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12/8/06 I love waking up in the morning and seeing great results
from Fernando's night matches... Well played Fernando! He won his match in 80 mins against Jose Acasuso 6-1,7-5.
It was a far easier battle than the one that was played earlier that evening between Roger Federer and Xavier Malisse, that
match lasted 2 hours 27 mins, with Federer winning 6-3 in the 3rd set, meaning he will be Fernando's next opponent.
The match will take place as the night session match again tonight 7pm local time. Now the head to head.. standing at
6-0 to Federer at the moment, they have only ever met at a Masters series or Grand Slam event in their six meetings.
The only meeting on a hard court out of the six times was in Indain Wells 2004, the only meeting this year was in Monte Carlo.
So Federer is chasing title no. 7 in 2006 and Fernando is looking for number 1, although I still haven't seen a match that
Fernando has played yet in this tournament (waiting for tapes to be given to me!) The results have looked very impressive...
so maybe today is the day.. I know I hope it is as well as all of you no doubt.. Best of luck Fena.
11/8/06 So its Quarter final time again... Fernando had a long match
yesterday out there on Stadium court against Ivan Ljubicic, but posted a win in 3 hours and 5 mins 6-4,6-7(4),7-6(3).
Fernando had match points in the 3rd set when Ivan was serving at 4-5, but it wasn't to be, and it had to go all the way to
a tie break for Fernando to pull it off. This sets up a QF match against Jose Acasuso that will be played as the second
night match tonight on the Stadium court, around about 8.30 local time. The head to head stands very favourably for
Fernando, he leads 6-1 and the last time they met was at the Australian Open 2005 in the first round which Fernando won. This
has been their only hard court meeting up until today.. The winner of this match will face the winner of Federer/ Malisse.
But lets concentrate on the match in hand first.. Lets go Fernando!
9/8/06 Fernando was first match on stadium court this morning and
didn't waste any time in securing his place in the third round. He beat J.C.Ferrero 6-2,6-1. So in the next round Fernando
will now face his doubles partner of this week Ivan Ljubicic (although they are no longer in the doubles as they lost their
match late this afternoon to the Bryans 6-2,6-4). They have played 5 times previously and the head to head is pretty
close at 3-2 to Ljubicic. Twice they have played in 2006 and they have both had a win this year.. This match is scheduled
to be played on Stadium court at 11 am tomorrow. Lets hope Fernando is liking these early starts! Fingers crossed
everyone for another win tomorrow.
8/8/06 So Fernando posted his first proper win over Sweden's Robin
Soderling yesterday in Toronto.. the result being 6-4,3-6,6-2. This sets up a second round meeting on Wednesday with J.C.
Ferrero, These two haven't met since the French open in 2003, but the head to head stands at 2-1 to Fernando. Juan Carlos
is currently ranked 12 places behind Fernando at 28. The doubles got underway today with a win for Fernando and Ivan,
6-3,6-4 over Fyrstenberg/Matkowski, they will now face the Bryans in round 2.
7/8/06 So The Rogers Masters Cup kicks off today in Toronto, and
Fernando is seeded 15 for this week and will face Robin Soderling in Round 1.. This is the 3rd time these two have met this
year, and their career head to head standing at 3-1 in Soderling's favour. Their last meeting being in Monte Carlo on clay
where Fernando got his first win over him with a retirement from Soderling in the second set. I know Fernando would
love to get a proper win over him.. so lets hope today is that day. Their match will be played on Court 1 at 11am local
time. Fernando is also playing doubles this week with Ivan Ljubicic, A first time pairing I believe.. they will face
Fyrstenberg/Matkowski in the first round. Best of luck this week Fernando.. if anyone is going to Toronto and wants
to take any photos.. I'd love to put them on the site.. Thanks for dropping by everyone.
1/8/06 After Fernando's double loss on his birthday in Los Angeles
he climbs one place in the rankings this week back up to No.16. He has taken this week off and will be back playing
a week today in Toronto at the Masters Series.
29/7/06 HAPPY BIRTHDAY FERNANDO! At least Fernando gets to
have the day off on his birthday in L.A. even if it's going to be a busy evening. With two semi finals matches to play, in
both singles and doubles. I am so sorry to everyone about my lack of updates, I have been so busy with work I haven't
been near the computer. So what has happened since the last time I updated.. Fernando got to the the quarter finals
in Indy with wins over Querrey, Spadea 6-4,7-6(7) and then losing to Malisse 7-6(4),6-4. In the doubles there he and
Ramon Delgardo lost in the first round to L. Burgsmuller/H.Levy 7-6(3),7-5.
Then moving on to LA to the Countrywide Classic. In the first round Fernando defeated G.Muller 7-6(5),7-6(5),
Then went on to play Marat for the 3rd time this year.. and the 3rd win against him this year 6-4,6-2, that set up a quarter
final match up with defending Champion Andre Agassi last night, where Fernando won 6-4,3-6,7-5. Not a good night
for the Americans in LA as Andy Roddick had to withdraw due to injury, Tommy Haas beat Paul Goldstein, Robby Ginepri lost
his match to Hrbaty and obviously Fernando put out Agassi. So as the Semi Final line up looks like this, Tommy
Haas v Dominik Hrbaty and Fernando v Dmitry Tursunov. Now the head to head on this one stands 3-0 in Fernando's favour,
You may remember the match they played earlier this year in Hamburg on the clay, all other meetings have been on a hard court..
so surely Fernando is the favourite for this match.. plus its his birthday so he has to win!! The doubles has also been
going very well this week, playing with his countryman Paul Capdeville they have had 2 wins so far this week, in the first
round over Spadea/Udomchoke 6-4,2-6,10-5, and then against Aussie pairing Kerr/Arthurs 3-6,6-3,10-6. Tonight they will
face the Bryan twins who have had a comfortable run through to the semi finals.. So Best of luck to Fernando for these
two matches today.. and I'm sure you all want to wish him Feliz cumpleaņos, leave him your messages in the Forum and I'll
let him know to go and take a look.
18/7/06 Fernando had a good start to his hard court season with a
win over Sam Querrey earlier today 6-3,6-4. He will now play the winner of the match happening on Grandstand court later today
between V.Spadea and R.Mello. Fernando has never played Mello at an atp event, and has a winning head to head over Spadea,
they've played just the once in 2004 and Fernando won in 2 sets. I guess he will be playing doubles tomorrow also but
the schedule hasn't been released yet.
17/7/06 YEAH he's back.. does it feel lonely to anyone else out there
when Fernando isn't playing?? Anyway, its the RCA Championships in Indianapolis this week, and Fernando is playing both singles
and doubles. He is seeded 3 so has a first round bye. His first round opponent will be the winner of the match
that is being played right now, between Sam Querrey and Janko Tipsarevic (Querrey has just taken the first set 6-4). Fernando
is scheduled to play first up on Centre court at 12.30 Tuesday, he hasn't played either of these two before, Querrey is an
American wild card entry into the tournament currently at 200 in the rankings, and 19 years of age. Tipsarevic recently turned
22 and is at 126 in the rankings.. should be a nice match for Fernando to head into for the hard court season.
9/7/06 NEW PHOTOS ADDED IN GALLERY 4 and 5. All matches from Wimbledon
have now been added, All photos were taken by me so please don't add them to any other web pages with out asking first
~ Thanks. Hope everyone had a good weekend... Please use the Forum link above as a place to chat about Fernando.
4/7/06 So my Wimbledon experience is over again for another year,
as is Fernandos. Its been a long week.. a hot week and I got to see a fair bit of Fernando so its been a good week!
Monday was a compete wash out, apart from 36 mins of play, so it didn't start off in the most ideal way. Tuesday was far more
pleasant, and Fernando was scheduled to play L.Horna from Peru on court 14. After the three previous wins Fernando
had over him I was pretty certain this one would go the same way, and pleased to say that it did.. a fairly straightforward
7-6(3),7-5,6-2 victory gave Fernando a second round encounter with Marat Safin. This match was to be on Thursday
out on Court No.2, my most hated court as if you don't have a very hard to get hold of ticket, you have to
stand at the elevated bit at the back of this court... 3 sets not so bad.. but 5 sets is a killer! But as I thought
when Fernando was 2 sets to love down, I was all prepared to stand on my feet for another 3 sets! I love both
of these guys and to watch them play each other on the tv is bad enough, but to watch it live... not the best! But
I was pulling for Fernando for sure.. and the croud were getting louder and louder cheering for Fernando, hoping
the match was going to continue, and it did. The final match score being Fernando beating Marat 4-6,6-7(4),6-4,6-4,6-4.
