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DUESSELDORF, Germany, May 23: Former world number one Marcelo Rios secured Chile’s place in the World Team Cup final after he beat Gaston Gaudio 6-3 6-3 on Friday to give his team an unbeatable 2-0 lead over Argentina.
The victory means Chile win the Blue Group and will meet the Czech Republic in Saturday’s final.
Earlier, Fernando Gonzalez beat David Nalbandian 6-4 7-5, coming from a break down in both sets to clinch victory over last year’s Wimbledon runner-up.
In Friday’s other Blue Group match, Rainer Schuettler outplayed Magnus Norman 6-1 6-3 to give Germany a 1-0 lead over Sweden.
Roddick IN FINAL
ST POELTEN (Austria): Top seed Andy Roddick enjoyed a swift passage into the Austrian Grand Prix final on Friday to keep alive hopes of a first title this year.
The 20-year-old American was leading 6-2 2-0 in his semifinal against Spain’s David Sanchez before the eighth seed retired with blisters and handed Roddick a final showdown with Nikolay Davydenko.
The Russian sixth seed reached the final of the 380,000 euro ($442,400) claycourt tournament by beating unseeded Dutchman Martin Verkerk 7-5 6-1.
Roddick’s blistering serve and forehand ensured he dominated the match from the outset and when Sanchez took time out at 5-2 down to have a blister on his foot dressed the battle was all but over.
The top seed, whose five career titles have all been captured on home soil, said he was pleased with his performance this week because until this tournament he had failed to win two matches in a row on European clay.
With the French Open starting at Roland Garros in Paris next week, the timing could not have been better.—Reuters
