Australian Open Review Day Six: Gasquet and "Gonzo" serve up a thriller

Australian Open Betting / Sean Calvert / 24 January 2009 / Leave a Comment

Sean Calvert talks us through the main talking points of day six at the Australian Open including a straight sets win for Andy Murray and a match involving two of the cleanest hitters in men's tennis - Gasquet and Gonzalez - playing in a match that predictably went to the wire.

Day Six in Melbourne promised the clash of the tournament so far and no I'm not talking about Murray v Melzer.

Given the option of that or Richard Gasquet v Fernando Gonzalez on Margaret Court, the choice was a clear one.

I had suffered five sets of Murray v Melzer in extreme heat at the US Open recently and I anticipated an easy win for the Scot, while the other match promised to be considerably more exciting, so it was eyes down for what promised to be a classic.

Two of the best shot makers in the game going head to head for the first time would surely be a pleasure to watch and that's exactly how it started.

Gasquet came out flying and blasted into a 5-2 lead with a combination of brilliant winners and lots of serve volleying.

Cheered on by a vociferous crowd courtside, containing an abundance of French fans and the usual Chilean entourage that follows Gonzalez around, interspersed with a smattering of Aussies desperately trying to start a somewhat pointless chant of 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie', Gasquet closed out the first set 6-3.

Perhaps the home supporters had become confused, as Brisbane lass Sam Stosur was concurrently on Rod Laver serving for the first set against Elena Dementieva.

A forehand error from Gonzo gave Gasquet the early break in set two and the Chilean received a code violation for totally destructing his racquet as a consequence of the mistake.

The Frenchman was at his irresistible best and he really was running rings around the number 13 seed with some mesmerising backhands and Nadal-like retrieving to earn a quote of [1.4] from an initial [2.3] for the match.

Another stunning backhand down the line brought about the double break for Gasquet and this was brilliant stuff from the number 24 seed, but a great backhand this time from Gonzalez got one of them back immediately.

Gasquet broke again to take the second set by the same margin as the first and while all this was going on, Murray was two sets up on Melzer and Stosur had failed to take her opportunity against Dementieva.

The mercurial Frenchman was always likely to struggle to keep that level of play going however and Gonzalez struck back to take the third after an epic tie breaker in which Gasquet had match point and the crowd by now were firmly in the Chilean's corner.

As has been the case so often in the past, it all began to go wrong for Gasquet from this point and the injuries began to mysteriously crop up out of seemingly nowhere.

The trainer was called to deal with foot and shoulder problems and Gonzalez took control to take the set 6-2 and force a decider, which the Chilean was [1.14] to take.

In the meantime, Murray closed out a straight sets win over Melzer; Dementieva also advanced in straight sets and Rafa Nadal emerged onto Rod Laver Arena to face Tommy Haas.

Back on Margaret Court, it was the turn of Gonzalez to receive a medical timeout for a painful looking left foot injury, and he was out to [1.45] on serve at 3-2.

It almost got worse for Gonzalez, as he faced two break points in game nine, but he fought them off before facing another at 7-7 with the same result, thanks to a quite brilliant backhand winner.

This wonderful match continued to delight and it was the Chilean who had to contend with more break points in game 21, but again he did it and he got his reward in the very next game when he took his chance for a 3-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 12-10 win after four-and-a-half hours.

This was the match of the tournament so far by a mile and the stats say it all: -

Gasquet - 80 winners, 58 unforced errors
Gonzalez - 85 winners and 51 unforced errors

Meanwhile, back on Laver, Nadal ([4.6]) for Melbourne glory, disposed of the challenge of Haas with ease in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 and will now face Gonzalez, who of course hammered Nadal here in 2007.

Earlier in the day there were straight sets wins for Fernando Verdasco ([190]), Gael Monfils ([75]) and Gilles Simon ([70]) over Radek Stepanek, Nicolas Almagro and Mario Ancic respectively and four set successes for James Blake ([220]), who extended his unbeaten run over Igor Andreev to six and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ([30]), who took out Dudi Sela.

In the women's draw, all eight matches ended in straight sets wins. The highest profile casualties being Amelie Mauresmo, who was beaten by Victoria Azarenka and Flavia Pennetta, who lost to Anabel Medina Garrugues.

As for Murray, well he now faces Verdasco and he should be confident about that one with his 5-0 head to head record over the Spaniard.