On Friday the Mixed doubles finally kicked off, Fernando was playing his second tournament with Gisela
Dulko, and they were due out late in the evening on court 13, but then the match was moved over onto court 4, so
they were 2-0 down when I got word of that. I was pretty sure that they wouldn't be making it through into the
second round after seeing the one sidedness of the first set.. but then they both started playing well and ended up winning
the match 2-6,6-1,6-0 against Skoch/Vanc (there was ALOT of smiling going on in this match!! check out the new wimbledon
gallery in the next couple of days to see what I mean!). Saturday saw Fernando's 3rd round match against David
Ferrer, Court 13, 2nd match of the day, in temperature around 31 degrees.. their previous head to head stood at 3-1 in
Fernando's favour, with their last meeting being at world team cup this year. They had played 2 matches on clay and 2 on hard,
but never on grass. It was so hot for this match, so again I was hoping Fernando was going to win it in 3... and it
looked to be going that way when he was 6-2,6-4 up, but Ferrer was a fighter and wasn't giving up that easily.. the match
lasted 175 mins, and was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the fans.. but David Ferrer beat Fernando in the end 2-6,4-6,6-2,6-3,6-4.
Later that day Fernando and Gisela were due out on court 11 for their mixed doubles against Mike Bryan and Corina Morariu,
but due the the fact Fernando called for the trainer at the start of the fifth set for a problem with his foot, possibly
blisters I don't know, they pulled from the doubles event early in the evening. So that was Fernando done at Wimbledon
for another year.. I think he headed home to Chile on Sunday, instead of hanging around to go to the world cup final in Germany
this coming weekend. I have quite a few photos to upload, so give me a day or two.. and then I hope you'll all enjoy
the photos I have taken. His next tournament will be back on the USA hard courts in Indianapolis starting July 17.
25/6/06 Wimbledon time! The draw was made on Friday, but I
have been in Nottingham at the Red Letter Days open this week, So its taken me until now to post it.. sorry! Fernando is in
the bottom half of the draw, which means it will be a Tuesday start this year. He is seeded 10, and will face Luis Horna
in the first round. These two have played each other 3 times previously and Fernando has won all three. They last met
in Auckland in January where he won 6-3,6-4, they haven't met on a grass court as yet, so Tuesday is the day for that.
Again Fernando has chosen not not play doubles at this slam, but I wouldn't be surprised if his name shows up in the mixed
doubles draw again.. that one isn't made until Tuesday I believe. So wish him luck for a good Wimbledon.. His second
round opponent would be the winner of the match between Rusedski and Safin..Hmmmm. Ok everyone I'm off to Wimbledon.
Use the message board to keep each other updated ~ Jules.
24/6/06 Fernando played at the Boodles Challenge event this week
just outside London, with 7 other main draw opponents, Agassi, Youzney, Fish, Blake, Massu, Baker, Horna. Fernando played
Youzney on the first day and Youzney won that match 7-6,6-3. He then played Jamie Baker on Thursday, but I still can't
find a result for that match... anywhere! All the website said on Thursday when it updated for Fridays order of play
was that it was still out on court.. Anyway, his loss on Tuesday means he won't be playing in the final on Saturday now..
So Wimbledon time next week!
17/6/06 I guess Andy didn't want anyone standing in his way of trying
to win that 4th Stella Artois title, it was a fairly quick match with lots of aces from both ends of the court.. there was
just one break of serve in each set, and that is what claimed Andy the match 6-4,6-3. Fernando now has a couple of days
off to enjoy the British sunshine.. before playing the exhibition tournament that he won last year, The Boodles Challenge
in Stoke Park, Buckinghamshire. The new photos are now added in Gallery 4. I may be heading to Stoke Park later this
week, depending on the scheduling.. I'll be sure to take the camera if I do! Enjoy the photos, if you want to leave
any feedback please go to the messageboard ~Jules.
16/6/06 Today Fernando will take on last years Champion at Queens
who is on a mission to create history with four Stella Artois Title wins in a row. Andy Roddick stands between Fernando
and a place in the semi Final. I'm sure we all remember the last time these two met a couple of months back in Davis Cup on
Grass in California. Their head to head stands at 4-2 in Andys favour, with the meeting in davis cup in April being their
only meeting on grass. Both of Fernando's wins over Andy have come on a hard court, so everyone lets hope today will be his
first win on grass.. The match will be on centre court, last match of the day after a 1pm start time, and if the matches
are anything like yesterdays, expect it to be a fairly late match to start! I'll be watching from home with a big dish of
strawberries and cream! Oh and did I say how much I am loving having Fernando blogging for the atp this week.... Photos
could well be on the site today if I can drag myself away from the other matches being shown on tv.
15/6/06 Well I am so pleased Fernando's Grass court tennis skills
are more reliable than the British weather! Monday was fabulous, 30 degrees and beautiful sunshine... Tuesday, partly
cloudy, then rain that suspended play half way through the afternoon... Wednesday, well although the rain held off it was
like being back in the early part of winter with the temperature!! But I'm sure you don't want to hear about the weather..
what you want to hear about is Fernando and his matches... and when the photos will be on the website. I saw Fernando
on the practise courts on Monday and Wednesday but not the easiest ones for taking photos unfortunately.. but I still have
some shots. He said he has been feeling a little unwell this past week and it certainly seemed to look that way during
his doubles match with Thomas Johnsson on Monday afternoon. The match was entertaining and all players played
a good match, but unfortunately they lost the match to D.Tursnunov/T.Phillips 6-3,2-6,11-9MTB. Due to Fernando's first
round bye, he wasn't scheduled to play his first match until Wednesday, 3rd match on Court 2, his opponent was A.Dupuis
after he came through the match against Greg Rusedski when he had to retire injured in the 3rd set. There was
alot of big serves in this match, not quite as much of Fernando's magic hands at the net as we usually see on the
grass court, but the result was the one we were looking for 7-6(5),7-6(2). I said my goodbyes to
Fernando, and really wished I didn't have to come home and work today, but hopefully I'll be able to get to the
Boodles Challenge next week where he will be playing. Today saw Fernando take on Mark Philippoussis, who made use
of his wild card that Stella granted him by winning two matches yesterday, and having an impressive win over Sebastian Grosjean.
The match was first up on Cout No.1. Fernando had a losing head to head over Mark, standing in Mark's favour 2-1,
but in theory Fernando has never beaten Philippoussis as the one win in his favour came in Miami
last year with a walk over. Fernando broke in the first game of the match and ended up taking the first set
6-2, Mark fought back in the second and took that one 6-3. In the final set Fernando came through 6-3. His
next round opponent is yet to be decided, as it will be the winner of the last match of the day on centre court between Roddick
and Srichaphan. I have uploaded the photos from the camera onto the computer, so hope to have them for you on the site
by Saturday at the latest. Keep cheering Fernando on everyone.. Oh I forgot to mention Fernando is Blogging for
the Atp this week from Queens.. Check out what he has daily at the link below.
11/6/06 Well my bags are packed and ready to head to London in the
morning.. Fernando and Thomas Johansson will play their first round doubles match tomorrow, 4th match of the day
on Court 2, their opponents are T.Phillips/D.Tursunov. The qualifiers have now been placed in the draw, and Greg Rusedski
will play Anthony Dupuis in the first round, so the winner of that match to play Fernando in round 2. Fernando has only
played A.Dupuis once in his career back in 2000 in Orlando and won that match in 2 sets. Ok I wish Fernando all the
best for this week at Queens, and I'll be sure to bring back loads of photos. I'll be back on Wednesday night to update.
10/6/06 The draw has been made for the Stella Artois championships
starting Monday, Fernando is the 8th seed, and has received a first round bye. In the second round he will face either
Greg Rusedski or a qualifier who will be decided tomorrow. The doubles draw will be made on Monday but Fernando will
be pairing with Thomas Johansson for this tournament. If Fernando meets Greg in the second round it will be only the
second time these two have met on the tour, I watched their only encounter in Indian Wells last year, where Fernando won in
two very tight tie break sets, but obviously that was on a hard court. We know that Greg loves the grass in his home
country and will have the croud on his side.. Fernando and Greg also played at the Boodles Challenge, in last years
final of the Exhibition event held in Buckinghamshire, as a warm up event for Wimbledon. The result was exactly the same as
Indian Wells, with Fernando winning in 2 TB sets. Fernando has just confirmed that he will be playing The Boodles Challenge
again this year, along side Nicolas Massu, David Nalbandian, Tommy Haas, Radek Stepanek, James Blake, and Bob and Mike Bryan.
