The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Gonzalez makes short work of giant-killer Volandri, enters final

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Gonzalez makes short work of giant-killer Volandri, enters final

SMOOTH SAILING: Fernando Gonzalez had an easy outing against Filippo Volandri. — Photo: AP

ROME: Sixth seed Fernando Gonzalez cruised into the final of the Rome Masters when he beat wild card Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday.

World No. 53 Volandri had eliminated three seeds, including Federer, in successive rounds to become the first Italian to reach the last four in Rome since Adriano Panatta in 1978.

His form seemed to desert him, however, as claycourt specialist Gonzalez moved him around the court with heavy, accurate groundstrokes.

The 26-year-old Chilean lashed a return down the line to break Volandri in his opening service game of the match, then broke again in the sixth game before serving out for the first set.

Gonzalez tightened his grip on the contest at the start of the second set, taking advantage of a series of unforced errors by his opponent to break in the third and fifth games and close out the contest in just over an hour.

Paes-Damm in last four

In the doubles section, the third-seeded Indo-Czech pair of Leander Paes and Martin Damm reached the semifinals, beating the eighth-seeded duo of Andrei Pavel and Alexander Waske 6-4, 6-3 on Friday.

Henin battles it out

Three-time winner Justine Henin battled into the final four of the German Open on Saturday with a tough-fought 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Serb Jelena Jankovic.

The 24-year-old Henin had been trailing 3-6, 4-4 when play was postponed on Friday night because of bad light following rain delays.

The Belgian came back on court on Saturday with the match again delayed for two hours by rain to reel off two games in a row to draw level at one-set all.

But Jankovic opened up and put deep shots in to rush to a 4-0 lead in the third before the Belgian showed why she is World No. 1 by clawing her way back by winning six games in a row.

The results:

At Rome (ATP Rome Masters): Singles: Semifinals: Fernando Gonzalez bt Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6-2. Quarterfinals: Fernando Gonzalez bt Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-4; Filippo Volandri bt Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-3; Rafael Nadal bt Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-3. Doubles: Quarterfinals: Leander Paes & Martin Damm bt Andrei Pavel & Alexander Waske 6-4, 6-3.

At Berlin (WTA German Open): Semifinals: Ana Ivanovic bt Julia Vakulenko 4-3 retd. Quarterfinals: Ana Ivanovic bt Patty Schnyder 7-5, 3-6, 6-4; Justine Henin bt Jelena Jankovic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

At Prague (WTA Prague Open): Semifinals: Marion Bartoli bt Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 6-2; Akiko Morigami bt Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 4-5 (retd.). Quarterfinals: Marion Bartoli bt Jarmila Gajdosova 6-1, 6-4; Klara Zakopalova bt Julia Schruff 6-3, 6-1; Victoria Azarenka bt Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 6-1; Akiko Morigami bt Camille Pin 6-3, 6-1. — Agencies

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