体坛英语新闻：China Open: Gonzalez hard tested, host players out

World number seven Fernando Gonzalez survived an early scare to reach the second round while the host players all bid farewell to the 475,000 US dollars China Open ATP tournament at the Beijing Tennis Center on Monday.

The 27-year-old Chilean overcame an opening set slump to get the better of Alexander Peya from Austria 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

"It is good to end the losing steak after the Wimbledon but it's always tough in a tournament," said Gonzalez, who did not win any match in the past eight weeks. "I always look forward to next match."

The Chilean also said to play for his country in an Olympics and even win a medal is big for him, adding that he looked forward to playing in Beijing Games next year.

"Playing Olympics is more than tennis. Chile is a small country, and winning medal is a good feeling. Besides, I like to share things with my countrymen at the village," he added.

While Lee Hyung-Taik, a frequent guest to the China Open and seeded sixth here this year, had to fight back from 2-0 down in the opening set to beat Adrian Garcia of Chile 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 22 minutes.

The 31-year-old veteran, who is ranked 39th on the latest world rankings after his stunning run at the US Open where he beat the likes of Guillermo Canas and Andy Murray, never missed any of the previous China Open ATP tournaments.

The home fans had little to celebrate on the first match day as the Chinese number one Yu Xinyuan lost to Kevin Kim of the United States 6-3, 7-5 in the first match of the main court while number two Sun Peng came onto the same court in the last match, only to be knocked out by Igor Kunitsyn from Russia 6-2, 7-6(7).

The only Chinese still staying in the men's singles run is Zeng Shaoxuan, who battled through three rounds of qualifying matches to enter the main draw on Monday.

"I play aggressive tennis in the match so it is normal I made more mistakes, and I will work much harder to improve my consistency," said Yu, who is now ranked 515th in the world.

"I had ups and downs in the match and I also lost my nerves at last."

Another Asian hopeful, Danai Udomchoke from Thailand, who claimed the Asian Games men's singles title last December, was also sent packing after losing to lower-ranked Chilean Paul Capdeville 6-2, 6-2.

Second seeded Fernando Gonzalez, who had two more weeks to prepare the China Open after his opening round exit from the just concluded US Open, was seriously troubled by the serve-and-volley Peya.

The fierce Austrian converted on the first break point in the second game of the opening set to take a 2-0 early lead and seemed solid in holding his own.

The Chilean produced three break points in the ninth game but Peya cooled down to save them all and went on to take the set in just 29 minutes.

However, the match was totally turned around as Peya's net-approach strategy seemed to be running out of steam in front of a more comfortable Gonzalez, who stormed to a 3-0 lead in the second set and never looked back taking the remaining match 6-3, 7-5.