7/6/06 Fernando and Gisela just lost out on a place in the semi Final
at Roland garros today, when Srebotnik/Zimonjic won 6-7(5),6-5,9-7. I wonder if they will play mixed doubles together
at Wimbledon too, if anyone has spoken to him this week about this, please let me know. If not I'll be asking him myself on
Monday. So Congrats to Fernando for an excellent Clay court season.. and as of Monday its all about the green stuff...
Grass court season here we go. All being well with my new camera etc there should be a fair few photos added to the
site this month.
6/6/06 Fernando and Gisela will play their QF match tomorrow on court
No.1, 2nd match of the day after a legends doubles match, so around about 1.30pm local time. The winner of this match
would face the unseeded pair Vera Zvonareva/Andy Ram as they took out the No.5 seeds earlier today.
5/6/06 Fernando and Gisela notched up another win today against the
No. 4 seeds at Roland Garros, taking them into the Quarter Finals. They beat J.Zheng/M.Mirnyi 7-6(8),5-7,6-3.
In the Quarters they will play the No. 8 seeds K.Srebotnik/N.Zimonjic. The highest seeds left in the Mixed doubles event
are the No. 5 seeds, Rennae Stubbs/Todd Perry so there is all to play for. Two of the Mixed QF's will be played tomorrow,
but Fernando and Gisela will play theirs on Wednesday.
4/6/06 Fernando and Gisela will play their 2nd round doubles match
tomorrow on court 2. Its the 4th match of the day after a boys singles and 2 ladies doubles matches, with an 11am start.
So I would estimate a 5pm start time. Best of luck... And just think this time next week I'll have my bags packed for London
and seeing Fernando play live again at Queens.
3/6/06 Congrats to Fernando and Gisela for their first victory together
as a mixed doubles team.. a very speedy victory 6-1,6-1. In the next round they will face the number 4 seeds, Max Mirnyi/Jie
Zheng.
3/6/06 Fernando and Gisela Dulko will play their mixed doubles against
Marcos Baghdatis/Pauline Parmentier on court 16, 2nd match after a 1pm local start time. I can feel a positve
result here.. I would love to be at this match.. Best of Luck Fernando and Gisela.
1/6/06 NOOOOOOOOOO! This was not the result I was expecting
to be posting today or wanted to. Fernando has been knocked out of Roland Garros in the R.64 by 19 year old Novak Djokovic.
The match seemed pretty one sided for the first 2 sets and the start of the third when Djokovic was leading 6-4,6-1 and Fernando
got broken in the first game of the 3rd.. but needless to say this match wasn't being televised for me and I had to rely on
the scoreboard. Then it all seemed to turn around and Fernando won the next 2 sets 6-3,6-4. So it was all to play for over
the final set, but it seems that our man couldn't get the match to go the way he wanted and ended up losing the match 6-1
in the 5th. Fernando's first serve percentage was 64%, he served 9 aces and 4 df's, the match lasted 3 hours and
3 mins not taking into account the rain delays. So final result, Djokovic 6-4,6-1,3-6,4-6,6-1.
1/6/06 I now have a computer again.. so no more rubbish updates I
promise! So Fernando and Marat from Tuesday... I really enjoyed the match although the conditions in Paris were pretty
bad, the light especially. Fernando came through that tough test against Marat 6-3,1-6,6-3,6-1. In the next round
which is played today, Fernando is out on court 7, 2nd match of the day after a ladies singles match. His 2nd round
opponent is Novak Djokovic who is currently ranked 63. These two have met once before last year in Cincinnati and Fernando
won that encounter in the third set. As I'm sure most of you know Fernando isn't playing mens doubles at this event,
even though he and Nico reached the semi final there last year. He will be playing Mixed doubles with Gisela Dulko.
Best of luck today Fernando.
29/5/06 So the battle between Fernando and Marat will take place
on Phillip Chatrier court tomorrow, last match of the day, after two womens singles and one mens singles match.. we could
try and estimate a time but it would probably be way off.. so keep an eye on the scoreboard for the match to begin.. I am
hoping I will get it on Eurosport in the UK.. but I'll have to keep my fingers crossed.. Best of luck Fernando.
27/5/06 A New computer will finally be with me next week..
Thats the good news.. The bad news is Fernando's first round match up for Roland Garros this week is Marat Safin! With
Fernando seeded 9 for this tournament and Marat's current ranking being at 52 it leaves him being a dangerous floater in the
draw. Last year Marat reached the round of 16 and Fernando the round of 32... No doubt it will be a very interesting
match and sure to get a show court, possibly on Monday.
Since I was last able to update which was just before Fernando's second round encounter with Dominik
Hrbaty in Hamburg, he went on to win that match 6-7(4),6-1,6-3. Then faced Fernando Verdasco in the next round and I
watched this match on TV, was sure our Fernando would pull out a win in the end but it was not to be, Verdasco won the match
3-6,6-2,6-3. Then it was on to a very cold and wet Dusseldorf for World Team Cup.. Chile kicked off the first day with
a 3-0 victory over Spain, Fernando played D.Ferrer and won7-5,6-7(6),6-3. Second up for Chile was the USA and Fernando
was rested from the singles in this tie, Chile won 2-1, Fernando and Nico did play the Bryans in doubles, but lost 6-4,7-5.
Yesterday saw Croatia and Chile fighting it out for the chance to reach the final, Fernando had a real battle on his hands
with I.Ljubicic.. and the fact that the match was taken indoors due to bad weather, it was still a clay court, but being played
in an indoor ice arena, the surface looked more slipery than normal, and you could see how cold it was in there, plus the
players were constantly trying to stamp the court down to stop the holes appearing. The match was a long one, with Fernando's
new coach Larry Stefanki sat on court with him, keeping him talking during the change overs.. both coach and player looked
relaxed and happy. Ljubicic finally took control of the match towards the end of the 3rd set and won, 6-4,6-7(4),6-4.
Massu went on to lost to Ancic, meaning that Chile were out of the 2006 WTC.
So its on to Paris, where I believe the weather isn't a whole lot better than it was in Dusseldorf,
but we can only hope.. it was beautiful sunshine when I was there last year for the french open, but it seems like its raining
everywhere in Europe right now.. England very much included in that!! So this year I will be watching from the warmth of my
home.. and looking forward to seeing Fernando when he arrives in the UK for the Grass season.. But before that he has a job
to do at the French and we all wish him the best of luck with that. Oh he has decided to play mixed doubles at this years
Roland Garros.. with Gisela Dulko.. Hope he makes the same choice at Wimbledon also, as I would like to see him playing mixed..
Good luck Fernando.. Will be back with OOP when its released ~Jules
17/5/06 I am still without an internet connection so updates are
going to be patchy this week. Fernando and Nico played their first round doubles on Monday on one of the outside courts
but unfortunately lost to Blake/Malisse 6-3,6-3. Yesterday Fernando was 2nd match on Court 1 in very cold and damp conditions,
where he took on D.Tursnunov, the match didn't seem too difficult for Fernando winning 6-3,6-4 he played
an amazing amount of drop shots in that match which seemed to really trouble Tursnuov up until the last couple of games of
the match where he seemed to be able to make it in to the net to hit a couple of shots back... Today Fernando will play
Dominik Hrbaty whom he also has a 2-0 head to head lead against. They last met in Basel on carpet in 2005. Both encounters
between the two Fernando has won in 2 sets. The match in on Court 1 and will be on around about 2 pm local time.
Lets hope its another 2 set victory for our man! Good luck Fernando
13/5/06 Fernando's fantastic run in Rome has ended for 2006, as earlier
today he and Nico were beaten in the Semi Final of the doubles by No.6 seeds Erlich/Ram 6-3,5-7,10-5MTB. What a fantastic
week that he has had this week. Who would have thought that after that match with Rafa Nadal yesterday, in which Fernando
lost 6-4,6-3 but gave the No.2 seed all sorts of trouble, he could go out there after a short break and play a great
doubles match with Nico, beating the number 1 team in the world 3-6,6-2,10-4MTB.. I'm sure that was a very satisfying win
against the Bryans. So now its on to Hamburg for the last clay court Masters series. The draw was made earlier today
and in the first round Fernando will face D.Tursunov from Russia. Fernando leads the Head to Head 2-0, both previous meetings
have been on a hard court and the last was 2005 at the US Open, where Fernando won in 4 sets. Back with the order of
play etc when it is out.. have a good weekend everyone.
