Safin serves past Gonzalez, to meet Nadal in quarterfinals

　　It took just over an hour for Marat Safin, the wild card Russian player who hasn't lost a set at the 2009 China Open, to overwhelm Fernando Gonzales Thursday, 6-3, 6-4.

　　Their black Adidas attire matched, but their styles didn't. Gonzalez was the No. 7 seed, but the 6-foot-4 Safin dominated with his serves – including six aces in each set.

　　Consistently hitting bombs on his first and second serves, Safin needed just one break in each set and never lost his serve. He faced only one break point the entire match.

　　"He served unbelievable," Gonzalez said in his post-match press conference. "He didn't let me do too much."

　　When Safin broke halfway through the first set, the crowd erupted, with Russian flags waved throughout the Center Court stadium.

　　Safin expressed his gratitude for the fans in his post-match press conference.

　　"I'm very pleased they're there to support me," he said. "I really appreciate that they've been very supportive and very nice to me."

　　Safin wasted no time in the second as he broke Gonzalez in the first game. The two traded service games after that, and Safin finally took the match when he finished off Gonzalez with an overhead smash.

　　Safin, a two-time Grand Slam champion, will meet No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. Safin said he's not nervous about playing the No. 2 ranked player in the world, but is looking forward to it.

　　"I have nothing to lose," he said. "Nadal is going to be the favorite. I have no pressure at all to defend any points or anything. I'm just going to play my game, go for it, be aggressive and then we'll see. It's going to be my biggest match in a long time, so I'm pretty excited." (By Matt Schiffman)