Gonzalez crushes Ginepri - then turns his thoughts to beating Federer

The Chilean, seeded 24 at Roland Garros, improved his record on the surface to
16-0 for the season with a routine win over unseeded American Robby Ginepri.

Gonzalez, a clay-court specialist, was always the favourite against Ginepri, who has won less than 30 per cent of his matches on the surface, and so it proved as he eased to a 7-6 (7/4) 6-3 6-1 win.

Too easy: Fernando Gonzalez swept past Ginepri is three sets

The 27-year-old now faces a likely clash with world number one Federer, who was
two sets up against Julien Benneteau in their last-16 encounter before rain
suspended play this afternoon.

Gonzalez has little doubt over what the eventual outcome will be, however, and
knows he will have a battle on his hands against the Swiss, a player he has
beaten only once in 11 attempts.

 "I don't really know if I can win against him this time or not," Gonzalez said of the 12-time grand slam winner.

"I think what Roger has done is exceptional, outstanding. Not many players
could have done that.

"I don't have a really good record against Roger, but we play many good matches and I really enjoy it. After him, there's nobody else. He's number one and you always have nothing to lose."

Gonzalez indicated his best chance of victory against Federer would be to play a patient game.

"He's a player who wins very quickly," he continued. "When the match is too long, I think he doesn't really like it.

"That's why he's had so many problems with Nadal. Nadal puts pressure on him at each point."

Gonzalez made a bright start in his clash with Ginepri, stealing an early march
in the first set by breaking the American, who was playing with heavy strapping
on his right arm.

The American fought his way back onto level terms with a break in the sixth game before both players held the rest of the way to set up a tie-break, which went the way of the Chilean.

Gonzalez took the match by the scruff of the neck in the next set by claiming two service breaks to one, and served out to love in the ninth game to double his advantage.

Ginepri, who had never won a match at Roland Garros prior to this year's event, ran out of ideas in the third as Gonzalez broke his opponent three times to progress to the quarter-finals in Paris for the first time in five years - and maintain his perfect clay-court record this year.