Fernando González (tennis player)

Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (La Reina, Santiago, Chile, July 29, 1980) is a former Chilean tennis player, considered the best tennis player in his country during the 2000s. He won fourteen ATP World Cup titles, eleven singles (ATP 250) and three in doubles (one Olympic and two ATP 250). Individually, he reached the final of the Australian Open in 2007, as well as the Masters 1000 in Madrid in 2006 and Rome in 2007. His best singles ATP Ranking position was fifth in 2007 and in doubles, 25th in 2005. He finished in the top ten in the world in 2006 and 2007 and participated in the Masters Tournament in 2005 and 2007. In 2015 he reached world number 1 at the end of the season on the ATP Champions Circuit, where he has won three Titles.

He had one of the most powerful forehands on the circuit, even the "best attacking right hand in the history of tennis" according to numerous international specialists. In 2016 he was considered by the ATP as one of the twenty best tennis players in the Open Era without any Grand Slam titles.

He represented Chile in the Davis Cup —quarterfinalist in 2006 and 2010—, in the World Team Cup —champion in 2003 and 2004—, and in the Olympic Games —one gold, silver and bronze—, being the “person Chilean with the most Olympic medals in history". positions from 2002 to 2010.

Main achievements

González won eleven ATP titles and was a finalist eleven other times in Orlando, Palermo, Viña del Mar (four times), Auckland, Amerfoort, Basel, Beijing and Munich, most of them with his former coach Horacio de la Peña. Despite his titles, his greatest achievements were reaching the finals of important tournaments such as the Masters Series in Madrid 2006 and Rome 2007, and especially the grand final at the 2007 Australian Open. In these final instances he was defeated by Roger Federer, considered by many the best player in the history of tennis. Just like in the dispute for gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he was left with the silver medal in singles after losing to Nadal, and he was champion in doubles in Athens 2004 with his compatriot Nicolás Massú. In these games he also obtained the bronze medal by defeating the American Taylor Dent. After his participation in Australia, he achieved his best position in the ATP ranking, number 5. In doubles he won three titles, in Valencia 2004, Basel 2005 and the gold medal in Athens 2004, added to a final in Amersfoort.

Throughout his career he defeated several number ones, some being in that position such as Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer, and others such as Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moyá, Gustavo Kuerten, Novak Djokovic, Marat Safin and Pete Sampras out of that position. Against seven of them he has a positive record of confrontations including No. 1 at the time of his retirement, the Serbian Novak Djokovic, with a record of 2-1, the same as with his successor Andy Murray. He never played in an ATP tournament against his compatriot Marcelo Ríos, they only have a meeting in the Challenger of Santiago in 2001 with victory for the Chino. He also defeated other Top 5 tennis legends at least once, such as Michael Chang, Magnus Norman, Àlex Corretja, Tommy Haas, Guillermo Coria, David Nalbandian, Ivan Ljubičić, Greg Rusedski, Richard Krajicek, Sebastián Grosjean, Tim Henman, James Blake, David Ferrer, Juan Martín Del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Robin Söderling, Jiří Novák, Rainer Schüttler, Tomas Berdych, Tommy Robredo, Stanislas Wawrinka, Miloš Raonić, Marin Cilic and Kevin Anderson.

He has a record of 370 wins and 202 losses, with a performance of 64.7%, close to former number one Patrick Rafter, and above others such as Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gustavo Kuerten, Carlos Moyá, or Marat Safin.

Representing Chile, in addition to the aforementioned Olympic medals, he won the Düsseldorf World Team Cup twice in a row in its 2003 and 2004 editions, and in the Davis Cup, he reached the quarterfinals twice; together with Nicolás Massú, Paul Capdeville and Adrián García in the 2006 Davis Cup losing 3-2 against the American team, and in the 2010 Davis Cup being replaced by Adrián García, losing against the Czech Republic. In this he represented his country between 1998 and 2011, with a favorable record of 20-6 in singles, and 11-6 in doubles.

Personal life

His parents are Fernando González and Patricia Ciuffardi. She has two sisters, one older and one younger, named Patricia and Jessica respectively.