12/5/06 I have a love hate relationship with technology and the internet...
I love it when it is working but at the moment it seems to hate me as just when Fernando is heading to win his 200th career
win, I lose my connection and now could be without it for the next week! So please hang on in there as I will be back
online as soon as possible... All that said.. Fernando is having a great week out there in Rome so far.. He is playing his
QF match today against Rafa Nadal on Court Central, 3rd match of the day session. Wednesday saw Fernando defeat M.Youzhny
6-4,5-7,6-3. Yesterday took care of T.Berdych 6-2,6-4. In the doubles our boys had a 2 set win over the No.8 Seeds
Bhuphati/Moodie 6-2,6-3 and their reward for that win, will be a QF match with the Bryan brothers later on today on Court
Pietrangeli, after a substantial rest for Fernando after his singles match.. Best of luck Fernando with everything...
10/5/06 Fernando and Nico got their first doubles win since the new
scoring system was introduced earlier this year. They beat the Italian pair of Bracciali/Galimberti 6-7(6),7-6(4),10-6MTB.
Close match by the looks of things! In the next round they will face the number 8 seeds of Bhupathi/Moodie on Thursday.
In singles Fernando is scheduled on court 4 later today for his match with M.Youznhy, after a doubles match which starts at
2pm local time. Another match on a non-televised court for me! Its just not fair! Best of Luck Fena.
9/5/06 How could I forget to mention yesterday that Fernando climbed
another place in the rankings.. which now puts him at a Career High No.9. Fernando and Nico's doubles will be played
today but not before 6pm on a court to be arranged. I guess they are hoping to put them on Centre court as they
are playing the Italian pairing, but need to see how long the matches are that are scheduled on there today, as they have
the night session to consider.
8/5/06 A comprehensive first round win for Fernando over Stanislas
Wawrinka in Rome today, the match was 1 hour 34 mins and the result was 6-4,6-4. Fernando's first serve % was 64%, he
served 3 aces and 4 DF's. In the next round he will face M. Youzhny, who beat A.Seppi earlier today. Fernando
leads the head to head 2-0, both previous matches being playing in 2005, one on grass on on hard court. Mikhail currently
stands at 38 in the rankings, his win today was his first win this year on clay. I would guess this match will be played
Wednesday with the doubles being played tomorrow.
8/5/06 Fernando is scheduled to play first match of the day on court
5 in Rome against S. Wawrinka with a start time of 1pm local time. Best of luck out there Fernando.. Also the doubles
draw sees Fernando teaming with Nico again and they will face the Italian WC entry of Bracciali/Galimberti.
6/5/06 Hi Everyone.. it seems to have been a long 2 weeks since Fernando
was out there on court.. But I am pleased to say he is in Rome and the draw is out for the Masters series there. Fernando
is seeded 10 and will face Stanislas Wawrinka in the first round. They have only played the once before which was a
couple of months ago in the Masters series event in Miami, where it came down to a 3rd set tie break to decide the match..
Both guys have done well on Clay so far this season, with Stanislas having 4 wins and 2 losses and Fernando being
4-1. I will be back with the doubles draw and the OOP when both are released.
I'm sure everyone has read that Fernando and Horacio have decided to end their partnership, so we wish Fernando luck in finding
the right coach to continue the good work.
24/04/06 Congratulations to Fernando for making the Top 10 for the
first time in his career.. After his great run in Monte Carlo this week he jumps 11 places in the rankings this week to take
him to No. 10 in the world. He won't be playing his next tournament until Rome Masters Series which starts on May 8th.
I hope he has a good rest back in Chile and I'm sure some Celebrating will be done!!
22/04/06 Well today was not to be the day that Fernando beat the
world No.1 Roger Federer... The match was around about 1 hour 10 mins, and the scoreline was 6-2,6-4 Federer. But the
good news is, as of Monday when the new rankings come out, Fernando looks set to climb from 21 where he stood last monday,
up to No.10, and if so that takes his new ranking to a career high. We look forward to the rankings on Monday to confirm
that... Well done Fernando. He won't be playing again now until the Masters Series in Rome, so please drop back the
weekend before for the full draws and order of play.
21/04/06 Congratulations to Fernando for reaching his third
Masters Series Semi Final, Previously being 2002 in Cincinnati and Miami 2004... Today he came through 7-5,6-1 against
I.Ljubicic in 1 hour 46 minutes. Every quarter final played today went to only 2 sets. So this leaves Fernando to get
rested up early today, for a Semi Final encounter with Roger Federer, to be played 2nd singles match of the day tomorrow on
Court Central after Nadal v Gaudio. The Head to Head between the world no.1 and Fernando stands at 5-0 in Federer's
favour, with three of those defeats coming on clay... Do you feel its time for a change here?? I do... Interesting fact here,
Fernando has only ever played Roger Federer in a Grand slam or Masters Series event. Everybody send Fernando positive
vibes tonight for a first win over Roger Federer... Best of luck tomorrow.
20/04/06 A win was what we wanted and that was what we got!
Fernando only had to stay on court little over 54 minutes tonight but seeing as he didn't get on court until 19.55 Monte Carlo
time I would think this early finish was well needed. Fernando started strong with a break in the first game and went
racing ahead to a 5-1 lead, before taking the first set 6-2. The exact same thing happened in the second set with Fernando
breaking Soderling in the first game.. An Injury time out was taken for Soderling at 2-1, and they played nearly 2 more games
before he couldn't play on and retired. I know Fernando would have liked to have played the match out, to win, but I
think with the amount of time he has spent on court and the lateness of his matches, this 54 minute match was perfect tonight.
Tomorrow sees Fernando play Ivan Ljubicic on Court Central.. last singles match of the day. The head to head stands 2-1 in
Ljubicic's favour, with two of those meetings being last year and both going to Ljubicic, but on a hard court... Clay
is one different surface.. and this is one Fernando can win! Vamos!
19/04/06.. Well it seems to have taken hours and hours.. but at 21.10 local
time Fernando held his last service game to win the match against Feliciano Lopez 6-7(4),6-2,7-5. I honestly can't tell you
too much about this match as despite having 3 different scoreboards from different locations loaded, in turn they were all
crashing! From a first set that saw no breaks of serve and it went down to the tie break to decide it which Fernando
lost.. to a second set that saw Fernando convert 2 of 7 break point chances to win the set 6-2. To a third that lets face
it anything could have happened! There were 5 breaks of serve and match points for both men.. but with Fernando breaking
to take a 6-5 lead he managed to hold on to his serve one last time to win 7-5. Now I need a rest.. and no doubt
Fernando does too! Well Played.. Fernando is now due to play Robin Soderling tomorrow on Court des Princes, 5th
match in the day... So beware everyone this could be a late one again! The head to head of these two stands 3-0 in Soderling's
favour... so I think you will all agree with me its time for some revenge.. I was at the match in Indian Wells when they last
met and I would love to see Fernando beat this guy on the clay.... All three previous matches have been on a hard court..
I just know this is one Fernando will be fired up to win...
18/4/06 A great match today out there on the clay courts of Monte
Carlo Country Club.. The match started a little before 5pm due to the long match on before it. I have yet to see it
all the way through but will be putting the tape on as soon as I have this updated. The commentators were so full of
praise for Fernando at the end of the match.. and a great scoreline for the last set, gave the final score to be 6-3,3-6,6-1.
Tomorrow Fernando will face Spaniard Feliciano Lopez after he came through a 3 set match today with V.Hanescu. These
two haven't played one another since 2004 in Hamburg, but Fernando leads the head to head 2-0 with one meeting being on clay
and the other on hard court. The match is scheduled for the last match of the day on Court des Princes tomorrow, being
the 5th match I doubt very much that I will get it televised here in the UK .. so scoreboard it will be for me again.
17/04/06 Another Match tie break to decide a Fernando/Nico doubles
match and another match lost in the match tie break... The final score was Bhuphati/Stepanek d. Gonzalez/Massu 3-6,6-4,10-2
MTB. The singles order of play is out for tomorrow, Fernando is scheduled to play 4th match on Court des Princes after
a 10am local start time, so my estimate for that will be around 4pm... Lots of positive thoughts to Fernando tonight..
