Gonzalez bounces hurt Nadal

Unseeded Serena Williams' advanced to the women's final with a 7-6, 6-4 win.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Rafael Nadal limped out of the Australian Open complaining his leg was too sore to challenge Fernando Gonzalez in the quarterfinals. With Gonzalez stinging winners past him from both the forehand and backhand sides, though, even a fit Nadal might have struggled.
The 10th-seeded Gonzalez had 41 winners in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 upset over the second-seeded Nadal Wednesday, earning him a semifinal spot along with top-ranked Roger Federer, Andy Roddick and Tommy Haas.
In the women's semifinals later Wednesday, the unseeded Serena Williams continued her unlikely quest for an eighth Grand Slam title.
But she advanced to the final with a 7-6, 6-4 win over 10th-seeded Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic in the first semifinal. Top-seeded Maria Sharapova -- who reached the semis with a 7-6 (5), 7-5 win over Anna Chakvetadze, a fellow 19-year-old Russian -- was one win away from the final. She met fourth-seeded Kim Clijsters in the other semifinal.
First-time semifinalist
Gonzalez, who will be playing in the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, will get a day off to watch today's semifinal between defending champion Federer and sixth-seeded Roddick. Gonzalez will face Tommy Haas on Friday.
French Open champion Nadal was the only player to beat Federer at this stage of a tournament last year, doing it four times in finals. Federer was 91-1 against everyone else -- his only other loss an upset to Andy Murray at Cincinnati.
It was a five-setter against Murray on Monday that Nadal thinks derailed his prospects of making the Australian Open final.
"I can't run a lot," he said Wednesday. "It was difficult to play one match like this, quarterfinals of one Grand Slam, with pain. If I am playing bad, well, you can go home and say disappointing. But today I just say, 'Well, I can't do more. I try my best.' "
He called for a medical timeout in the third set and had to go to the locker room to remove his long, green shorts for treatment on his upper left leg and buttock.
So far
Roddick is only 1-12 against Federer, but the 24-year-old American had match points against Federer at the Masters Cup last November and beat him in the final of an exhibition tournament at Kooyong on Jan. 14.
Gonzalez was hardly a contender until he beat local favorite Lleyton Hewitt in the third round and fifth-seeded James Blake in the fourth. The 26-year-old Chilean won 12 of 15 matches to end 2006 and made three finals -- losing two to Federer.
He always had a powerful forehand but was too erratic with it, often criticized for swinging and missing too many times on big points. But since starting work last year with Larry Stefanki, who coached John McEnroe and helped Marcelo Rios and Yevgeny Kafelnikov reach No. 1, Gonzalez has been improving.
"I used to just hit, hit, hit, and maybe I win the point -- now I have other strategies," he said. "I am playing great tennis. I can do great things in my game."
Gonzalez broke Nadal's serve twice in the first set, in the opening game of the second and twice again in the third, and only faced three break points. He had support from a scattering of Chilean supporters wrapped in flags and chanting in Spanish.
And he had growing support from the local crowd. Early in the third set, a man yelled: "You're the man, speedy."
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