Fernando Gonzalez looks to continue his comeback against Spain's Feliciano Lopez on day three of the Serbia Open.
Gonzalez admitted to being nervous before his first match in nearly eight months at the Serbia Open on Tuesday, following a long layoff after hip surgery. However the former world number five got the job done, defeating Martin Klizan comfortably 6-2, 6-4 in blustery conditions on centre court.
“I haven’t played for a long time but my shots are already in my game,” Gonzalez said afterwards. “I’m moving better every day but I need to play more matches, more points and I need to compete. Maybe the conditions today weren’t really good for a great match but it was good for tough competition.”
Lopez won a predictably tight match against eighth seed Juan Monaco 6-4, 7-5 and afterwards blamed the wind for the erratic quality of the tennis. It's another step in the right direction for Lopez who endured a tough start to the year but started to find his form at the Barcelona Open last week, making the quarters.
Gonzalez has never lost to Lopez in four matches but the last time they played was in 2006 and much has changed since then.
Prediction: Gonzalez is still very rusty. Look for Lopez to grind out a win here in three sets.
