Gonzalez fears for future

Fernando Gonzalez has admitted fears over his future in the game after injury forced him out in the first round of the US Open.

Chilean forced out of Flushing Meadows with knee complaint

Fernando Gonzalez has admitted fears over his long-term future in the game after injury forced him out in the first round of the US Open. The 30-year-old Chilean, playing only his second match since the French Open, retired when 7-6 1-6 0-1 down against Croatian qualifier Ivan Dodig. The persistent knee injury that has been troubling for the past few months was once again the nemesis of Gonzalez who acknowledged afterwards that he was concerned for his career. "I'm worried and I'll have to see what will happen," he declared. "I'm not thinking about retirement quite yet but I've had a really bad six months and, if this was to go on for longer, maybe two years, then I would have to see." A finalist at the 2007 Australian Open, Gonzalez won gold and silver medals at the Beijing Olympics and has a career high ranking of fifth in the world. However, he has now slipped to 29th on the back of his inactivity and will now take more time out to decide how best to resolve his injury problems. "It's been 30 weeks out now and I will now take more time out to make the right decision for what I have to do," he added. "The prognosis isn't that bad but that doesn't solve the problem that it's still really painful."