17/4/06 They have moved the doubles over to Court Central and it
has just started at 18.25 local time in Monte Carlo.. so I sit here again and watch the scoreboard.. Will be back with the
results later.
16/4/06 Fernando and Nicolas will play their first round doubles
match tomorrow in Monte carlo, they will play M.Bhupathi/R.Stepanek on Court No.1, 4th match of the day after a 10am start.
The winner of this match will have to play the No.3 seeds M.Damm/L.Paes who have a first round BYE. Best of luck for
tomorrow guys.
16/4/06 So the Monte Carlo draws are out... But as usual, its not
the kindest of draws! Fernando is seeded 12 for this tournament and in the first round he will face Carlos Moya.
Their head to head stands at 2-2 with all four of their previous meetings being on a hard court, Fernando winning the last
one In Vienna last year in 2 sets. But this red clay is a whole different ball game.. We know Moya's fond of the red
stuff as he won Roland Garros back in 98. Should be an interesting match, hope it will be one that I get to see on my
tv coverage....
9/4/06 Going into the final day of the weekend the USA had a 2-1
lead over Chile, after the substitute was made in the doubles and Capdeville/Garcia played the tie instead of Gonzalez/Massu.
Fernando was the first match scheduled against Andy Roddick.. These two had a pevious head to head of 3-2 in Roddick's
favour, but never had these two met on grass. Fernando got off to a great start with an immdiate break of the Roddick
serve and raced off to a 3-0 lead, taking the first set 6-4. Unfortunately that first set was the only set Fernando
was to win in this match, as the final scoreline was 4-6,7-5,6-3,6-2 to Roddick. Meaning that the USA won the tie with
a 3-1 lead and will now move on to face Russia in the Semi Finals later on in the year. I am looking forward to seeing
the tapes of the matches when they arrive and I'm sure Fernando can only take positives from his grass court matches to put
him in a good position for the summer... Next up Monte Carlo masters..
8/4/06 So the tie stands at 1-1 now heading into the doubles after
Roddick defeated Massu in 3 tight sets yesterday, two of which went to a tie break. With less than 3 hours until the
doubles is due to start, Fernando and Nicolas are still on the davis cup site as being the nominated players
for doubles, and as their opponents are the Bryans I don't think the Chilian captain really has any other choice... I hope
Fernando's body has recovered from that long match yesterday. I have looked through all past results and I think I am
right in saying that was only his second match of his career where he has fought back from two sets to love down... First
time being at the Australian Open 2005 against Acasuso. I was hoping to find somewhere the details of his longest time
on court in a match, but think that may take me a little longer to research.. unless anybody knows and would like to pass
on the information. Ok so I will be back with the doubles results.. Fingers crossed everybody, its the Olympic gold
medalists v the number one doubles team in the world... Go Chile!
7/4/06 It may well have been 4 hours and 20 mins.. but Chile now
has a 1-0 lead over the USA in the first rubber of this davis cup tie. Well played Fernando.. Was I concerned when he
was 2 sets and a break down?? I must admit I was when I heard he was having his shoulder worked on... But what a win..
with a scoreline that read 6-7(5),0-6,7-6(2),6-4,10-8 I have nothing but joy in this win.... I don't know if this
long match will change the doubles line up for tomorrow.. as obviously if Fernando is feeling some pain, and also had some
treatment for his legs during this match, will he be able to play the doubles aswell? I guess that answer will depend
on the outcome of the second rubber, due to start now between Nicolas and Andy Roddick. Lets hope when I wake up in the morning
(as its late now in the UK) I will see Chile having a 2-0 lead. Well played again Fernando!
6/4/06 Well he's had a week to prepare on grass.. its the
eve of the Davis Cup tie between Chile and the USA.. Fernando will play the first rubber tomorrow at 11am local time against
James Blake. Nicolas Massu will then face Andy Roddick later that afternoon. Fernando and Nico will take on the
Bryan Brothers in the doubles on Saturday afternoon, with the reverse singles to be played on Sunday... I'm still waiting
for an audio interview with Fernando to be put on the Davis cup website... but nothing as yet, there was one with Nico a couple
of days back though.. worth a listen to all of you who support Chile..
So best of luck guys, I'll be back with results as they happen.
30/3/06 So with Yesterday being a day that was full of news of Fernando
and Horacio De la Pena and the break they are going to take from one another until the week of Monte Carlo, I thought I would
leave it until today to update my homepage. It seems that there is no bad feeling at all, these two are very close as
coach and player and it extends much further than that, with them being like a member of the family of one another.
It is just a break to see how the next few weeks go and there will be talks in Monte carlo to see if its a partnership that
will continue to be a winning combination or maybe a change would be good for both. Fernando is now heading to California
to prepare for the Davis cup tie with the USA which is to be played next Fri - Sun on Grass at Mission Hills Country Club,
Rancho Mirage.
28/3/06 R.Lindstedt/J.Nieminen def. F.Gonzalez/N.Massu 6-4,4-6,7-6(7)
in the doubles last night in Miami.... I would love to hear some of your comments on the new doubles format for any of you
who have seen the matches yet. Playing with no ad scoring cuts the games down and I think I could get used to this rule
and think perhaps that it is good for the game... but I'm not a fan of this super tie break being used instead of a 3rd set...
Thats both of the last two matches that Fernando and Nico have played have ended in a 10-7 match tie break. Think it
is going to take me a long time to get used to this rule. I had meant to ask Fernando his opinion on the new doubles
rules in Indian Wells... Will keep it in mind for next time.
27/3/05 Such a close match that kept me on the edge of my seat...
but a heartbreaking result in the end... The first set was very quick with Kiefer racing away to an immediate break and then
5-1 lead.. He took the set 6-2. The second set went Fernando's way 6-3 to level at 1 set all. Kiefer then took an injury
time out before the start of set 3.. Fernando had the break all the way through the set.. until Kiefer levelled at 5-5, from
there he must have moved up a gear and ended up taking the set 7-5. I was gutted at that result, especially as Nico
had a very similar match earlier that day on the same court.... The doubles has been moved over until today, so they will
play Lindstedt/Nieminen 5th match of the day on court 3.
26/3/06 So its a busy Sunday in Miami for our Fernando... His singles
match against Nicolas Kiefer is scheduled for Grandstand court, 3rd match after an 11am start time. With only 2 places
in the rankings separating these two at the moment, expect it to be a good battle... Fernandos second match of the day
is his first round doubles with Nico on Court 3, 5th match after a 10am start... so my guess is as soon as Fernando has had
a suitable rest time between matches he'll be back out there on court again. They play R.Lindstedt/J.Nieminen.
So I'll be sure to be sat watching the scoreboard for most of the evening, as our coverage on the tv in the UK doesn't start
until tomorrow! Best of luck today Fernando.
24/3/06 In a very close match tonight Fernando defeated Stanislas
Wawrinka to move into the 3rd round of the Nasdaq 100 open in Miami.. I was sat watching the real-time scoreboard on the tournament
site wishing I was there.. but at least the result was the right one.. 3-6,6-2,7-6(1). Fernando will now face Nicolas Kiefer
from Germany in the next round who had a hard fought battle against Fabrice Santoro for his spot in round 3. Fernando has
only played Kiefer once before at an atp event and Kiefer leads the head to head 1-0. Their previous meeting was in 2002 at
Wimbledon, so obviously the conditions were very different. This next round match is not on the schedule for Saturday..
So I'll be back with Sundays OOP when its out. No doubles for Fernando and Nico today either...
24/3/06 Where have the past 2 months gone! SO very sorry to
everyone who has dropped by the site looking for updates and photos... I have been away travelling since christmas and was
hoping to have more internet access than I actually got. I have got lots of photos and info from my travels, as
I took in a lot of tennis, and saw a fair bit of Fernando on the way... Over the next week I hope to add all to the site,
so please keep dropping by and thank you for your support of the site. Fernando starts his Nasdaq 100 masters series
campain today with a match against S. Wawrinka who beat Andy Murray yesterday. These two have never played each other
at an ATP event.. so it should make for an interesting match.. I saw both guys play last week in Indian wells and would
love to be at the match there in Miami today.... Thank you again for your support of the site ~ Jules.
