Gonzo ends Volandri dream

In the final, Gonzalez, who finished runner-up to world number one Roger Federer at the Australian Open in January, will play the winner of the later match between defending champion Rafael Nadal and fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko.

World number 53 Volandri had eliminated three seeds, including Federer, in successive rounds to become the first Italian to reach the last four in Rome since Adriano Panatta in 1978.

His form seemed to desert him, however, as claycourt specialist Gonzalez moved him around the court with heavy, accurate groundstrokes.

The 26-year-old Chilean lashed a return down the line to break Volandri in his opening service game of the match, then broke again in the sixth game before serving out for the first set.

Gonzalez tightened his grip on the contest at the start of the second set, taking advantage of a series of unforced errors by his opponent to break in the third and fifth games and close out the contest in just over an hour.