Baby Goran Goes Gonzo at ATP AucklandPosted on January 13, 2006 With the added confidence of a year-end Davis Cup title under his belt, Croatian Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic continued to hammer the competition Thursday at the ATP stop in Auckland, bageling top seed Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez 6-0, 6-3 to advance into the semifinals.
"I was really happy that I finished it off and didn't give too many chances to a high-quality player like Fernando to come back because one set can be like that and then completely different in the second set," Ancic said. "That was the plan to try and come in and break his rhythm, and still play my game and I think I executed that extremely well today." After the match Gonzalez pulled out of the doubles citing a shoulder injury. Two more seeds successfully moved on Thursday in (6) Olivier Rochus (d. (2) Ferrer, bagel in the second) and (7) Jarkko Nieminen (d. Massu). "This is the best ever. I never played so good," Rochus said. "I didn't miss one ball. Some balls I was closing my eyes and, boom, a winner. I don't know why." Swiss Stan Wawrinka was the only unseeded player to gain the semis, straight-setting fellow un-seed Florian Mayer of Germany. Lining up for the Friday semifinals are (5) Ancic vs. Wawrinka (first meeting) and (7) Nieminen vs. (6) O.Rochus (Roach brother leads series 3-1). |
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