18/1/06 Hello and Happy new year to everyone I am so sorry for being
so slow with updates and results this year so far.. it can only get better! But when I am on the other side of
the world and without a laptop and internet access I am a little bit behind! So I will update with all the news from
Auckland as soon as I can, but onto the news of yesterday right now. I am in Melbourne and was at that heart breaking match
of Fernandos last night... it was a fairly late start in the day for a 3rd scheduled match, and litttle did we all know just
how late into the evening it was going to run.... I'm sure everyone has read the result by now, leaving Fernando out of the
second round of the Australian Open with a loss to Alex Bogomolov Jr. with the result being 4-6,7-6(6),6-3,6-7(3),7-5.
The match all all sorts of drama and excitement, with Bogomolov calling for the trainer first at the end of the first set
and had his leg all taped up. Then Fernando called the trainer in the third set to look at his right shoulder which
was the one troubling him last week in Auckland... I did think at that point that it was all going to be over as he was having
real probelms with the serve notching up lots of double faults. A slight collision with the umpire chair and drinks
cooler again injured Fernando and then the trainer was called a little later to look at his left thigh..... He took
a second injury time out for that, and not long after went out to serve at 30-30 collapsed on the floor clutching his leg..
the trainer and the umpire both went to assist but he was down for a good couple of minutes... surely this would be the end??
NO with all he had left in him he got back out there and with the huge support of the crowd, and lots of Vamos's from him
with winning shots played his way back into the match and won the forth set on TB... He got an early break in the first game
of the 5th.. surely a turning point, but it wasn't long until Bogomolov broke back, the crowd got more and more into the match
and the noise was deafening at times. There was some confrontation between Fernando and Alex but unsure of its nature... Both
guys deserve a round of applause for this match of nealy 4 and a half hours... Just wish Fernando had won it.... He won't
be playing doubles in Melbourne either, so I just hope he gets fit soon and that shoulder isn't going to trouble him much
more...
24/11/05 I'm so sorry to everyone for the lack of updates... There
was us all thinking the season was over for Fernando after Paris, being a few places away from qualifying for the Masters
cup.. then all sorts of things happened, and before we knew it our guy was on the way there as an alternate, and was then
playing after Agassi withdrew after his loss to Davydenko. All this could have been updated on my site if the computer
wasn't in being fixed (that will teach me for thinking it was a safe time to get it done whilst there wasn't any news!!)
But in this instance I'm pleased I made the wrong decision as Fernando got to play in Shanghai. He was only able to
play 2 matches in his group as, by taking Agassi's place, that first match was already gone.. So Fernando first played M.Puerta
and won that 6-3,4-6,6-0. The next match is a real heartbreaker, it was against G.Gaudio, Gaudio came out the winner
1-6,7-5,7-5 but Fernando had 3 match points in the second set...Heartbreaking!! So it meant that the semi final place went
to Gaudio instead of Fernando. Fernando has now arrived back in Chile and will be continuing his holiday where he left
off!! And of course starting training for the 2006 season... The year end rankings stand at Singles 11 and doubles 25..
Excellent season Fernando! Hope everyone has a good Christmas and Happy new year, I will be heading to Australia for
the first couple of months of the year, so will be in and out of internet cafes updating the site,I will do my best! Jules
3/11/05 Fernando didn't advance into the third round in Paris last
night, it saw a heartbreaking defeat to Frenchman Paul Henri Mathieu 6-3,3-6,7-6(4). So Fernando's hopes of a possible
place in the year ending Masters Cup in Shanghai have dissapeared for another year...
I'm not sure about his first tournament for the start of next season as yet, but I have just read
that he has committed to defending his title in Auckland from 9-15 January. Please keep dropping in, checking for updates..
and if anyone wants to add anything to the site, photos, reports etc.. drop me a line ~ Jules.
2/11/05 Fernando will face Paul Henri Mathieu today in his first
match in Paris.. the match is on the Central court with a 7pm local start time. These two have met twice before, Fernando
has never lost to PHM and leads the head to head 2-0, their last meeting was in Hamburg TMS earlier this year where Fernando
won 6-4,6-4. In this weeks rankings Fernando is up 4 places in doubles to 25, up 4 places in singles to 13 and up 1
place in the ATP race to 13. Back with results later.
30/10/05 HOW FANTASTIC... Double champion in Basel... Fernando and
Agustin Calleri have just won the doubles title at the Davidoff swiss indoor tournament beating Huss/Moodie 7-5,7-5 in one
hour and 27 minutes on their 6th match point chance... Well played... I really am speechless.. what a day!!
30/10/05 CONGRATULATIONS Fernando on your 3rd title of the year...
and his first title indoors.. The final was everything we hoped it to be, with drama and excitement... Both guys fought well
for the title but Fernando came through 6-7(8),6-3,7-5,6-4 in 2 hours and 59 minutes. The smile said it all at the end
of the match.... Well played Fernando so pleased for you!! Doubles final to be played as soon as
Fernando holds the title and catches his breath!! back with results later...
30/10/05 The 29th October was clearly a winning day for Fernando..
After winning that brilliant semi final.. a short rest.. then having to face the No.1 seeded doubles pair Bob and Mike Bryan,
Fernando and A. Calleri beat the Bryans 6-4,2-6,6-2 to take their place in todays final. They will play the doubles
final after the best of 5 set singles final against S.Huss/W.Moodie, who are the Wimbledon doubles champs this year.
So BIG day ahead for our Fernando... the singles final starts at 14.45 local time, doubles to follow. Best of luck out
there!
Draw has been made for Paris also, Fernando is seeded and therefore receives a first round Bye.
29/10/05 What a performance... It took little over an hour for Fernando
to dispatch Dominik Hrbaty, the first set taking only 19 mins and a 6-0 scoreline... This match had some fantastic play as
did last nights against Murray.. but Fernando was just too good on the day and won the semi final 6-0,6-3 which takes him
into his 4th final of the year. Fernando will play his second Final here in Basel, he will face Cypriot Qualifier Marcos Baghdatis
tomorrow in the final after he defeated David Nalbandian in the first semi today. Fernando and Marcos haven't played
one another before... but I can tell you that Marcos is 20 years old from Cyprus but living and training in Paris now, he
plays right handed and turned pro in 2003, currently 85 in the world rankings. Looking forward to this match tomorrow
if the two semi finals are anything to go by!! Fernando now has the time it takes a doubles semi final to be played
before he is due out on court to play his semi against the Bryans... Lets go Fernando!
29/10/05 Last night we saw a great battle out there on centre court
between Fernando and Andy Murray, there were 4 love service games for each player, and moments of pure brilliance! In
the first set there was a single break of serve allowing Fernando to take the set 6-4. Andy reversed the fortune
in the second set after a very shaky start, having to save 8 break points over his 2 opening service games, then went
on to win it 6-3.. taking it to a 3rd set decider... An immediate break in the deciding set let Fernando run off
to a 3-0 lead.. and then secured a second service break later on to take the set 6-1, but not before firing 4 aces in one
game, one of them being a second serve ace! The doubles that was scheduled for after his singles match didn't need to
be played as Karlovic withdrew due to Personal reasons, giving Gonzalez/Calleri a W.O. in to the semi finals to face the Bryan
Twins.
So, what does Fernando have scheduled for today.. First up is his singles against Dominik Hrbaty,
who is ranked 22 at the moment, they have met once before in Rome 2004 and Fernando leads their head to head 1-0. That
match will be played at 4pm local time, followed by a doubles semi final, then Fernando's doubles semi to follow that....
Busy day Fernando!
27/10/05 Gonzalez/Calleri had a 2 set win in the doubles last night,
winning the match 7-6(4),6-4. They will now face I.Karlovic/L.Zovko in the QF's, that match to be played on court 2 last match
of the day tomorrow (not before 21.30). Fernando was out on court 2 today playing his second round singles match against
Berrer, and that match looked like it was fairly straight forward winning again in 2 sets 6-4,7-5 to advance to the QF's in
the singles also. Fernando will now face the Man gunning for Tim Henman's crown.. Andy Murray. This young Scot
is making headlines big time in this country, and is having one of the best weeks of his playing career this week. Taking
out Britains No.1 Henman in a close fought match on Wednesday, followed by Thomas Berdych in 3 sets in a match that only finished
an hour ago. So that means Fernando gets to play Andy on Centre court tomorrow evening at 8pm ... Lets go Fernando!
25/10/05 Fernando had a good win today over A. Seppi 7-6(3),6-3 as
the first match played in the main draw in Basel. His next round opponent will be Lucky loser Michael Berrer from Germany
who is currently ranked 152 in the world. He is 25, and plays left handed, he reached a career high 150 a couple of
weeks ago. Fernando will play doubles tomorrow on court 2, it will be the 4th match of the day, and there is a Nike
clinic thrown in there too before his match... So just keep your eyes open for the scoreboard on the tournament site.. I certainly
wouldn't think it would be played before 6pm local time.
