They call him "Speedy" Gonzalez, and he showed why.
Tenth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez put on another brilliant display of tennis yesterday, sprinting all over the court to rip winners at will as he dominated Germany's Tommy Haas 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the Australian Open final.
It was a performance reminiscent of top-ranked Roger Federer's rout of Andy Roddick in the other semi-final a night earlier. Gonzalez was nearly flawless, leaving the capacity crowd gasping and the 12th-seeded Haas stunned and frustrated.
PHOTO: AFP
"It was a really good day for me," Gonzalez said. "I have been playing great tennis. I am enjoying it a lot."
Gonzalez had zero unforced errors in the first and third sets and only three for the match to go along with 42 winners that accounted for more than half of his 82 points.
For Haas, it was overwhelming.
PHOTO: AFP
"I played actually pretty good tennis," Haas said. "Every time I tried to do something differently, he came up with the answer. That's quite frustrating after a period of time. I just have to hand it to him, tip the hat, say that's too good tonight. Nothing I could have done."
Gonzalez, who had never reached a Grand Slam semifinal before, will face Federer tomorrow evening in the championship match.
"Roger is No. 1 one by far," Gonzalez said. "But there is only one match left. I have lost many times to him, but I know that I am playing much better than the last time that we played."
The women's final today pits top-seeded Maria Sharapova, the reigning US Open champion, against two-time champion Serena Williams, unseeded while coming back from a bad knee that limited her to four tournaments last year.
Music from a nearby concert drifted into packed Rod Laver Arena on a brisk Australia Day evening yesterday. Fireworks followed the match, but Gonzalez provided plenty before then.
Once known for a weak backhand and a fragile psyche, Gonzalez has improved both significantly in recent months and has won over thousands of fans here with his powerful serve and forehand.
He was excited about the match statistics.
"I have been playing many years with 45 unforced errors and three winners!" he said.
The Chilean ran off 11 points to start the first set, and Haas ended up with only 12 points in the seven games.
Gonzalez slipped only slightly in the second set with 12 winners and three unforced errors as Haas, his confidence shattered, spiked his racket once and came close to slamming it into the court on two other occasions.
Haas tried to pick on Gonzalez's backhand, but the Chilean just kept getting back slice after slice until he got a chance to wind up on a forehand and send zingers into the corners.
A group of vocal German fans included five young men with "Tommy Haas" spelled out on their bare chests and "Bye Bye Gonzalez" on their backs, cheered for Haas between points, but their support was in vain.
Gonzalez, who never faced a break point, finished it off with a backhand crosscourt winner for his seventh service break to end it in 1 hour, 31 minutes -- eight minutes longer than Federer's win over Roddick.
"I'm obviously trying to think what I could have done differently after the match like this. It's really hard," said Haas, who added that Gonzalez made him understand how Roddick felt. "Pretty much everything he touched tonight seemed to go his way. He's playing some good tennis, that's for sure."
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care