Advertisement |
It was really tough because he was playing very good tennis
Gonzalez wins the BMW Open May 04, 2008
At the beginning of the third set, I told myself that I had to get on top right away and fortunately I did
Hewitt defeated in Hamburg May 15, 2003
I am very happy with the way I played, and I'm just trying to take advantage of my momentum
Martin reaches Sicily quarters Sep 25, 2002
Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (born July 29, 1980) is a professional tennis player from Chile. He is known for having one of the hardest hitting forehands on the circuit. In Spanish he is called El bombardero de La Reina ("The La Reina bomber") and Mano de Piedra ("Stone Hand"). The English-language media has labeled him "Gonzo."
González is one of the few active players to have reached at least the quarter-final round of all four Grand Slam tournaments. He played his first major final at the 2007 Australian Open, losing to top-ranked Roger Federer. He is the fourth male tennis player in history to have won each Olympic medal (gold in doubles and bronze in singles at Athens 2004, and silver in singles at Beijing 2008). Throughout his career, he has defeated many former number-one players, including Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer (all while they held the top spot), Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moyà, Gustavo Kuerten, Marat Safin and Pete Sampras. González has qualified twice for the year-end Masters Cup event and was runner-up at two Masters Series tournaments. He is arguably known as Chile's best tennis player of the 2000s.
At age four, González spent his time playing both soccer and tennis. His father, who was an amateur tennis player since his 20s, was able to convince his son to opt for tennis over soccer. He began playing tennis at the age of six. He moved in with his family to the La Reina commune in eastern Santiago, where he practiced with his coach Claudio González (no relation) at the Club La Reina, three times a week.