Cañas was very comfortable against the Arthurs clone Guccione, he was never in serious trouble, though due to some ticket problems we missed a lot of this match, but he plays Verdasco and should be able to take him out quite easily.
Pavel vs. Mutis. Andrei pretty played within himself initially and was always in control of this match, he was moving well and the single backhand was working very well and should win his match against Reynolds, who I am not that keen on. His section is interesting as the winner of that would play the winner of Nadal/Youzhny and I would like to see Pavel play one of those guys.
Mantilla vs. Hernych. This was Felix's first match of the year after various injury problems to the stomach and the thigh and that put him off for sure, this plus he was playing a good opponent didn't help his disposition. Hernych isn't in the Kucera class at all, but he does play with a lot of angles and not much spin, though his forehand seemed to be doing most of the damage.
Mantilla was fighting hard and I thought at 1 set all that we were in for a 5 setter then he only won 1 game out of the last 13. He wasn't injured, but mentally wasn't there due to Hernych's play and the shocking line calls which pissed Felix off that he belted a ball out of the court and onto the railway tracks. Hernych plays Stepanek in what could be an interesting match up, though I missed most of Radek's match and it was great to see him beat Vinny Ice in 5 sets, and the facial gestures where there in full force.
Ferrer vs. Nalbandian well what can I say about this match. It was a tough scrap which is Ferrer's game and it was obvious that Nalle had major nervousness playing against a guy that he has never beaten before and it showed. The 3rd set was very painful as he breaks, then loses his serve and plays a silly dropshot that almost bounced before the net on his side to lose the 3rd and then the racquet went into the court and I understand that frustration, but the best thing for him is that he grinded out the result and when it got ugly, he hung around and that can only be good. His next match against Ventura will be another scrap for sure as Ventura does have a good future and lost to Dent in 2 tight sets in Sydney on this surface. This section playes the winner from Gonzo/Andreev.
Gonzalez vs. Acasuso. The old Chile/Argentina battle, it was hard to cheer too much as I like both Gonzo and Chucho. Gonzo started off very badly, he seemed to be very sluggish and his timing off and Acasuso was playing quite well using his serve well and his forehand was on top of its game.
Then in the 3rd set Gonzo took out an injury time out and I was sitting behind De La Peña who is very animated and funny watching his actions during a match and he lives through his player as well. The timeout loosened up his shoulder and was able to play more freely and then he started using the dropshot a whole lot more to bring in Chucho to expose his lack of movement around the net and it showed.
The Chilean fans were great and they were giving it atmosphere for sure and they outnumbered the Argie fans by quite a bit and it was funny the Viva Chile chant was going around and Gonzo was responding well.In the 5th set, he broke and had the chance to serve the set out at 5-4, but played a bad and nervous game and blew it, luckily he broke Chucho and was able to serve it out this time. Gonzo needs to have an easy day today as he will need all his energy against Andreev.
Zabaleta vs. Kimmich. I had never seen Kimmich play before and he definitely plays a lot differently to most Aussies, he plays a with a lot of spin on his forehand and in many ways he plays like he is on clay. Mariano was a bit sleepy going down 0-2 in the 1st set, then he woke up and started using his forehand to dominate the match and was moving him around well with very good angles and comfortably took the 1st set. The best thing that Kimmich does is the splits and he slides on Rebound Ace, he made a huge mark with his shoes after one of the points.
The second set was more of the same and Mariano wasn't dumping as many backhands in the net as he has done when he isn't playing well and that is a good sign. Mariano moving and serving well and was using Kimmich's pace to good advantage and opened the court up and hit behind him quite a lot.
I was thinking cool we will have a 3 set victory as Mariano breaks early, then loses concentration when close to the finish line and Kimmich tightens his game and manages to sneak through to the tiebreaker and was more solid and got a set when he probably shouldn't have.
The 4th set Mariano was back on track, and the funny thing was Kimmich's coach was saying that Mariano has some of the worst volleys he has ever seen, obviously he has never seen Acasuso, Mantilla or Ilie volley and I thought what a tool. He continued on opening the court up with his forehand and serving well and with a group like Mancini, Gumy, Lobo (coach), Chela watching him play he enjoyed it and now he has to take on Ferrero and if he serves well he can take him out.
Massu and oui oui Dupuis. The Chileans were in fine form as usual and I saw Massu's brother they have exactly the same eyes. That Massu is so intense when he is on the court, I bet when he is asleep he is intense. Always showing the teeth and his deliberate manner in between points. Unlike Sjengster and TL I don't have a major problem with Massu actually, only when he beats players that I like. That match almost went 4 hours and both players had the trainer out there, but nothing serious and Massu was playing alright in the last 2 sets and frustrating Dupuis and now will play Kohlschreiber.
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