 González at the2019 Pan American Games | |
| Country (sports) |  Chile |
|---|---|
| Residence | Miami, United States |
| Born | (1980-07-29)29 July 1980 (age 45) Santiago, Chile |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) |
| Turned pro | 1999 |
| Retired | 2012 |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $8,862,276 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 370–202 (64.7%) |
| Career titles | 11 |
| Highest ranking | No. 5 (29 January 2007) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | F (2007) |
| French Open | SF (2009) |
| Wimbledon | QF (2005) |
| US Open | QF (2002,2009) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Tour Finals | RR (2005,2007) |
| Olympic Games | F (2008) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 109–98 (52.7%) |
| Career titles | 3 |
| Highest ranking | No. 25 (4 July 2005) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | QF (2010) |
| French Open | SF (2005) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2005) |
| US Open | QF (2004) |
| Other doubles tournaments | |
| Olympic Games | W (2004) |
| Mixed doubles | |
| Career record | 3–2 |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| French Open | QF (2006) |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2006) |
| Team competitions | |
| Davis Cup | QF (2006,2010) |
| Coaching career (2018–) | |
| |
Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (Latin American Spanish:[feɾˈnandoɣonˈsales];[a] born 29 July 1980) is a Chilean former professionaltennis player. During his career, he reached at least the quarterfinals of all fourmajor tournaments. He contested his only major final at the2007 Australian Open, losing to top-seededRoger Federer. González is the fourth man in history to have won anOlympic tennis medal in every color, with gold in doubles and bronze in singles atAthens 2004, and silver in singles atBeijing 2008. The gold medal that González won partneringNicolás Massú at the2004 Olympics in men's doubles wasChile's first-ever Olympic gold medal. During his career, González defeated many top players, includingLleyton Hewitt,Andre Agassi, Federer (all while they held the top spot),Novak Djokovic,Rafael Nadal,Andy Roddick,Juan Carlos Ferrero,Carlos Moyá,Gustavo Kuerten,Marat Safin,Pete Sampras, andAndy Murray. González qualified twice for the year-end Masters Cup event and was runner-up at two Masters Series tournaments. González was known for having one of the strongest forehands on the tour.[1] In Spanish he is nicknamedEl Bombardero de La Reina ("The Bomber from La Reina") andMano de Piedra ("Hand of Stone").
At the age of four, González split his time playing both football and tennis. His father, an amateur tennis player, was able to persuade his son to choose tennis over football. González began playing tennis at the age of six and moved with his family toLa Reina, in eastern Santiago, where he practiced with hiscoach Claudio González (no relation) atClub La Reina three times a week.
In 1988, when he was eight years old, González and his father spent a month and a half in the United States, training and participating in tennis championships. In 1992, his entire family moved to the U.S. for four years. They settled inMiami, where González honed his skills at the Patricio Apey Academy.
González played his first junior match in August 1995 at the age of 15, at a grade 5 tournament inEl Salvador. As a junior, he won theUS Open boys' doubles (with compatriotNicolás Massú) in 1997, and theFrench Open singles (defeating a youngJuan Carlos Ferrero in the final) and doubles (with VenezuelanJosé de Armas) in 1998. That year, at the age of 17, he made hisDavis Cup debut in Chile's tie against Argentina, losing in four sets toFranco Squillari. He won his first Davis Cup tie in a doubles rubber, partnering with Massú. González reached as high as No. 4 in the world in singles and No. 2 in doubles.
González achieved success at the Futures level in 1998. In the three Futures events held in Chile that year, he reached two semifinals and defeated ItalianEnzo Artoni in the final in Santiago.
Junior Grand Slam results - Singles:
Australian Open: A (-)
French Open:W (1998)
Wimbledon: 3R (1997)
US Open: QF (1998)
Junior Grand Slam results - Doubles:
Australian Open: A (-)
French Open:W (1998)
Wimbledon: 1R (1997)
US Open:W (1997)
González became a professional in 1999. Early in the year, he played mainly at the Futures level. He reached his firstChallenger quarterfinal in Edinburgh and played his firstATP tournament inWashington, where he defeatedIvan Ljubičić in the first round before losing toMarc Rosset.
