(Releads with Nalbandian result, adds quotes)
By Mark Ledsom
BASEL, Switzerland, Oct 25 - Argentine second seed
David Nalbandian enjoyed a comfortable passage into the second
round of the Swiss Indoors on Wednesday to maintain some
pressure on world number one and local favourite Roger Federer.
Nalbandian, who can only meet Federer in Sunday's final,
defeated Croatian lucky loser Roko Karanusic 6-2 6-4 to set up a
second round encounter with Spanish world number 80 Feliciano
Lopez.
Defending champion and third seed Fernando Gonzalez also
advanced after a surprisingly hard fought 7-6 6-7 7-6 win over
Italian world number 124 Simone Bolelli.
Nalbandian made light work of the 179th-ranked Karanusic,
with two breaks of serve in each set. The Argentine
unnecessarily surrendered a service game while serving for the
match at 5-2 but he made no mistake with his next opportunity
and calmly finished off with an ace.
"I was playing very well until leading 3-0 in the second
set," Nalbandian said. "Then I fell down a bit with my
concentration but it was okay for a first round match."
Nalbandian has an added incentive for reaching Sunday's
final as it will guarantee him a spot at the season-ending
Masters Cup, where the Argentine is hoping to defend the title.
"The Masters Cup is a big motivation for me but it's going
to be a long season since I also have the Davis Cup final after
that," Nalbandian pointed out.
"I made a great start to the year up until Wimbledon but
then I got sick during Toronto and Cincinnati and lost ground.
I'm feeling a lot fresher now though."
Looking less fresh after his defeat by Federer in last
weekend's Madrid Masters final, Gonzalez needed more than 2-1/4
hours to beat the 21-year-old Bolelli who is still seeking his
first career win on the ATP circuit.
"It was really tough adapting to the different balls and the
different feel of the surface because I only got here on Monday
and only had one hour to practise," said Gonzalez.
SHAKY START
After a particularly shaky start in which Gonzalez was
forced to defend two break points from his first three service
games, the hard-hitting Chilean edged in front thanks to some
unforced errors by Bolelli in the opening set tiebreak.
Having lost out 7-3 on that occasion, the Italian held his
nerve to take the second tiebreak 7-2 but paid the price for his
over-exuberance in the deciding set.
After taking Gonzalez to another tiebreak, Bolelli abandoned
his baseline tactics in favour of a more attacking game plan.
The Italian came forward on both his first two service
points and was twice passed to give Gonzalez a 4-0 lead, which
the Chilean successfully converted into a 7-3 scoreline.
Although the Chilean cannot meet Federer before Sunday's
final, he was already hoping to play the world number for the
second time in as many weeks.
"He's just something else, he's two steps beyond the rest of
us," said Gonzalez who lost all eight of his matches against
Federer.
"It's tough but I have to believe I can beat him one day."
On a generally good day for Argentina, seventh seed Jose
Acasuso and ninth seed Juan Ignacio Chela both progressed to the
second round.
Acasuso defeated Spain's Albert Montanes 6-4 6-3 while Chela
beat Italian Filippo Volandri 6-4 7-5.
There was no such joy for Argentine eighth seed Agustin
Calleri, who was beaten 7-6 6-2 by Switzerland's Stanislas
Wawrinka.
The 21-year-old from Lausanne continued an impressive start
for the local favourites, following Federer and wild card George
Bastl into the last 16.
Britain's Tim Henman, a winner here in 1998 and 2001, will
face Wawrinka in the second round after booking his own berth
with a comfortable 6-2 6-3 win over Belgium's Christophe Rochus.