On a sentimental level, González had Millaray Viera, Daniela Castillo and the tennis player Gisella Dulko as partners. In June 2017, González and the Argentine ex-hock player Luciana Aymar confirmed an affair. The couple had their first son, Félix, in December 2019; and she is currently expecting her second child, as confirmed by González during a sports broadcast.

He studied at the Colegio de La Salle and at the Colegio Terra Nova^{[citation required]}, in the La Reina commune, Santiago, where he graduated from middle education.

He really likes soccer^{[citation needed]} and tries not to miss the games of the Chilean national team.^{[citation required]} He is also a well-known fan of Colo-Colo

Sports career

Youth stage (1996-1998)

He began playing at the La Reina Tennis Club, which was in front of his house. He was trained there by Professor Claudio González, the one many confused with Fernando's father due to the coincidence of the surname ^{[citation needed ]} . His parents were members and players at the Club, so González spent all day in that place, playing with any other member who was without a partner, regardless of his age. It is in those days that Fernando decides to dedicate himself seriously to tennis. Later, and after having been at the Hans Gildemeister Ranch, he travels with his family to Miami, where he continues his tennis career. In that place and with the support of his family, Fernando González achieved many victories, despite the fact that he never felt obliged to continue competing ^{[citation needed ]} . He became number one in the under-14 category. At 16, he returned to Chile to play as a youth player, where upon arrival and during training, he showed his great ability with his right foot, which had already become famous in junior tournaments, and his great speed, to which comes the nickname "Speedy González", the caricature of the speedy Mexican mouse. This is how Fernando began his professional career.

Fernando González had a successful career as a junior, reaching number one in the world after being crowned champion at Roland Garros in both doubles and singles, defeating young Juan Carlos Ferrero in the singles final. He also manages to win the US Open in doubles together with what would be his partner of great achievements, Nicolás Massú. González makes his tennis debut at the Challenger in Santiago, losing to Argentine Martín Rodríguez 1-6, 3-6. The following year Fernando disputes Futures in Latin America, where he reaps good results at the end of the year to finish the ranking at 1057. In 1998 Fernando also debuted as a representative of Chile in the Davis Cup at age 17, losing against Argentine Franco Squillari losing 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 0-6, after this defeat, he continues in Latin America playing futures, and professionally plays his second Challenger in the city of Gramado, where he manages to advance to the second round for the first time in a Challenger defeating South African Damien Roberts 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, but then fell to Barry Cowan 2-6, 7-6, 3-6. He also contests the Santiago Challenger as a wild card, where he falls to one of the top seeds Peter Wessels 2-6, 4-6. Fernando then leads the way to Future Chile F1 and F2, where in both futures he reaches the semifinals, and in Chile F3 he establishes himself as champion by defeating Enzo Artoni 6-1, 6-2. He ends his participation that year in the other Challenger in Santiago, losing in the first round to Rogier Wassen 4-6, 2-6, ending the year in 694th place.

Professional start (1999-2004)

1999

González started in a good way in 1999, defending his country in the Davis Cup, in the America Zone, where Chile beat the Bahamas 5-0, Fernando played two games and in both he was victorious, beating Mark Knowles 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3 and John Farrington 6-4, 6-3. After that, Fernando disputes the future tournaments Italy F1, Chile F1, Greece F4, Greece F5 and Germany F7, where his best result was obtained in the future of Germany, where he reached the semifinals. After that, he reaches the Scheveninge Challengers, where he falls in the first round, then reaches the quarterfinals in Edinburgh and again falls in the first round now in Belo Horizonte.

Then he played his first ATP tournament in the Washington Tournament against the Croatian Ivan Ljubicic where in a match that seemed dominated by the Croatian winning the first set by a resounding 6-1, González recovered and managed to win the next two sets by 6-3 and 6-4, also being his first match won in an ATP tournament. In the second round he would not have the same luck and fell in a great match against the Swiss Marc Rosset 6-7 (9), 4-6. Fernando would finish the year in the Challengers of Santiago and Montevideo, in both, being in the second round, and thus he would end the year 1999 in the 415 ranking.

