Rome QF: Fernando Gonzalez def. Juan Monaco 2-6 6-3 6-4

Another classic bend over by Monaco, but this one required a bit more time. :lol:

Well done Gonzo. But you're going out tomorrow in 2 sets :o

Gonzalez shots were terrible in the first set. The end of the second half and the third set were :eek: Amazing shotmaking by Gonzalez.
Forehand that reached 185 km/ph.


Does he have enough left in the tank to challenge Nadal?

oh, I forgot the :banana:

Vamooos!!!

Great match :yeah:

pico gifted him the match again, instead of putting balls away, he feeds them to his forehand. bullshit.

Does he have enough left in the tank to challenge Nadal?


mmm.. no!

but it was a good match anyway :cool:

gutted. I really wanted Monaco to win. Was 40-0 up at 4-4 third set and serve and a sitter at the net, but hit it to Gonzo's body, and then it was all over.

Good Win!!!

tomorrow vs Rafa! :confused:

what an entertaining match for me even with all the shanked balls, net cords, skids off lines and unforced errors :lol:

Juan played an amazing first set, but ran out of gas in the other two
Gonzo was totally ballbashing in the first set, then he got his act together and won this
very good run for Pico, hope he can keep doing noise on the other clay tournaments this year :)

super entertaining match, and the third set was a high quality set of tennis for the most part, the winner however was never in doubt as far as I'm concerned :cool:

the key turning point of the third set is that *4-4 40-0 on Pico's serve where he had an easy forehand putaway that he hit back to Gonzo's forehand, and ended up broken in that game :tape:

pico gifted him the match again, instead of putting balls away, he feeds them to his forehand. bullshit.

gifts + choking + no testicular fortitude = royal clown

no guts, no glory. its just that simple.

Gonzalez was simply mentally tougher. He hunkered down in the 2nd and 3rd and tidied up his game quite well. Monaco had a good chance to beat Gonzo in the 3rd but the h2h came in the way.

Does he have enough left in the tank to challenge Nadal?

That may be difficult if you don't have it in the first place.

Tomorrow he will be lucky if 1 in 10 shots he can make is not a backhand.

Definitely the most entertaining match today. Experience prevailed, huge missed opportunity for Pico cause Gonzo was in a clowning mode including his behavior, attitude and most important: shot management. You could say that this is one of those matches where 1 point decided the fate. At 4-4 40:0 instead of easy put away on empty BH side Pico chose the other side, Gonzo got a new life and few points later he broke him for the lead.

I still don't know why Monaco played every ball to Gonzo's Fh on the decisive points (specially when he was 4-4 in the 3rd set) a costly mistake.

super entertaining match, and the third set was a high quality set of tennis for the most part, the winner however was never in doubt as far as I'm concerned :cool:

the key turning point of the third set is that *4-4 40-0 on Pico's serve where he had an easy forehand putaway that he hit back to Gonzo's forehand, and ended up broken in that game :tape:


affirmative.

I still don't know why Monaco played every ball to Gonzo's Fh on the decisive points (specially when he was 4-4 in the 3rd set) a costly mistake.


did i mention that he is not too bright?

Painful :sad:

Pico built his chances but couldn't make it a win.

Anyway it's nice to see him playing like in 2007 again and putting this incredible effort on the court. A shame it wasn't this time :(

Looking forward to seeing his Roland Garros run.

high intensity and drama :worship:

Gonzo played crazy tennis for the first set and a half :cuckoo: :lol:

Monaco absolutely gutted to have lost this match, quite unlucky during the last two games :awww:

gonzo owns monaco

http://thenoz.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/120054.jpg

awful from monaco

That may be difficult if you don't have it in the first place.

Tomorrow he will be lucky if 1 in 10 shots he can make is not a backhand.


affirmative Bazooka. even if his tank was full, it would have no effect on the outcome tomorrow. tomorrow is a different story. he is playing the Clay Warrior, not a wimp. he wont see too many forehands tomorrow unless he runs around his backhand all the time.

i give Gonzo a zero chance tomorrow. and Gonzo knows this.

In the third set, Pico was 40-0 up, had an easy smash, let the ball bounce and hit it exactly were Feña was... result = was broken

Well, SF and 360 pts from Rome, i'll take it. :yeah:

30-3 on clay since the start of 2008. (3 counting tomorrow's loss) ;)

Now defend Munich and play better in Madrid Gonzo. :bounce:

That point when Gonzo started walking to his chair thinking he'd lost it then Monaco duffed it straight at him then Gonzo hit a huge forehand winner was brilliant. Was what i expected, a close match with FG edging it.

did i mention that he is not too bright?

Well he wasn't playing with his brain in the big points thats for sure.

Gonzo can't half whack a forehand though

this is where monaco's streak ends :sad:

In the third set, Pico was 40-0 up, had an easy smash, let the ball bounce and hit it exactly were Feña was... result = was broken

A pity I missed this match... typical from Monaco, with a stronger mind he would be a regular top 15 and win often in clay.

An enjoyable game, it's amazing though how a silly missed smash came to cost Monaco the match in such a way.

I don't think it's THAT fair to say Monaco lost this one. Yes, the shot decision on that 40-0 was awful but remember Gonzalez only started to play from the 2nd set so ...

Monaco will never be a great player on clay, imho he doesn't play spinny enough and doesn't play well enough on defense. Then again he got beat by a guy who does neither...but Gonzo is no clay genius either. I'm starting to think there are like only 2 or 3 players in the world that can actually play well on clay.

Why does Monaco have to piss on his pants every time he faces Gonzalez? Fucking pathetic.

Pico did it again...

what a shame

Why does Monaco have to piss on his pants every time he faces Gonzalez? Fucking pathetic.

Someone has left his self-silencing days of moderation in the past... :shout:

Good for you! :yeah:

Someone has left his self-silencing days of moderation in the past... :shout:

Good for you! :yeah:

:lol: ;)

pico gifted him the match again, instead of putting balls away, he feeds them to his forehand. bullshit.

That actually worked OK, because he was making so many errors off the forehand :-)

Juan :sad:.

VAMOOOos FENA, now have a career day and blow Rafa off the court(honestly I'm a little drunk to even suggest that) ;)
either way, great win

Good form