Tennis: Gonzalez shows power to advance

Fernando Gonzalez during his first round singles match against James Blake. Picture / Fotopress

Fernando Gonzalez hits the tennis ball as if he hates it.

The Chilean, fifth seed for the US$404,000 ($588,578) Heineken Open here this week, does not do subtle. A delicate drop shot? He's more likely to become a tap dancer.

Gonzalez is among the hardest hitters on the ATP circuit and showed why today with a series of blistering drives as he eliminated American wildcard James Blake 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 to advance to the last 16.

He did not always keep the ball within the tramlines -- one bounced high into the champagne seats at wide long on -- but when it worked it was spectacular.

Gonzalez, 24, of Santiago, has had a year to savour, winning the singles bronze and doubles gold medal with compatriot Nicolas Massu at the Athens Olympics last August.

It was Chile's first Olympic gold and when they returned home "the country stopped", Gonzalez said today.

"It was fantastic, amazing for us. It was a dream."

The world No 23 wants to be in the top 10 by the end of the year. He reached No 13 in 2003 and probably speaks for a couple of dozen players when he says he hopes Swiss genius Roger Federer, the game's most dominant figure, loses form this year "because everybody wants to win more tournaments".

His win over Blake was a mix. The first set was even. There were a string of high class rallies and superb winners, Blake gliding around the court, Gonzalez all crash and bash.

Blake received a marginal call which would have given him a set point but Gonzalez prevailed in the tiebreak and ran away with the second set.

He plays either Argentine Mariano Zabaleta or New Zealand wildcard GD Jones in the second round tomorrow.

It was a quiet start to the tournament today, if that is the right word for Argentine Jose Acasuso, who provided the noise and theatrics in his opening 6-1 3-6 6-4 win over Frenchman Julien Benneteau.

At one point Acasuso hit the ground clutching his ankle as if he'd been shot.

But he got up and got on with it to win in three sets. He will meet either defending champion Dominik Hrbaty, of Slovakia, or Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the second round.

American Vince Spadea whizzed through his first round match 6-0 6-0 against Spaniard David Sanchez in 44 minutes tonight.

Sanchez won just 17 points and it was the first "double blob" on the circuit since Frenchman Gregory Carraz embarrassed local player Omar Bahrouzyan in Dubai last March.

"I'm happy I've achieved that," Spadea said.

"It's something to be proud of because there's so many days in our lives when very little goes our way. This is a day to be happy."

Singles, qualifying final round:
Jan Hernych (Czech Republic) bt Graydon Oliver (US) 6-2 6-2
Federico Luzzi (Italy) bt Jan Vacek (Czech Republic) 6-2 6-2
Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) bt Daniele Bracciali (Italy) 6-7 6-3 6-3
Raemon Sluiter (Netherlands) bt Bohdan Ulihrach (Czech Republic) 4-6 6-4 6-1

First round: Cyril Saulnier (France) bt Gilles Muller (Luxembourg) 6-4 6-4
Jose Acasuso (Argentina) bt Julien Benneteau (France) 6-1 3-6 6-4
Potito Starace (Italy) bt WC-Mark Nielsen (NZ) 6-4 6-4
5-Fernando Gonzalez (Chile) bt WC-James Blake (US) 7-6 (7-4) 6-1
4-Vince Spadea (UA) bt David Sanchez (Spain) 6-0 6-0
Mariano Zabaleta (Argentina) bt GD Jones (NZ) 6-0 6-2

Doubles, first round: Juan Ignacio Chela/Sebastien Prieto (Argentina) bt WC-Nielsen/Dan King-Turner (NZ) 6-4 7-6 (7-4)
4-Martin Garcia/Mariano Hood (Argentina) bt Agustin Calleri (Argentina)/Robbie Koenig (South Africa) 6-3 7-6 (9-7)
2-Cyril Suk/Pavel Vizner (Czech Republic) bt Tomas Cibulec (Czech Republic)/Dominik Hrbaty (Slovakia) 6-4 6-3