2000

The year 2000 began playing the Davis Cup against Canada in the American Zone 1, where he would defeat Sébastien Lareau 2-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 and later in the doubles together with Nicolás Massu defeated Lareau and Robichaud by a score of 6-4, 6-4, 2-6 and 6-2 ensuring the victory for Chile 3-0, then he played Chile F1 where he fell in the second round, and continued to play the Santiago Tournament thanks to a Wild Card, his second tournament at a professional level to play, but this time he would lose in the first round against Ronald Agenor at that time 88th in the ATP ranking by 3-6, 6 -3, 6-7(4). Later he would have a terrible participation in the futures of Chile F3, Argentina F1 and Argentina F2, falling in the first round in all three futures, he would continue to play the Challenger in San Luis de Potosí, falling in the second round against Nicolás Massú, his compatriot. Fernando reaches his third ATP tournament, the Orlando Tournament, which he entered after qualifying. Already in the main draw he successively defeated the Filipino Cecil Mamiit, the French Anthony Dupuis and the Thai Paradorn Srichaphan in straight sets to access the semifinals, there he met the Argentine Martín Rodríguez whom he defeated in three sets winning 6-0, 3 -6 and 7-5. In the final, he would be crowned champion at just 19 years old by beating his compatriot Nicolás Massú, achieving a rematch against the latter, winning 6-2, 6-3 and climbing from position 352 to 144 in the ranking, all this in May of the year 2000. It was also the first ATP final between Chileans since Jaime Fillol defeated Ricardo Acuña in the Itaparica 1982 final. After this he would play Challengers in Europe, and also competed in the Stuttgart Tournament losing in the first round against Franco Squillari, and in the Washington Tournament he was in the second round. He would play his first Grand Slam, the US Open where he again had to play the qualification to enter the main draw, and there he met the Filipino Cecil Mamiit again in the 1st round, whom he beat 6-3, 6-4 and 6-1. In the second round he lost to 11th seed Tim Henman of Great Britain by a score of 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. After this he would contest two more Challengers, ending the year as 115.

2001

In 2001, Fernando did not start in the best way, losing in the first round in the Chennai Tournament and the Australian Open (this being his first participation in the Grand Slam of Oceania), February arrives and he disputes the Viña Tournament del Mar via Wild Card where he beat another WC in the first round, Spanish Tommy Robredo 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) and then lost in the second round to the Also Spanish Francisco Clavet by partials of 6-0, 5-7 and 7-5, after this, he disputed the Memphis Tournament and the Challengers of Salinas and Bermuda, where in all three he would finish in the second round. In May, he made his debut in the main draw at Roland Garros after qualifying (Q), and in the first round he beat local Cyril Saulnier 2-6, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 and 6-4, in In the second round, he lost against the Spanish Jacobo Díaz in four sets by 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 and 6-4, and from there, for González everything was bad, he began to lose positions in the ranking, and he could not find himself again. With his tennis, he would have good performances at the Challenger in Lima and Zagreb where he finished in the semifinals, and in Montevideo where he lost the final to David Nalbandian in three sets and would end the year as 139th in the ATP ranking.

2002

The year 2002 means Fernando's explosion at a professional level. He managing to display the high level that he had shown in lower categories, but now as an adult.

At the Australian Open he achieved a great performance to reach the round of 16 after again passing the qualifying phase, he successively beat Sargis Sargsian, Tommy Robredo and Alex Kim in straight sets, there he faced the Austrian Stefan Koubek losing In four sets of 7-5, 6-1, 6-7(3) and 6-2, this good tournament allowed him to climb several ranks in the ranking, rising from 140 in the world to 89. After a week off he played for Second time the Viña del Mar Tournament in his native Chile, again receiving a Wild Card, he beat Agustín Calleri, Félix Mantilla, José Acasuso, and the Frenchman Nicolas Coutelot all in straight sets to advance to the final where he faced the Ecuadorian Nicolás Lapentti whom he defeated 6-3, 6-7(5) and 7-6(4) winning the tournament in his country for the first time.

