Fleishman savors beating Gonzalez

Hearing the off-duty ball kids shout his name during his doubles match Wednesday afternoon, Zack Fleishman knew there was only one reason -- his stunning upset the night before of No. 6 in the world Fernando Gonzalez.

Fleishman, a wild-card entrant and local product who beat the top-seeded Chilean in the first round of the Countrywide Classic, ended up losing that doubles match with partner Ryan Thacher to Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie, 6-3, 6-4. But that didn’t seem to be weighing heavily on the former UCLA player, whose singles victory under the lights of the Los Angeles Tennis Center on his old campus came in front of about 80 family members and friends.

“It was my greatest tennis moment that I’ve come across so far, just being on my own court, center court, in front of my entire family and friends,” said Fleishman, ranked 162nd.

Fleishman, 27, plays Robert Kendrick at noon today for a chance to reach the quarterfinals, and he says he will try his best not to dwell on the victory.

Even if Fleishman did, he might not know what to think.

He said his father, Gary, called him early Wednesday to ask if the victory had “sunk in.”

“I was just like, ‘No, not at all,’ ” Fleishman said. “Which I think is a good thing because I don’t think I’m fully celebrating yet. And everybody tells me not to be satisfied with the victory, and I really don’t think I am. I feel like I’m in the middle of the tournament, doing all the right things to prepare for my matches.”

Preparing for a second round of singles at an ATP event is something relatively new for the former Bruin, who was born in Santa Monica and lives in Hermosa Beach. Tuesday’s victory gives him five career wins since joining the Tour in 2000.

Before Tuesday, his only ATP singles victory this year was a four-set win over Agustin Calleri of Argentina in the first round of the Australian Open.

Still, Fleishman says those statistics are misleading, since he has had success in Challenger Series events. He was a semifinalist in the Challenger tournament in Dallas in February and lost to Alex Bogdanovic of Britain in the final of the Challenger event in Valencia, Calif., in April.

Fleishman said his performance against Gonzalez was probably the best of his career and that he will have to sustain his level of play against Kendrick because the two have played in various tournaments nearly 15 times as professionals and three times this year alone.

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In singles matches Wednesday, Marat Safin held off George Bastl, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, Michael Berrer defeated Ricardo Mello, 6-3, 7-5, and Hyung-Taik Lee moved on when Moodie, down a set and a break, retired because of a back injury. Hours later, Moodie was part of the team that beat Fleishman and Thacher.

Nicolas Kiefer advanced to the quarterfinals in an event for the first time since injuring a wrist in the 2006 French Open by beating Igor Kunitsyn, 6-3, 6-2.

In doubles, twins Bob and Mike Bryan of Camarillo beat Travis Parrot and Tripp Phillips, 7-5, 6-2. Earlier, Huntington Beach natives Scott Lipsky and David Martin beat Eric Butorac and Jamie Murray, 6-3, 7-5.

ken.fowler@latimes.com