González won his firstATP Tour title in May 2000 when he defeated Massú at theU.S. Men's Clay Court Championships final in Orlando, Florida. It was the first all-Chilean ATP final sinceJaime Fillol defeatedRicardo Acuña in the 1982 Itaparica final.
In January 2001, González played at theAustralian Open for the first time, losing in the first round toGuillermo Coria in four sets. In May, he made his debut atRoland Garros's main singles draw, reaching the second round. He continued to play Challengers and smaller ATP events throughout the year, with notable results including a final at the Montevideo Challenger (losing toDavid Nalbandian), and semifinals at Zagreb and Lima.
In February 2002, González won his second career ATP title in Viña del Mar by defeatingNicolás Lapentti in the final. Later that year, he won his third title in Palermo, Italy, and reached the semifinals at theCincinnati Masters (defeating seededTim Henman andAndy Roddick en route), and the quarterfinals at the US Open. In September, he surpassed former No. 1 playerMarcelo Ríos as the top Chilean in the singles rankings and was one of the most improved players on the ATP Tour, jumping 123 positions in the ATP singles rankings.
In May 2003, González reached the quarterfinals of Hamburg and theFrench Open. In between, he won theWorld Team Cup for Chile, winning all his singles and doubles matches. Later that year, he reached the finals of Washington and Metz and made the Stuttgart semifinals. In doubles, he and partnerTommy Robredo reached the semifinals in Miami.
In February 2004, González repeated hisViña del Mar title by defeatingGustavo Kuerten in the final. He also retained the World Team Cup with Chile. In August, at theOlympic Games in Athens, he and doubles partner Massú gave their country its first-ever Olympic gold medal when they defeatedNicolas Kiefer andRainer Schüttler of Germany to win the men's doubles tournament. He also won a bronze medal in the men's singles. González had to play the bronze medal match againstTaylor Dent and the doubles final on the same day. Additionally, he saved match points in both games, most notably four match points in the doubles final in the fourth-set tiebreak.
González began the season by taking the title inAuckland, New Zealand, which was his firsthard court title. In April, he won his first ATP doubles tournament (and second after the Olympics) inValencia (clay) with doubles partnerMartín Rodríguez. After reaching the quarterfinals atWimbledon in June, he went on to win theATP tournament in Amersfoort (clay), Netherlands, in the following month. He further proved his all-court versatility by winning the indoors-carpet singles title at Basel and also won the doubles title in the same tournament with partnerAgustín Calleri. His results in 2005 were good enough for him to attend the year-endMasters Cup in Shanghai first as a reserve and then as a player after the withdrawal ofAndre Agassi following his first match. González became the first Chilean to win a Masters match when he beatMariano Puerta and missed out on making the semifinal—and finishing the year as No. 11—after losing toGastón Gaudio in a match in which he had three match points.
In April, González became the third Chilean (after Ríos and Massú) to break into the top 10 singles ranking. In May, he reached No. 10 in the world after winning a quarterfinal match at theMonte-Carlo Masters, shortly after parting ways with longtime coachHoracio de la Peña. He was then replaced byLarry Stefanki. After reaching his firstMasters Series singles final inMadrid (losing toRoger Federer in straight sets) in October, he ascended to world No. 7. He finished the year ranked No. 10.
