TNT Sports
Nobody does it better
By
Published 18/11/2005 at 14:59 GMT
When it comes to pressing the self-destruct button, Fernando Gonzalez is a past master: an enigma of today's power game he holds no prisoners in the pursuit of breaking advertising boards and an opponent's spirit. Sometimes, though, it backfires; as it di
Eurosport
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With a place in the Masters Cup semi-finals at stake, Gonzalez looked assured of victory leading Gaudio by one set and a break of serve.
The pair's final round robin match in the Gold Group looked to be going the way of the Chilean when the world number 13 held three match points on the Gaudio serve at 5-4.
But if you know only one thing about Gonzalez's professional career, it should be the fact that the 25-year-old is as consistent as he is inconsistent. Friday's match was proof enough why he has never attained a Top 10 ranking.
Gaudio doesn't win the 2004 French Open and five clay titles this season without being a good ball retriever and the 1-6 7-5 7-5 victory was a remarkable turnaround for a fourth career win over Gonzalez.
The Argentine secured second place in the Gold Group behind Russian Nikolay Davydenko and set up a last four meeting with two times defending champion Roger Federer on Saturday. The results also means Davydenko will play David Nalbandian of Argentina.
For the 70 minutes, the question around the Qi Zhong stadium in Shanghai left unanswered was: who would be a ball in a match featuring Gonzalez?
The Santiago native looked on course for a second win of the week, as memories of a 30-hour flight to the city only to sit on the sidelines all week, faded from the memory bank.
Stinging groundstroke winners and just four unforced errors helped Gonzalez to three breaks for 6-1 first set in 25 minutes.
Deep into the second set, Gonzalez earned what appeared the decisive break in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead, but Gaudio responded immediately.
Gaudio, a replacement for Australian Lleyton Hewitt to the season-ending championships, found himself 15-40 down on serve at 4-5. The Argentine fought back and recovered from match points three and four to regain parity at 5-5.
"I thought the same as everyone else - that I was done," said 26-year-old Gaudio. "I almost lost the match three times. It was very emotional. Fun for the crowd but not for me."
Having skipped a holiday to travel to Shanghai, Gonzalez's dream call-up to the field as replacement for Andre Agassi turned into a nightmare.
Gaudio snapped Gonzalez with a forehand crosscourt winner for a 6-5 lead. Minutes later, the Argentine levelled as one set all in 53 minutes.
A break of the Gonzalez serve in the third game of the final set, only boosted Gaudio's confidence of a 55th year win.
Edging towards the finish, Gonzalez staged a mini revival hitting a running forehand crosscourt winner to break back for 4-4. And with a never-say-die approach the player moved 5-4 ahead after a tense service hold.
Gaudio, under tremendous pressure himself now, stayed strong as Gonzalez - in a fit of pique - hit three unforced errors.
With the momentum, Gaudio earned a break in the eleventh game with a Gonzalez double fault and went on to serve out the two-hour 10-minute for the loss of one point.
"I played a bad game when I was serving for the match [at 5-3]." said Gonzalez, the first Chilean to play at the season-ending championship since Marcelo Rios in 1998.
"I only put one first serve in. I tried to go for it but I had a little bit of bad luck."
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