, who upset the odds to beat 15th seed Tommy Robredo 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/4).

While Ferer was retiring on Centre Court, Tommy Haas was having hand problems on the National Bank Court. He had treatment with a scapel by the trainer and tried to continue with a bandage on his hand. He lost a tie breaker to Fernando Gonzalez and retired unable to continue.