Having a blast

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Fernando Gonzalez plays tennis the way Mike Tyson used to box. The way Donald Rumsfeld holds a news conference. The way Donald Trump wears his hair.

Which is to say, a tad aggressively.

Put simply, Gonzalez is not the sort of player who frets over missing a few shots. Or even a few dozen.

A hard-hitting Chilean and the No.4 seed at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, Gonzalez instead works the court like Pollock working a canvas, spraying outrageous winners -- and equally outlandish errors -- in every direction.

And he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Ever since I was 6, 7 years old, I started to play like this," Gonzalez said with a smile. "I try to enjoy the game. I like the way that I play. And I know that a lot of people will enjoy watching."

For Gonzalez, enjoyment and success go racket in hand. Behind a grip-it-and-rip-it game to shame John Daly, Gonzalez has emerged as one of the Tour's top talents, a crowd-pleasing 23-year-old ranked No.14 in the world.

Gonzalez notched a 6-2, 6-4 second-round victory over France's Julien Beneteau yesterday on the grandstand court at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Northwest.

"I'm an aggressive player, so I feel that every point depends on me," Gonzalez said. "I prefer that to letting the other guy do it."