DC : Chile vs Australia to come back in the world group

The draw of the play off is now available and Chile is not lucky, they’ll play Australia with L. Hewitt, but they’ll play in Chile, so all the chilean crowd will support them. The match will be in september.

In advance, good luck to Chile, I wish to see them back in the world group, the group they deserve to be

Davis Cup tie – Chile leads 3-0 Canada

[Website]

12.04- Fernando and Nicolas defeated the canadians today in Santiago, in 5 sets and now lead 3-0 and  will fight to come back in the world group, the group where they deserve to be !! Congratulations guys

11.04- González def. Polansky, and gave the first point to Chile, with a victory in 4 sets, 7-6 (4) y 7-6 (3), 5-7 y 6-2. Chile leads 1-0. In the second match, Nico Massu is 2 sets 2, the match has been interrupted due to a lack of light. Vamos Nico !! The match will continue today before the doubles. Vamos Chilenos !!

[Photo Gallery updated :: Total 192 pictures]

Press conference

10.04- González vs Peter Polansky in the first match, at 11.00 (local time). Nicolas Massu will face Frederic Niemeyer in the second match. The inaugural ceremony will be on saturday morning due to another event at the same place the same day (football). We wish both players good luck for this week-end. VAMOS !!

07.04- Press conference with the chilean team and Fernando González -

From the Emol website

Fernando’s quotes :

“I am feeling well mentally and physically, even though the results haven’t been the ones expected in the first part of the year, the season is enough long and I know that I have time to improve my level”

“Today, I arrived in the group and I see them well with a lot of motivation and I think that it is the opportunity to show that we are a very strong team. For that reason, I think that the things are going to be good this week-end and that we’ll arrive to play the play off. “

“In the 80s, I always came in the stadium and it was impressive to see how the audience influenced the mental of the players. Today, the situation is going to be repeated and we have a court full of people”.

According to the TVN website, Fernando will start to practrice with the others members of the chilean team on monday

CHILE v CANADA
Venue: Estadio Nacional, Santiago de Chile (clay-outdoors)

CHILE
Fernando Gonzalez
Nicolas Massu
Paul Capdeville
Hans Podlipnik
Captain: Hans Gildemeister

CANADA
Daniel Nestor
Frederic Niemeyer
Peter Polansky
Vasek Pospisil
Captain: Martin Laurendeau

DC : Chile out of the world group :-((

Israel defeated Chile 3-2, sad result for the Chilean team and the fans. Chile won’t remain in the world group and will play in the zona Americas, Group 1, their aim will be to come back in the world group. In 2008, Chile will be seeded and will have a bye in the first round, and will face in the second round, the winner of the tie, Mexico/Canada.

Here are the results :

R1 – Sela def. Massu

R2- González def. Okun (4/6 6/3 7/5 6/7)

R3- Erlich/Ram def. González/Massu (2/6 7/6 6/2 3/6 10/8)

R4- Sela df González (4/6 7/6/5 7 7/6 6/3)

R5-Capdeville df Okun (ret.)

[Video interview during the DC]

[Video during the draw]

[Videos from emol website]

[Reports of the matches - in spanish]

Fernando is back in Santiago where he’ll spend a couple of days, then, he’ll be back in Europe to play the indoor season, starting with Vienna.
Videos to download – reports and interviews -

[Video 1 - Sep.20th]

[Video 2- Sep. 20th]

[Video 3- Sep. 20th]

[Video 4- Sep. 21st]

[Video 5- Sep. 22nd]

[Photo Gallery updated :: 1916 Pictures]

Next : Davis Cup – Play Off – Israel vs Chile

[Davis Cup website]

[Tie details]

[To follow the chilean team - Special emol]

Canada Stadium, Ramat Hasharon, Israel
Stadium Capacity: 5000

20 September – 23 September 2007
Day 1: Thursday 20 September – 1300 hrs (1100 hrs GMT)
Day 2: Friday 21 September – 1030 hrs (0830 hrs GMT)
Day 3: Sunday 23 September – 1400 hrs (1200 hrs GMT)
Surface: Hard (Acrylic) – Outdoors
Ball Type: Wilson US Open

Upcoming schedule ..

It’s time for Fernando to try to forget the US Open result. Now, it’s time to think to the DC play off versus Israël but before that, Fernando is scheduled to play the tournament of Beijing, China, starting on September 10th.

[Tournament website]

Dates : September 10th-16th

Place : Beijing, China

[Davis Cup Website]

Dates : September 20th-23rd

Place : Tel Aviv, Isräel

Davis Cup Play-Off : Israël vs Chile

 

Chile will face in the DC play-off in September, Israël, in Israël.

