© Jim Rydell
Top seed and local favorite Fernando Gonzalez captured his third Movistar Open title Saturday night as he rallied to defeat unseeded Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-2 in the semifinals in two hours and 47 minutes. He saved two match points in the second set.

Afterwards, the 27-year-old Chilean was declared champion after No. 3 seed Juan Monaco (pictured) suffered a second degree left ankle sprain in the second set of the doubles final earlier on Saturday. The injury prevented Monaco from playing in Sunday's final. Earlier in the day, Monaco advanced to the singles championship with a straight-sets win over Santiago Ventura.

Instead of the singles final on Sunday night the tournament will hold an exhibition between Ventura and Gonzalez.

"I'm happy to have won this tournament once again but a little sad for Juan (Monaco) who wasn't able to play the final. He is a great player and even better person," said Gonzalez. "It's tough for him not be able to play tomorrow's final and probably miss Davis Cup next week. We are good friends and I hope he recovers fast from this injury."

"This is a very special tournament for me. There is only one tournament in Chile every year and each time I look forward to play in front of my home crowd. They supported me incredibly in every match and today it was no different. It was a very tough match. He started serving really well and I wasn't feeling the ball very good in the beginning. I was lucky to save two match points in the second set to win the match. Pablo Cuevas is a great player, especially on clay. He has been climbing fast in the rankings."

It is the first time a singles final walkover has occurred on the ATP circuit since 2003 Basel when David Nalbandian withdrew due to a left wrist injury against countryman Guillermo Coria.

"It’s very unfortunate that this happened to me in such a good moment of my career," said Monaco. "I’m sad that I won’t be able to play the final here in Vina del Mar and the Davis Cup tie against Great Britain next week. I’m hoping to make a come back at Buenos Aires.

“It was great to play in Vina del Mar. The organizers did a great job all week long. I was extremely well treated here. I hope to be back next year."

In Saturday's win over Cuevas, Gonzalez overcame an 18-minute power outage at 5-6 in the second set and saved two match points at 15-40 in the 12th game before coming back to win the tie-break and the final set. Gonzalez also trailed 3-5 in the tie-break.

In the third set, Gonzalez broke in the second game and saved a break point in the seventh game to go up 5-2 before breaking Cuevas in the last game.

Gonzalez also won the Vina del Mar title in 2002 and 2004 and was runner-up in 2005. It is the Chilean's ninth career ATP title.

Monaco advanced to his first ATP final of the season Saturday as he defeated Spaniard Santiago Ventura 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 15 minutes in the Movistar Open in Vina del Mar.

The 23-year-old Argentine took early control of the match with a break in the sixth game to go up 4-2 and he added another break two games later to close out the first set in 29 minutes. In the second set, both players held serve until the eighth game when Monaco broke for a 5-3 lead. He then served for the match but was broken at 15-40. Monaco then broke again to advance to his fifth career ATP final (3-1).

Last season Monaco won a career-high three ATP titles on clay (Buenos Aires, Poertschach, Kitzbuhel) and compiled a personal-best 28-8 mark on clay (second-most wins behind Nadal's 31). He also advanced to the 4th RD at Roland Garros (l. to Canas) and the US Open (l. to Djokovic), his best Grand Slam results.

Lea en Español | Photo Gallery | TV Schedule

Friday: Gonzalez, Monaco, Cuevas, Ventura Reach SFs
Thursday: Gonzalez Eases into Quarterfinals
Wednesday: Argentines Monaco, Acasuso Advance to Quarterfinals
Tuesday: Top Seed Gonzalez Defeats Countryman
Monday: Coria & Gaudio Fall on Day 1
Movistar Open Tournament Profile