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LOS ANGELES - Top seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez was knocked out of the Las Vegas Open second round by Russian Evgeny Korolev 6-3 7-6 today.
World No 13 Gonzalez, who struggled with his second serve throughout the match, was swept aside in just over 90 minutes.
Although he broke the Russian to level at 5-5 in the second set, he lost the tiebreak 7-4 to become the sixth seeded player to make a premature exit.
Second seed and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia was upset 6-3 7-5 by Frenchman Julien Benneteau in a second-round match on Wednesday.
Gonzalez, who clinched his ninth ATP singles title at Vina del Mar last month, won only 11 of 27 points on his second serve against the more consistent Korolev.
The 20-year-old from Moscow, who lost to Gonzalez in their only previous meeting at last year's Australian Open, will face either American wildcard John Isner or South African qualifier Kevin Anderson in the quarter-finals.
In an earlier match on Thursday, Latvia's Ernests Gulbis thrashed Peter Luczak of Australia 6-2 6-1 to book a place in the last eight against either third-seeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus or American Robby Ginepri.
- REUTERS