In January, González reached theAustralian Open singles final, becoming the first Chilean to have reached the quarterfinals in all four Grand Slam tournaments, and the fourth Chilean (third male) to reach a Grand Slam final. En route to the final, he defeatedEvgeny Korolev,Juan Martín del Potro,Lleyton Hewitt,James Blake, world No. 2Rafael Nadal, andTommy Haas. He lost to world No. 1 Roger Federer in straight sets.[2] On 29 January, he jumped to No. 5, his best career singles ranking, only five points behind No. 4. In May, he became the first Chilean to reach the finals of theRome Masters since Ríos won the title in 1998. At the US Open, González was upset byTeymuraz Gabashvili in a five-set thriller. From July to August, González went on a five-match losing streak, which ended in September when he captured theChina Open tournament title in Beijing. In November, he became the first Chilean since Ríos in 1998 to directly qualify for theTennis Masters Cup. In his opening match, he staged a huge upset by beating top-ranked Federer for the first time in eleven encounters. He then lost to Andy Roddick andNikolay Davydenko, finishing last in his group. He ended the season at No. 7, his highest year-end ranking to date.
At theAustralian Open in January, González failed to defend all his points from the previous year, causing him to fall from No. 7 to No. 24 in the ATP singles rankings. However, he bounced back the following week, winning his home event atViña del Mar for the third time and rising to No. 16. In May, he won his tenth ATP title at theBMW Open in Munich. The following month, he reached the quarterfinals of theFrench Open for the second time, losing to top seed Roger Federer in four sets.
In August, González represented Chile at theBeijing Olympics in both singles and doubles events, where he was his country's standard-bearer at theopening ceremony. As in Athens 2004, he partnered with Massú in doubles, but was unable to defend his gold, exiting in the first round. In singles, he improved his Olympic record, clinching a silver medal after beating James Blake in the semifinals. In the gold medal match, he lost in straight sets to Rafael Nadal.
At theUS Open in September, he lost in the fourth round to former local champion Andy Roddick, 2–6, 4–6, 1–6. He ended the season at No. 15. In November, at the end of the season, Stefanki stopped coaching González after receiving a job offer from Roddick.[3] On 12 December, González announced he had hired former Argentine playerMartín Rodríguez as his new full-time coach for 2009.[4][5]
In the first round of theAustralian Open, González prevailed in a five-set thriller over Lleyton Hewitt, which lasted for 3 hours and 7 minutes. In the third round, he came back from two sets down to defeatRichard Gasquet of France in a match that lasted over four hours, with a score of 3–6, 3–6, 7–6, 6–2, 12–10. However, he bowed out of the tournament with a straight-sets defeat against world No. 1 and eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.
At theViña del Mar tournament in February, González claimed victory once again, taking the title for the fourth time in five finals. He overpowered all of his opponents with a solid display of tennis and did not drop a set throughout the entire tournament. In the final, he defeated his good friendJosé Acasuso, 6–1, 6–3. With this win, he returned to the top 15 in singles.
In early March, González missed theDavis Cup tie againstCroatia due to a back injury. In April, he resigned from theChile Davis Cup team, citing a violation of a confidentiality agreement. The local tennis federation had disclosed the amount of money won by the players at the tie against Australia. He conditioned his return on the resignation of the federation's current directive and promised to relinquish all his future Davis Cup proceeds for the "benefit of younger players."[6]
At the start of the clay-court season, González reached the semifinals inBarcelona andRome. However, he had to withdraw fromMunich andMadrid after twisting his ankle while signing autographs in Rome. At theFrench Open, he reached the semifinals for the first time by beating third seedAndy Murray in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he playedRobin Söderling, who had previously defeated top seed Rafael Nadal and Nikolay Davydenko. González came just two games away from winning that match during the fifth set, after holding an advantage of 4–1.
At the US Open, González reached the quarterfinals for the second time, beating seventh seedJo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round. He was defeated by third seed Rafael Nadal in a match repeatedly delayed by rain. The match was suspended on Thursday night with González trailing, 6–7, 6–6, down 2–3 in the tiebreaker. When the match resumed on Saturday, González was visibly flat, losing the remaining four points in the tiebreaker and not winning a game in the third set.
With his notable performances at the French and US Open, González achieved a career-high 14 victories in Grand Slam events during the year.
