Fleishman knocks off top-seeded Gonzalez
Last year’s tournament villain morphed into this year’s high-profile victim at the Countrywide Classic.
Top-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, who ended Andre Agassi’s run here in 2006, found his stay at UCLA cut short by wild-card entrant Zack Fleishman on Tuesday night. Fleishman, 27, a former Bruin, had the biggest result of his career, beating Gonzalez, 7-6 (5), 6-4, in the first round at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
“I beat a top 10 player, at my school, my former college, my hometown,” Fleishman said. “And the place where I practiced since I was nine years old. I was a ball boy here for years.... I just felt like I belonged playing out here and I wasn’t nervous.”
The late-night match was full of unexpected drama: The No. 162-ranked player taking out this year’s Australian Open finalist.
“It was the most unforced smile ever in my life,” Fleishman said of the result.
Fleishman had faced a player ranked in the top 10 only once, losing to Tommy Haas last month at Wimbledon. He held his nerve, breaking Gonzalez in the third game of the second set when Gonzalez hit a backhand wide and kept it together even when the Chilean needed medical attention for a back injury.
That wasn’t the only surprise. An earlier upset came earlier when No. 99-ranked Igor Kunitsyn of Russia defeated No. 4 David Nalbandian of Argentina, 7-6 (5), 7-5, calling it one of his “best victories.” And sixth-seeded Mardy Fish ended an eight-match losing streak, beating 19-year-old Sam Querrey of Thousand Oaks in the first round, 7-5, 6-4.
Not only was Fish not winning matches since early April, he wasn’t even winning sets.
“It gets a little bit alarming,” Fish said.
Now the feeling of uneasiness is solidly on Querrey’s shoulders. He looked like a lost soul in the interview room and sounded like one. His usual supporters were at UCLA, but he said he felt “nervous.”
Fish said that Querrey, who is his doubles partner here, was too self-critical.
“I think it’s a false statement on his part,” he said. “Maybe he’s a little down ... completely untrue in my opinion.”
Second-seeded James Blake defeated Alexander Peya of Austria, 7-5, 6-4, in a match watched by Kevin Garnett of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves.
--
Times staff writer Ken Fowler contributed to this report.
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