Dates : 20 – 21 and 23 September,

Due to the celebration of ‘Yom Kippur’, the date has been advanced of one day and players won’t play on saturday.

According to El Mercurio, Israël will choose a fast court in Tel Aviv.

The other matches are :

- Serbia-Australia,

- Austria–Brasil,

- Perú-Bielorrusia,

- Great-Britain-Croatia,

- Czech Republic–Switzerland,

- Japan-Roumania

- Slovakia-Corea

DC : Gonzalez’s reaction after his victory but before the result of Nico

[From La Tercera]

“I see Nicolas far better. Now, it will be necessary to see if Andreev will be able to play under pressure. In the match of Friday, he has played without any pressure, but now he has the responsibility to give to Russia the winning point “, indicated to the number 5, at the ATP

“I felt far better than Friday. In the first match, I did not feel well, although today either, but I fought and I won the match. The important thing is that the point is for Chile, and that now the team is on the way to win”, he assured.

 ”This is tennis. Here, each one arrived from the best way than he could. I felt far better, more rested and I concentrated myself better. I know Marat (Safin well), and he accommodates me far better to play against him “.

About his calendar :

“I am going to define it, it’s not yet clear. So far,  I won’t play in Brazil  and the tournament of Buenos Aires I will decide it soon “, he finished.

DC : Chile 2 – Russia 3 :((((

Fernando Gonzalez has defeated Marat Safin 63 75 64 to bring Chile level with Russia in their Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first round tie in La Serena. Fernando showed that he was a great fighter !!

But Igor Andreev defeated Nicolas Massu 62 61 67(1) 64 in the decisive fifth rubber to send Russia through 3-2 in Chile.

Andreev’s second singles win of the weekend ensured the holders went through to a quarterfinal meeting at home to France, and denied Chile a first ever comeback from two rubbers to love down.

Chile will have to play the play off in September.

[Photos of Fernando's match added]

DC : Chile 1 – Russia 2

Fernando and Nicolas won the double in the Davis Cup match this afternoon. After a first set which lasted a little bit more than one hour (1h03), they won the match in three sets 7/6 6/3 6/4. Now, they give again the hope to the Chilean crowd and to all their fans all around the world. Congratulations :

Tomorrow, Fernando will start the day, he’ll face Marat Safin, this match will be decisive for Chile, than, Nicolas will face I. Andreev, we hope for the point of the victory. VAMOS

[From the DC Website]

Olympic Gold Medalists Gonzalez and Massu take doubles point

The 2004 Olympic Gold Medallists Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu kept Chile’s hopes alive by securing a straight sets win over Igor Andreev and Marat Safin in Saturday’s doubles rubber. The 76(3) 63 64 win, which took two hours and 45 minutes, gives Chile its first point in its first round clash with defending champions Russia. Massu and Gonzalez stepped on court knowing they had to put all they had on the line if they wanted to retain Chile’s hopes of booking that quarterfinal spot. Russian Captain Shamil Tarpischev, on the other hand, intent on securing an early win, changed the original line-up of Teimuraz Gabashvili and Igor Kunitsyn for his singles players, Marat Safin and Igor Andreev.However, the move didn’t pay off for the Russians as Massu and Gonzalez added another chapter to their legend with an excellent performance, vastly improving on their poor showing on Friday. A very tight game The first set was very tight and the logical conclusion was a tiebreak. The Chileans started to put the pressure on Andreev, and the Russian No. 2 made a couple of errors. Nothing much, but enough to give the first set and the lead to Massu and Gonzalez 76 (3). The Russian team felt the sting and the pressure on Andreev continued. Losing his serve just once was all the Chilean pair needed to take the second set 63. Safin and Andreev tried to make a comeback in the third set and were close to breaking, but the home team withstood the assault and broke Safin when they were leading 5-3, to the delight of the crowd who gave their national heroes a warm cheer at the end. Massu and Gonzalez elected to play long points with mainly staying at the baseline, and Safin never looked comfortable with that. Andreev, on the other hand, seemed more nervous and unsure of himself in comparison with the solid game he showcased in the singles against Massu. Hope is rekindled “This victory is very important for our confidence” Massu said. “I’ve always had a positive mindset for this tie. What happened yesterday is past, and I will try to be in my best form for tomorrow’s game”. Gonzalez seemed less cheerful, but was also positive about the outcome of the tie. “Tomorrow’s matches are very different. I know how Safin plays, what he likes and what he dislikes… that is important when facing him.” Captain Hans Gildemeister was satisfied, although he did not lose sight of his situation. “At this point, I had hoped we would be 2-1 up and not 1-2 down, but we are already thinking of tomorrow.” “Safin should feel the pressure in the match, and I’m sure Fernando (Gonzalez) will feel a lot looser than yesterday. I am sure the tie will be defined in the final match.” Safin: They were better than us The Russians were not happy, obviously, but they knew nothing is yet decided. “Gonzalez and Massu played very well, they were very solid today and did better than us,” Safin said. “But that’s it, we’re still 2-1 ahead and we have two opportunities tomorrow to win the tie”. The Chilean team’s hopes are still alive, and the huge improvement over yesterday’s form is a promising sign, but they can’t take more chances now. Russia knows it and, together with their experience in difficult situations, that is perhaps their greatest asset for tomorrow: knowing their opponent must take a lot of risks if they want to win this tie, while they still have some breathing space.

