Wilfredo Gonzalez Leads Guatemala to Victory at the Davis Cup
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Former University of Miami men’s tennis player Wilfredo Gonzalez helped lead his home country of Guatemala to a 3-1 victory over Mexico at the Davis Cup this weekend.
Gonzalez opened up the weekend with a straight-set victory over Luis Patino, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, before taking down Patino and Manuel Sanchez in the third round, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, with his doubles partner, Christopher Diaz-Figueroa.
Scheduled to face Sanchez in the fifth round as the tiebreaker, the match was never played, since Diaz-Figueroa clinched the match over Gerardo Lopez Villasenor, in round four, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5, 6-2.
Guatemala will return to the clay courts the weekend of April 7-9, when they face Barbados in the Group II Semifinals.
With the pair of victories, Gonzalez improved to 15-6 overall (7-3 singles, 8-3 doubles), while playing in his seventh year of nomination.
As a member of Canes tennis 2011-2015, Gonzalez finished his career with 93 victories (52-53 singles and 41-59 doubles).
During his sophomore campaign, primarily playing at the No. 3 singles position while also seeing action at No. 2 singles, he compiled a team-best 16 victories, taking down 10 ranked teams’ No. 2 and 3 players. This included a win over No. 58 Ryan Shane of top-ranked Virginia, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
During this season, Gonzalez led the team with five ACC singles wins, while posting a 12-1 singles record in home matches. The native of Guatemala also had a stretch in which he won 11 of 12 matches, including six straight.
He finished with six doubles wins, all coming from the top-spot during the 2012-13 season. With Omar Aly, the duo earned a No. 66 ITA doubles ranking in late March, after they notched an 8-3 victory over Florida State’s 22nd-ranked duo Benjamin Lock and Andres Bucaro.
As a junior, Gonzalez missed six matches early in the season with a knee injury, but finished the season with six singles victories and an 11-6 doubles record.
As a senior competing with current UM junior Kevin Bondar, the pair won five-straight doubles matches, from Jan. 25 to Feb. 14, 2015, including two against ACC rivals, Boston College and Notre Dame. The duo defeated Notre Dame’s No. 22 pair of Eddy Covalschi and Josh Hagar 8-4 at No. 2 spot, and downing Boston College’s Conor Mullins and Philip Nelson 8-6 at No. 1 position.
Rubber 1
Wilfredo Gonzalez (Guatemala) def. Luis Patino (Mexico), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4
Rubber 2
Manuel Sanchez (Mexico) def. Christopher Diaz-Figueroa (Guatemala), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (2)
Rubber 3
Gonzalez/Diaz-Figueroa (Guatemala) def. Sanchez/Patino (Mexico), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Rubber 4
Christopher Diaz-Figueroa (Gatemala) def. Geraedo Lopez Villasenor (Mexico), 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5, 6-2
Rubber 5
Wilfredo Gonzalez (Guatemala) vs. Manuel Sanchez (Mexico), not played