24/10/05 The draw was finally made for this weeks Tournament, as it is
a Tuesday start for the main draw then it wasn't made as early as some. Fernando is seeded 4 this week and will face A.Seppi
in the first round, these two have never played each other at an ATP event. Seppi is a right hander from Italy, currently
67 in the rankings. The match is scheduled for the first match on Centre court tomorrow, with a 12 pm local start time.
In the doubles both Fernando and Nico are playing this week, but not together. Fernando is playing with A.Calleri
and they will play M.Kohlmann/A.Waske in round 1.
21/10/05 A hard fought battle saw Fernando losing this match to Ivan
Ljubicic (the second match to him in as many weeks). It looked a close fought encounter, although I haven't seen the
match as yet, I believe I should have a copy of it by the end of the weekend.. The final scoreline was 4-6,7-6(2),6-4 to Ljubicic.
I'm not sure if the draw will be made Saturday or Sunday for Basel, but I'll be back with it when its out..
20/10/05 Woo Hoo.. Well played Fernando. It took 91 minutes
for Fernando to gain his first atp win over Coria tonight in Madrid... He served 5 aces on his way to a 7-5,6-3 win. A win
that I am so pleased about...! This gives Fernando a place in the last 8 and in the next round will face I. Ljubicic.
We all know Fernando would like revenge for that defeat in Vienna last week. Their head to head stands at 1-1.
The match will be played 3rd match on the Arena court, not before 4pm local time.. Best of luck Fernando.
19/10/05 Ok so I saw the Coria/Rochus match today, and I did think
that Christophe was going to get that second set.. but it didn't happen.. so that means Fernando's next opponent is Coria...
The match is scheduled for the last match of the day on the main Arena court tomorrow... another late one. This time Fernando!
you can do it!
The doubles match has just finished and Black/Ullyett def Gonzalez/Davydenko 6-1,4-6,6-3. I
would love to know what is going on with the scoring now..why are they back playing doubles with the 'proper' scoring system??
Have the Atp found their sense again?? Surely they can't change the scoring depending on the tournament?? Who knows - I follow
doubles avidly and I surely don't know...
18/10/05 Well Played Fernando... although I was a little bit worried
in that second set!! I didn't get to see the match, but someone has taped it for me and I will be able to watch it later today
hopefully... I hear he was suffering with a sore elbow?.. Anyway the final result was Gonzalez def. Verdasco 6-3,1-6,6-3 in
1 hour and 48 mins.. Our Fernando served 5 1st serve aces, 1 2nd serve ace and 2 doubles on his way to this victory.
He will play his first round doubles in Madrid tomorrow night, on the Pista Cibeles, Match not to start before 8pm.
As far as the next round singles goes.. Fernando will face the winner of the match to be played tomorrow
between Coria and Christophe Rochus.. and we all know who Fernando would rather play in the next round.. Lets hope Christophe
takes care of Coria tomorrow! As for the prospective head to heads.. Fernando has never beaten Coria at an atp event.. so
coria leads 5-0, the last meeting i'm sure you'll all remember the match from Rome this year where he pushed Coria to 3 sets,
but there didn't look like there was alot of love on that court!! Its the other way round for Christophe he has never
beaten Fernando and so the head to head stands at 2-0, the last time they met on court was back in 2003 on a hard court.
18/10/05 Fernando will play his first match in Madrid tonight as
the second of the night session matches on the main court.. his opponent will be Fernando Verdasco again... Hopefully
I should get to see this one as I'm sure Sky Sports will stay with it until the end of play (they better had anyway!)... No
doubles matches as yet for Fena.. so I'm sure that will be tomorrow.. Back with results later. The Madrid site has a realtime
scoreboard for those of you who can't watch the match..
16/10/05 The draws for Madrid are out... Fernando is playing both
singles and doubles this week. The singles draw is a 64 player draw with 16 first round bye's. So its really a
48 player draw! Fernando has one of those first round byes as he is seeded 15 even though his current ranking is 20,
as Safin, Gasquet, Federer, Agassi and Hewitt have withdrawn. The second round match he will face either Fernando Verdasco
(currently ranked 39, The two Fernandos have met twice so far in their career, and the head to head stands at 1-1, both
meetings have been this year one on a hard court and one on clay) Or Paul Henri Mathieu (currently ranked 51,
Fernando has never lost to PHM and leads the head to head 2-0, meeting last on clay in Hamburg this year, winning in
2 sets). In the doubles draw Fernando will play with N.Davydenko and they have drawn No. 2 seeds Black/Ullyett in the
first round.. thats a tough one. I don't know why Fernando isn't playing with Nico this week but he was given a wild
card into the main draw, so maybe arrangements had been made already. Best of luck Fernando this week.
14/10/05 Fernando lost the match this afternoon to Ljubicic 6-3,7-5.
I was hoping that I would have been able to watch the match but the scheduling was all wrong again today for what was being
shown on the TV.... Fernando will now start to prepare for the masters series in Madrid..
13/10/05 The doubles is over and the site have updated their scores
page.. not the result we were hoping for as Etlis/Rodriguez def. Fernando/A.Calleri 5-2,5-4(3). I would like to hear
everyones opinions of the new doubles scoring system on the message board, is it a good thing for doubles? I think not!
Fernando will face Ivan Ljubicic in the next round as he has just beaten Tommy Haas. The only time Fernando and Ivan have
met at an ATP event was way back in 1999 in Washington, it was such a long time ago we can't really take too much notice of
the head to head, as both of these guys have grown so much in their game. But as it stands Fernando won that previous
meeting in 3 sets.. Match to be played 2nd on Centre court tomorrow.
13/10/05 Great win for Fernando today, he was first match on centre
court with a 2pm start time and he took care of Carlos Moya in 2 sets 6-4,7-5.. That levels up their head to head to 2 all
now. His next round opponent will be the winner of the match to be played later this evening between Tommy Haas and
Ivan Ljubicic. The doubles is currently in play but the live scoreboard only seems to cover the centre court, so until
it's finished we won't know the score.. back later with results.
12/10/05 Fernando and A.Calleri had a first round win in doubles
over the Austrian pairing of J. Knowle/J.Melzer 5-1,4-5(5),5-2 yesterday afternoon, but as in the singles their next round
opponents are yet to be decided as the match is being played at the moment. Fernando's next round opponent in singles
has now been decided though and it will be Carlos Moya. The head to head between these two, stands at 2-1 in Moya's favour...
The last time was here in Vienna in 2003 which Moya won in 3 sets.. Lets hope Fernando can equalize it all out tomorrow!
10/10/05 A comprehensive win for Fernando today over Berdych 6-2,6-2..
His next round opponent has yet to be decided between Carlos Moya and Bjorn Phau (this match isn't scheduled to be played
until Wednesday). Fernando will play doubles tomorrow though, he is due out on centre court again same time slot as
today (2nd match after a 2pm local start time) It will be Fernando's first doubles match playing with the new Doubles
scoring.. (totally ridiculous if you ask me.. and I hope they put it back to its original format SOON!) Lets start a debate
on the message board, I would like to hear your comments on it. Best of luck today Fena..
9/10/05 Finally some news for you all... It seems like a very long
2 weeks with Fernando not playing and no news to post... But he is back on court tomorrow.. Vienna, Austria is the place to
see him this week, and his first round draw brings up T. Berdych as his first round opponent, these two haven't played one
another before. Berdych is a 20 yr old from the Czech Republic and is currently 52 in the rankings. That match
will be played on Centre court, 2nd match after a 2pm local start time. In the doubles this week Fernando will team
with A.Calleri and they will face J. Knowle/J.Melzer in the first round.
24/9/05 So Chile are back in the World Group.. With a quick doubles
match that was won in 3 sets today it secured their place back in the top 16 nations for Davis Cup 2006.. Todays result Fernando/Nicolas
def. A.Kahn/A.Qureshi 6-1,6-3,6-0.. Well Played Chile! It also means that both Fernando and Nicolas will not play tomorrows
matches and will let their team mates Paul Capdeville and Adrian Garcia play the remaining 2 matches.