Later, in March, he played the Miami Masters for the first time in his career again, just like in the previous important tournaments he played, he entered from qualifying. Already in the main draw, in the first round he beat the Belgian Christophe Rochus 6-1, 6-2, in the second round he beat the 21st seed Carlos Moyá 6-4, 6-2. In the third round he defeated the American Pete Sampras 7-6(1) and 6-1. Fernando thus defeated the best player of the nineties and one of the best in history, being one of the players he had admired since he was a child enormously. In the fourth round he lost to world No. 6 Marat Safin by double 6-3.

For his first European clay tour he would have decent results: he lost in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 against Andy Roddick in two tight tiebreaks; at the Rome Masters he made it to the third round losing to American James Blake, before dispatching sixth seed Tim Henman in the first round. In the Hamburg Masters he was eliminated in the second round and at Roland Garros he lost in the third round against the two-time defending champion Gustavo Kuerten in four sets 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (6) and 6-4 in a great match of the chilean.

Later on the North American cement tour he would get a great result at the Cincinnati Masters; in the first two rounds he beat Arnaud Clément, Tim Henman in straight sets. In the third round he defeated Dutchman Richard Krajicek 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. In the quarterfinals he beat local and world number 12 Andy Roddick double 7-6 to reach his first semifinal of a Masters 1000 at his young 22 years, there he faced world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt losing in close three sets by a score of 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-2. And then at the US Open he managed to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time, leaving Paul-Henri Mathieu, Kenneth Carlsen, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Arnaud Clément on the road, there he lost in a very tight score of 7- 6(5), 3-6, 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-7(2) against the Dutchman Sjeng Schalken.

Later, Fernando would manage to win his third title in the Palermo Tournament in Italy, against José Acasuso by 5-7, 6-3 and 6-1 and later he would lose in the final of the Basel Tournament against David Nalbandian by 4-6 3-6 and 2-6, but leaving Davide Sanguinetti, Nicolás Lapentti, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Arnaud Clément on the road. Based on all these good results, González became known in the world of tennis, already belonging to the elite of the twenty best players in the world, finishing No. 18 in the ATP ranking, rising 123 places compared to where he finished the previous year and from Paso displaced Marcelo Ríos as number one in Chile in September.

2003

In the year 2003 Fernando has difficulties to show the level of the year 2002.

In May he finally achieved good results during the season by reaching the quarterfinals at the Hamburg Masters losing to David Nalbandian in three close sets (he had previously defeated world no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt) and in Roland Garros, losing to the No. 3 in the world, the Spanish Juan Carlos Ferrero.

In the middle of the European clay court tour and representing Chile, he won the 2003 World Team Cup together with Marcelo Ríos and Nicolás Massú in Düsseldorf on clay, winning all his matches in singles and doubles, in the final they defeated the Czech Republic 2 -1, thus capitalizing on the contemporaneity of these great Chilean tennis players and their power as a team, giving the country an unprecedented achievement.

Later in the year, he reached the final at the tournaments in Washington, defeating Julien Benneteau, Mario Ancic, Max Mirnyi and Andre Agassi, but was defeated by Tim Henman in straight sets, and in Metz, after beating Christophe Rochus, Tomas Behrend, David Ferrer and Andrei Pavel, in the final he was defeated by Frenchman Arnaud Clément by a score of 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. And he also reached the semifinals in Stuttgart.

She finished the year ranked #35 in the world.

2004

In 2004 he was crowned champion for the second time at the ATP 250 in Viña del Mar. In the first round he beat the Spanish Albert Montañés 6-1 and 7-5, in the second round he beat his compatriot Adrián García by 7-5, 6-1. In the quarterfinals, he defeated the main seed and his friend Nicolás Massú 7-6 (4) and 6-3. In the semifinals he beat Brazilian Flávio Saretta by an easy 6-2, 6-3 and in the final he defeated former world number 1 Gustavo Kuerten by 7-5, 6-4, winning the tournament without dropping sets.

The following month his most notable result was reaching the semifinals of the Miami Masters; In his first two rounds, he beat Karol Kučera and Jiří Novák to face a 17-year-old Spaniard named Rafael Nadal (the executioner of No. 1 Roger Federer in the previous round) in the round of 16, and managed to beat him with considerable difficulty by 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-2. In the quarterfinals he defeated Andrei Pavel in straight sets and in the semifinals he lost to Argentine Guillermo Coria by a score of 6-4, 6-7(6), 1-6.