González won againstOlivier Rochus,Marsel İlhan, andEvgeny Korolev at theAustralian Open, but lost to Andy Roddick in the fourth round in a tense and controversial five-set match that lasted for 3 hours and 25 minutes. During the match, there was a disputed set point in the fourth set when a Roddick forehand winner was called out. Roddick challenged the call and Hawk-eye technology revealed that the ball was in. Therefore, Roddick won the set. González believed the point should have been replayed as he was in the right position and could have made a play on the ball if it had been called in. González lost the match 3–6, 6–3, 6–4, 5–7, 2–6.
Afterwards, González participated in theMovistar Open, which was held in Santiago for the first time that year instead of Viña del Mar, where he had won the previous two years. He made it to the semifinals but lost toThomaz Bellucci in three sets despite being a break up in the second set and only two games away from victory.
In theAbierto Mexicano Telcel, González made it to the semifinals, defeatingSam Querrey,Victor Hănescu, andEduardo Schwank in three sets before suffering a bad loss toDavid Ferrer. He then chose to skip the 1000 Masters in Indian Wells to travel to areas affected by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile.
In early March, González and his teammates defeated Israel in the Davis Cup to advance Chile to the quarterfinals. He then returned to the ATP Tour Masters 1000 in Miami, where he lost in the fourth round to Robin Söderling. He also hosted a benefit for the Chilean earthquake victims called Champions for Chile, appearing alongside Andy Roddick,Jim Courier, andGustavo Kuerten.
During the clay season, González played only one tournament in Houston, where he reached the quarterfinals. At Roland Garros, he was defeated in the second round and was sidelined for almost three months with a knee injury.
González returned to play in New Haven, where he lost in the second round toRadek Štěpánek. At the US Open, he retired from his first-round match againstIvan Dodig. On 21 September, González announced that he would undergo surgery on his right hip and possibly his right knee on 4 October, and was expected to be out for eight to nine months.
González announced he would return to Belgrade for "the start of the end of my career." He defeatedAlexandr Dolgopolov in the first round of Wimbledon and made it to the third round, but lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets.
On 9 February 2012, González announced that he would retire from professional tennis after the Miami Masters.[7] He played his last professional match on 21 March 2012 at Miami, losing in three sets toNicolas Mahut in the first round.[8]
González was born inSantiago. His father, Fernando González Ramírez, is the manager of the Molina flour mill in Santiago, and his mother, Patricia Ciuffardi, a housewife of Italian descent. He has an older sister, Patricia, and a younger sister, Jéssica. He studied primary school at Colegio de La Salle and finished secondary school at Colegio Terra Nova.
Since 2017, he had been in a relationship with retired Argentine field hockey playerLuciana Aymar,[9] and they have two children: a son, Félix, born in 2019,[10] and a daughter, Lupe, born in 2021.[11]
In July 2022, González announced that he and his family would be moving toMiami.[12]
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | A | A | 1R | 4R | 2R | 1R | 3R | 1R | F | 3R | 4R | 4R | A | A | 20–10 |
| French Open | A | A | Q1 | 2R | 3R | QF | 1R | 3R | 2R | 1R | QF | SF | 2R | A | A | 20–10 |
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | Q1 | 2R | 1R | 3R | QF | 3R | 3R | 2R | 3R | A | 3R | A | 16–9 |
| US Open | A | A | 2R | Q1 | QF | 3R | 1R | 3R | 3R | 1R | 4R | QF | 1R | 1R | A | 18–11 |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 10–4 | 7–4 | 2–4 | 10–4 | 5–4 | 8–4 | 10–4 | 14–4 | 4–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 74–40 |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2007 | Australian Open | Hard |  Roger Federer | 6–7(2–7), 4–6, 4–6 |
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | 2008 | Summer Olympics | Hard |  Rafael Nadal | 3–6, 6–7(2–7), 3–6 |
| Olympic Games | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Flagbearer for Chile 2008 Beijing | Succeeded by |
| Demonstration | |
|---|---|
| Indoor | |
| Outdoor |
|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
