Powerful teams Chile and Argentina posted round-robin victories Tuesday at the ATP World Team Championship.
The two-time defending champion Chileans (2-0) bested France 2-1, while the 2002 winner Argentines (2-0) grounded the Czech Republic 2-1 in Red Group action at this eight-nation tournament.
Dual-Olympic gold medalist Nicolas Massu got Chile going with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over France's Arnaud Clement, and Fernando Gonzalez, an Olympic singles bronze and doubles gold medalist last year, clinched the win by topping Sebastien Grosjean 6-4, 6-4. The French (0-2) squeezed out a point in the doubles when Clement and Michael Llodra handled a Chilean duo of Hermes Gamonal and Adrian Garcia 6-3, 6-1.
Gonzalez is a remarkable 15-0 at this event, including 10-0 in singles.
French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria defeated Jiri Novak 6-3, 7-5 to give the Argentines an early lead against the Czechs and Guillermo Canas sealed the win by leveling Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-2 on the red clay at Rochusclub. The Czechs (0-2) earned a point when Berdych and Novak outlasted an Argentine tandem of French Open champion Gaston Gaudio and Juan Ignacio Chela 6-1, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2.
The Argentines and Chileans will meet in a blockbuster matchup here on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the host Germans (1-0) will face Sweden (0-1) and the United States (0-1) will encounter Spain (1-0) in the Blue Group.
This event serves as a final tuneup for the French Open, which commences Monday in Paris.