MELBOURNE, Australia(AP) It may have been the vocal Chilean fans that buoyed Fernando Gonzalez to a sweat-soaked five-set victory in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday, because it certainly wasn't his famed forehand.
There was no indication that the match against No. 53-ranked Evgeny Korolev would turn into a slogging epic when Gonzalez jumped to an early lead in the first set. However, the unheralded Kazakh rallied to take the opening set in a tiebreaker.
Gonzalez was runner-up at the 2007 Australian Open, his best Grand Slam result to date, and next faces No. 7 Andy Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion.
Korolev had never been so far in a major.
Yet they were nearly evenly matched for much of the match, trading sets and delivering more than 120 winners to delight an exuberant crowd.
Gonzalez gained a break early in the final set and after 3 hours, 22 minutes, he claimed a spot in the fourth round with a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
I felt really uncomfortable almost all the match,'' the 11th-seeded Gonzalez said.My serve wasn't like I used to serve. He was hitting every single ball hard as he could. And I feel that I wasn't making too much damage with my shots.''
Both players were nursing sore knees which they had treated during breaks, and both were frustrated at times by line calls. The heat, too, slowed them - it reached more than 99 degrees on Friday. The temperature on court, on the uncovered Showcourt 2, was hotter.
A weary Gonzalez was grateful to be moving on in the tournament but disappointed in his performance against Korolev, the first Kazakh man to ever reach the third round of a Grand Slam.
He was hitting the ball really hard. He take me out of position almost every time,'' Gonzalez said.It was really hard for me to do the same with him. ... But fortunately I took my chances in the fifth set and I break him, and that hold during the whole set.''
Korolev had upset No. 21 Tomas Berdych to advance to the third round.
One section of stadium was filled with red-shirted Chileans, who took advantage of every pause in play to sing and chant and rev up the rest of the audience, earning several admonishments from the chair umpire.
Their section was ringed by security guards following an incident at Gonzalez' second-round match in which one of his supporters set off a red-smoked flare in the stands.
After the match, Korolev compared the atmosphere with a soccer match and Gonzalez said the crowd support spurred him on over his 21-year-old opponent.
It was exciting to play in front of this crowd for me,'' he said.Is a big support really far away from home. Just really excited.''