Coquimbo, Chile (Sportsbooks) - Fernando Gonzalez straight-setted Dudi Sela on Monday, sending Chile into the 2010 Davis Cup quarterfinals. The Chileans cruised past Israel, 4-1.
The former Australian Open runner-up Gonzalez handled Sela 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in just over two hours on the red clay in Coquimbo on Day 3 here. The win gave the hosts an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the three-day series.
Monday's dead singles rubber saw Jorge Aguilar douse Israeli veteran Harel Levy 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.
On Sunday, doubles specialists Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram kept the Israelis alive, at 1-2, with a 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (11-9), 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over a Chilean tandem of Aguilar and Paul Capdeville.
On Saturday, Nicolas Massu got the Chileans going with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Sela and the world No. 10 Gonzalez doubled the hosts' advantage by overcoming Levy 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Chile will host the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals in July.
This week's matchup started a day late -- Saturday instead of Friday -- because of the tragic earthquake and tsunami that struck Chile two weeks ago, killing about 800 people. The Enjoy Tennis Center was unaffected by the disaster and the local airport was open, but transportation problems delayed the arrival of players and officials.
Chile is now 2-1 all-time against Israel, a surprise Davis Cup semifinalist last year, with the other victory coming 50 years ago.
The Chileans are captained by Hans Gildemeister, while Eyal Ran served as the Israeli skipper.