23/9/05 Well there was no messing around for Fernando in the first
rubber of the davis cup tie between Chile and Pakistan today.. Fernando def Aqueel Khan 6-0,6-0,6-1. Fernando's opponent
is ranked 970 places lower than him, but that is some kind of beating! Nicolas Massu then went on to win his match against
Aisam Qureshi, giving Chile a 2-0 lead heading into the doubles to be played tomorrow. Chile haven't lost a home tie
since 1996, and I'm sure it's not going to happen this weekend either... Lets go Chile!
22/9/05 Well it seems like it has been a quiet few weeks, but Fernando
has been practising with his his team mates for Davis Cup all this week, and have been encouraging the public in Chile to
go along and take a look. I believe Fernando will be playing all three rubbers over the weekend, singles on Friday, doubles
with Massu on Saturday and then the reverse singles on Sunday. I would imagine if it Sunday becomes a dead rubber then he
may not play that one. I have a very good feeling about this tie against Pakistan, but unlike all players that they
guys may not have played before, I'm sure they are taking nothing for granted. As soon as I get the confirmation
of the match Schedule I will post it here, I think there is live davis cup scoring on the davis cup website (link on the bottom
of the page). Lets go Chile!
7/9/05 Fernando's run at the US Open is over for this year, as the
Bryan twins defeated Fernando and Nicolas 6-3,6-1. But with a very respectable third round appearances in both singles
and doubles, a good run it was. Next up for Fernando is Davis Cup 23-25 September, it is a home tie being played at
the Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chille against Pakistan. The home team will consist of Fernando, Nicolas Massu, Adrian
Garcia and Paul Capdeville. I'll be back with results from the tie as they happen. This is a World Group Play
off.
5/9/05 Unfortunately Fernando suffered a straight sets defeat to
David Nalbandian last night.. I haven't seen the match as yet, but will get a chance to view the tape later today. I
did look at the match stats and they weren't looking all that favourable with only 48% of first serves in, 3 Aces and 8 Double
faults, 24 winners and 45 unforced errors... Doesn't sound like Fernando totally found his game last night, I shall
watch the tape later and see how the match looked. So now its all enery and focus on the doubles and the showdown with
the No.2 seeds the Bryan twins.... I will be able to watch this match live and interactive on Sky sports.. so I'll be cheering
them on..
4/9/05 Another good win for Fernando and Nicolas in the doubles they
came through with a straight sets win 6-4,6-4. Now to face the number 2 seeds Bob and Mike Bryan in the round
of 16 to be played on Monday on the Armstrong court, 4th match of the day. Later today Fernando will face David Nalbandian
for the 3rd time this year, their year head to head is 1-1, but the career head to head is 5-2 to Nalbandian, so we know Fernando
will be looking to repeat the success that he had over Nalbandian in Cincinatti last month. Best of luck Fernando.
2/9/05 Only dropping one set today against Tursunov 6-4,3-6,6-4,6-3.
Now takes the career head to head between these guys to 2-0 to Fernando. He and Nico play their 2nd round doubles tomorrow
against K.Carlsen/J.Coetzee.
2/9/05 A comprehensive doubles win for Fernando and Nicolas against Rochus/Kohlschriber
taking the match 6-4,6-4. Today Fernando will play his second round singles on court 11, 4th match of the day against
Dmitry Tursunov.. Best of luck as always.
31/8/05 I was watching the scoreboard with interest last night as
Fernando and Wesley Moodie took to the court. Fernando was broken in the first set at 4-4 and Moodie took the first
set 6-4, luckily that was the only set Moodie got, as Fernando took the next 3 6-4,7-5,7-5.. Match stats were 62% First
serves, 12 Aces, 5 Double faults, 22 Unforced errors and fastest serve was 135 mph. Fernando will move into round 2
to face the 22 year old Russian Dmitry Tursunov, born in Moscow now lives in the U.S. They have played each other
once previously in Cincinnati 2004 and Fernando won that encounter in 2 sets. Dmitry has dropped 20 places in the
atp entry system this week to 138. This match is likely to be on Friday. Fernando and Nico are starting their
doubles campaign today on court 13, 3rd match of the day.. Best of luck guys.
30/8/05 Fernando will face Wesley Moodie today on Court 10, and is
the 3rd match after an 11 am local start time. This is a televised court for those of you who have the option to watch
different courts. The doubles draw has also been made, He and Nico are seeded 15 and will face P. Kohlschreiber/O.Rochus
in the first round... Fernando must be a little sick of seeing Ollie Rochus the other side of the doubles net this year!
28/8/05 The US Open site is being extremely slow in releasing the
order of play for Monday.. but we do now know who Fernando will face in the first round, Qualifier Wesley Moodie, who Fernando
hasn't played before at an ATP event, the 26 year old South African won the Wimbledon doubles title this year with Stephen
Huss. I'm sure Fernando can take care of him in this first round tie though.. best of Luck!
25/8/05 Fernando lost his match to Fernando Verdasco in the third
set tie break... it can't get much closer than that. The final score was 6-7(3),7-5,7-6(3). So Flushing Meadows
next stop... I'll be back with the order of play and Fernando's First round opponent as soon as its available.
24/8/05 The US Open draw has just been made and Fernando is seeded
21 in the top quarter of the draw (Federers quarter again!) He will face a Qualifier in the first round.. so we
won't know who that is until they are placed in the draw on the weekend.
24/8/05 Fernando has a first round Bye in New Haven and so his first
match was against Justin Gimelstob of the USA today on Grandstand court, 3rd match after a 10am local start time. These
two have never previously played against one another, but Justin can be a tough competitor although he hasn't played as much
as he would have liked of late due to a back injury. Final result Fernando def. Justin 6-2,3-6,6-4. The doubles
wasn't quite as successful with a first round defeat by the Rochus brothers over Fernadon and Nico. Fernando's next
round opponent will be the 21 year old from Madrid, Fernando Verdasco. They have met once previously, in Monte Carlo
this year on clay, which Fernando won in 2 sets. Back with order of play later.
23/8/05 Cincinnati saw a first round match with the very talented 18 year
old Qualifier Novak Djokovic, which saw Fernando pushed to 3 sets, but winning 3-6,7-6(7),6-4. 2nd Round was David
Nalbandian, I was at the match in Australia the last time these two met.. and Nalbandain was the winner.. they had met previously
6 times with Nalbandian leading the head to head 5-1. Time for some revenge, Fernando won this match 3-6,6-2,6-1.
Next up was the number 6 seed Nicolay Davydenko. These two have met twice before this meeting both times on clay, and
Davydenko has come out the winner, unfortunately Fernando lost this match 6-3,6-4 bringing his Cincinnati challenge to end
for another year... Next up Pilot Pen in New Haven...
14/8/05 Fernando has decided not to play doubles this week, I read
a quote somewhere from Horacio de la pena that Fernando likes playing under the lights in Cincy and that if he didn't play
doubles as well, then there was more chance of that happening. Nico will play doubles this week with Travis Parrott.
I'm away for a few days now, but will be back with all the results when I return.. Best of luck Fernando.
13/8/05 So the draw has been made for Cincinnati, Fernando missed
out on being seeded this week, He has drawn a qualifier in the first round, which has yet to be determined, as qualifying
rounds start today and so we should know by Sunday afternoon/evening who will slot into that posistion in the draw... Looking
ahead of that, in Fernando's quarter of the draw, seed wise sees Nalbandian, Davydenko, Gasquet, Hewitt. The doubles
draw is due to be made later.. so I'll be back with details.
9/8/05 A very very close match, Fernando as usual, teamed up with
Nicolas Massu to play doubles here in Montreal this week, their opponents were the Argentine pairing of G.Eltis/M.Rodriguez,
the match was as tight as it could be with Eltis/Rodriguez coming through 7-6(5),7-6(6). So thats it for this week in
Montreal, so I would guess it will be head down to Cincinnati early and get some practise in on the courts down there...
8/8/05 Not quite getting the start that we all hoped for as Fernando
kicked off his American hard court season in preparation for the US Open... But a tough first round draw brought up Max Mirnyi
as his first opponent. This match was scheduled for the Court Central 3rd match of the day session. Fernando has played
Max 3 times previously with Mirnyi leading the head to head 2-1, the only time they have played each other on a hard court,
Fernando won that match back in Washington 2003. Unfortunately the head to head now stands at 3-1 Mirnyi as Fernando lost
the match 7-6(5),6-4. The schedule is out for tomorrow and there is still the doubles draw to look forward to, Gonzalez/Massu
v Eltis/Rodriguez Court 5, 4th match of the day after an 11am local start time. Real time score board on the tournament
site.. Best of luck guys.
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