      

DC : Chile O – Russia 2

[DC website]

Andreev shocks Gonzalez and Chile to put Russia 2-0 up

Igor Andreev has sensationally defeated Australian Open finalist Fernando Gonzalez in his back yard to put holders Russia 2-0 up in Chile.Andreev, who was out of action for most of last year with a knee injury, defeated Gonzalez 46 64 63 62. Earlier, Marat Safin had got the Davis Cup Champion nation off to a great start with a 63 62 62 defeat of Nicolas Massu.Chile must now win Saturday’s doubles to keep their 10-match home tie winning streak – and their hopes of reaching the quarterfinals – alive

After a promising start, the nightmare continuesGonzalez entered the court with the responsibility of winning, after Safin defeated Massu and gave Russia the 1-0 lead.The first set was won by Gonzalez, and the second set looked good for the powerful Chilean after breaking Andreev’s serve to lead 2-1. Almost 3-1 ahead, something happened to Gonzalez; Andreev broke back and then once again, and 4-2 ahead was enough to let the Russian win the second set 64.The third set surprised the audience. Gonzalez was far from being the force that stormed the Australian Open draw and Andreev cruised from a 3-0 to a 63 leaving Russia only one set away of winning both first day singles.The fourth set showed that clearly something was very wrong with Gonzalez today. Andreev broke three times to lead 5-0, and then a burst of wounded pride made the home team’s No. 1 use courage where tennis clearly wasn’t enough. Gonzalez broke once and survived six match points, but at the end it all served only to make the final score 62 for the Russian No. 2.The audience started to retire from the court in disbelief, as most people believed Safin could defeat Massu, but everyone was confident that Gonzalez would surely beat Andreev.

Questions in the windBoth Gonzalez and Andreev did not have an answer on the huge difference between the two versions of Fernando Gonzalez, the one that reached the final round and put a lot of pressure over Roger Federer in Australia, and the one that lost today to Andreev, who is returning from a long injury and is still only ranked 147 in the world.“I didn’t play my best tennis today” explained a disheartened Gonzalez. ”I didn’t feel well in the court, all my shots were too short and Andreev put his forehand everywhere. Besides, my serve left me after my first set”.Andreev, on the other hand, looked as fresh and cool as Safin had after his win. “I was a little nervous at the beginning, but when I started relaxing, he lowered his game and I could take advantage. At the end perhaps I relaxed a little too much, and that shows it was not an easy victory; a couple of games more, and he could have returned into the game”.When asked about the difference in comparison to Gonzalez’ Australian Open performance, Andreev merely shrugged his shoulders. “It’s Davis Cup, it’s a whole different game, different court… I don’t know how he looked there; I just tried to play my best and defeat him”.Gonzalez arrived from Australia two days after the final (and with a 14 hour time difference) to play in the Viña del Mar tournament. Although every tennis player wants to play at home, it is debatable if that was the right move. Although he only played three matches last week and one today, Gonzalez looked quite bad in the third and fourth sets, with low mobility and giving the impression that he is still mentally tired from his huge effort in the Australian Open, and that he should have had more resting time to disconnect himself from that performance. On the other hand, he did have a much more difficult transition to clay than he usually does, and the fact that he never felt comfortable on the court is a possible explanation of this, his first Davis Cup defeat ever while playing at home.

Andreev entered the court knowing that this was the least probable point the Russian team could take, and that helped him to make his stand. Now Russia leads 2-0 and the Chilean team must decisively raise their game or the tie will be over sooner than almost everybody thought.

[Interview with Fernando, from the DC Website]

+ Photos in the photogallery