Twelfth seed Fernando Gonzalez became the first Chilean to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals Tuesday after beating third seed Andy Murray of Scotland 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 in two hours and 15 minutes. He snapped a five-match losing streak against Top 3-ranked opponents (6-23 lifetime).
Gonzalez takes a 4-3 career record against No. 23 seed Robin Soderling of Sweden into the semi-finals. Gonzalez had previously lost in the 2003 (l. to Ferrero) and 2008 (l. to Federer) quarter-finals at the second Grand Slam championship of the year.
Murray saved two break points in the second game of the match, but Gonzalez drew first blood in the seventh game when he hit a forehand winner off a short ball. The 28-year-old Gonzalez, the oldest player left in the singles draw, closed out the 40-minute first set on his fourth set point.
Murray, currently No. 3 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, responded with a service break in the sixth game of the second set. Gonzalez fell to 15-40 but saved the two break points with successive forehand winners, before missing a smash on game point. Murray eventually opened up a 4-2 lead when Gonzalez hit a forehand approach into the net. The Dunblane native did not commit an unforced error in the 31-minute second set.
Gonzalez cruised through the third set, dropping just seven points in 24 minutes. Murray grew increasingly frustrated as he dropped his serve in the second, fourth and sixth games.
Murray saved two break points with successive forehand winners in the eighth game of the fourth set, but Gonzalez clinched a 5-3 lead on his third break point with a forehand winner down the line. Serving for the set, Gonzalez failed to win a point as Murray broke back for 4-5.
Gonzalez was not to be denied his 22nd win of the year (22-5 record). Murray hit four unforced errors, including one forehand drop shot in the net, bringing to a close the pair’s third meeting. Gonzalez hit 45 winners and won 17 of 24 points on approach to the net.
World No. 12 Gonzalez won his fourth title at Vina del Mar, an ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament, in February. Eight of his 11 titles have been won on clay courts.
The Chilean won the 1998 Roland Garros junior title over Juan Carlos Ferrero. Only five Roland Garros junior champions have gone on to win the men’s singles title. Mats Wilander is the last to have completed the double in 1988.
Murray, 22, was working with two-time former Roland Garros finalist Alex Corretja as well as his regular coach Miles Maclagan during the European clay-court swing. He dropped to 35-6 this year, highlighted by three ATP World Tour titles.
“I played a poor third set,” said Murray. “I have to give a lot of credit to him. I’ve played him before and he hits the ball hard, but today he was hitting it huge. It’s easy to say from the side, ‘you could have done this, you could have done that’ but the guy was hitting it so hard. If that happens sometimes you have to say ‘too good’.
“Nothing surprised me about his game, but he hit his forehand great and didn’t make many errors off it. Maybe I put too many balls to this stroke. His one-two punch off the serve was pretty impressive. He was hitting forehand winners a metre or two outside the tramlines. You cannot do a whole lot about that.”
(From Website : http://www.atpworldtour.com/TENNIS/1/EN/NEWS/NEWSARTICLE_3861.ASP)
