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Tenth seed Gonzalez reached his first Masters Series final when he defeated the Czech numer one Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-1. Berdych folded under the pressure of a hostile home crowd, while Gonzalez gave him no respite as he pounded him with his pin-point serve and wrapped up victory in 52 minutes. "I've never seen anything like it, it's like a bad dream. It's not a tennis crowd," Berdych said later. Berdych beat defending champion and local hero Rafael Nadal in the quarters, provoking the anger of the world number two and local fans.

With approximately half of the votes counted it is the centre right Civic Democrats who have the lead in both the Senate and local elections. Preliminary results indicate a 47 percent turnout. Interest in the elections has been sharpened by its likely impact on the country's drawn-out political crisis which followed June's inconclusive general elections.

The Senate election results could tip the constitutional balance of power and thus indirectly influence not just the set up of the country's next government, but the outcome of the next presidential election in 2008 and possible changes to the Constitution.

President Vaclav Klaus who cast his vote on Saturday morning, said he did not think the outcome of the elections would have a decisive impact on the talks on forming a new government. Mr. Klaus, who has been holding talks with party leaders in order to ascertain their position on a future government set up, has made it clear that he would not name a new prime minister designate until after the second round of Senate elections next week.

Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil is considering pressing charges against Jana Hybaskova, head of the European Democrats, who recently accused him and two other Civic Democrat officials of corruption. Mrs. Hybaskova said last Tuesday that a representative of the governing party had asked her for a three million crown bribe in a certain financial transaction which was to be paid to Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil, Finance Minister Vlastimil Tlusty and another unnamed party deputy. Mr. Pospisil said the accusations were outrageous and unless Mrs. Hybaskova publicly apologized he would take her to court.

The former president Vaclav Havel and his wife Dagmar will be spending the next four months in the United States where Mr. Havel is expected to give several lectures. The Havels will attend a theatre festival of Mr. Havel's work and divide their time between New York and Washington. Vaclav Havel recently turned seventy.