Tommy Robredo will be aiming to put a stop to Maximo Gonzalez’s surprise run at the ATP Santiago Open on Friday

Tommy Robredo didn’t exactly open his Movistar Open campaign with a bang, edging past Frederico Gil in three sets in round one. Despite this, he appeared to be far more comfortable in round two, beating Ricardo Mello 6-0, 7-6(7) to set up a quarter-final contest with Maximo Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, the world No. 141, has defied expectations to reach this stage. His 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 first round victory over No. 2 seed Juan Monaco surprised everyone here in Santiago. This was perhaps due to the fact that Gonzalez hadn’t won a tour level match since August 2010 when he entered the competition.

Gonzalez had a fair amount of success in clay-court Challenger tournaments last season, so it could be argued that his ranking doesn’t reflect his ability this week. Even so, if he wants to progress he’ll need to play better than he did in his last meeting with Robredo (French Open 2009), where he capitulated to a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-0 defeat after making an encouraging start.