Later, in May he managed to be crowned twice champion of the Düsseldorf World Team Cup consecutively on clay, together with Nicolás Massú again but this time without the presence of Marcelo Ríos if not Adrián García. In July he reached the final in Amersfoort losing to the Dutchman Martin Verkerk.

In August he played in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games representing Chile and would achieve a feat never seen before in the history of the country, he enrolled in the men's doubles modality partnering with his friend Nicolás Massú. In the first round he beat the Bahamians Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein 7-5, 6-4. In the second round they ran into the sixth seeded Argentines Gastón Etlis and Martín Rodríguez, beating them 6-3, 7-6 (2). In the quarterfinals, they faced the favorite couple of the tournament, the Americans Bob and Mike Bryan, who were 3rd in the world in doubles. However, the Chileans managed to hit the ground running by winning 7-5, 6-4. In the semifinals they faced the Croatians Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic, beating them 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, which meant going to the final. There they faced the Germans Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schüttler on August 22, 2004, and in an exciting match of 3 hours and 43 minutes (the Teutons came with two days off unlike the Chileans) they won in five sleeves by 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(7) and 6-4 thus Chile achieved the first Olympic gold medal in its history, also saving four gold medal points in the tiebreak of the 4th when he fell 6-2.

He also signed up for the singles modality, ranked as the 16th seed where he faced the Greek wild card Konstantinos Economidis (239th), beating him 7-6(6), 6-2. In the second round he beat South Korean Hyung-Taik Lee (78th) 7-5, 6-2. In the third round he beat American Andy Roddick, world no. 2, by double 6-4. And in the quarterfinals he defeated the French Sébastien Grosjean, 8th seed, 6-2, 2-6 and 6-4. In the semifinals, he played the American Mardy Fish (22nd) on Friday, August 20, easily winning the first set 6-3, however, he sprained his ankle in the second game of the second set, which prevented him from continue playing normally and despite fighting throughout the match González fell 6-3, 3-6, 4-6. The next day on Saturday August 21, González played somewhat touched for the bronze medal against Taylor Dent, match who ended up winning 6-4, 2-6 and 16-14, coming back from two medal points. Thus, Fernando achieved his two medals in an almost heroic way, with exhausting matches in both doubles and singles, a merit that was widely recognized by both the public as well as the press when they were invited to the presidential palace of La Moneda by former president Ricardo Lagos where a crowd of fans gave euphoric thanks while Fernando and Nicolás waved from the presidential balcony. All this increased the popularity of both overwhelmingly tennis players.

Fernando managed to end the year once again as part of the world tennis elite with a ranking of No. 23, and a promising future.

Heyday (2005-2009)

Fernando González at the World Cup for Teams in Düsseldorf 2005.

2005

He started the season at the Auckland Tournament, reaching the final after beating James Blake, Mariano Zabaleta, Robby Ginepri, Juan Ignacio Chela in straight sets. He won the tournament by beating the Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-4, 6-2, starting the year in the best way, winning his first tournament on hard courts, then he played the Australian Open, reaching the third round where he lost in four sets to David Nalbandian. The following month he played the Viña del Mar Tournament in Chile as the second seed, in the 1st round he beat Peter Luczak 6-3, 5-7 and 6-4; in the second round he beat Nicolás Almagro 7-6 (4), 7-5; in the quarterfinals he beat Mariano Zabaleta with some difficulties by a score of 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(2). In the semifinals he defeated the Italian Filippo Volandri in another long-suffering match 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to reach the final without showing a great level, there he lost to the Argentine and 1st seed Gastón Gaudio 6-3, 6-4.

He had a discreet participation in the first American hard court tour and the European clay court tour not reaching the quarterfinals in any tournament, even so he won his first title in doubles (and the second after the Olympic Games), in Valencia (clay) together with Martín Rodríguez, defeating the Argentines Lucas Arnold Ker and Mariano Hood in the final, 6-4.

The Queen's Bomber would reach the quarterfinals for the first time at Wimbledon, reaching that stage without losing sets, where he would fall against the Swiss Roger Federer 7-5, 6-2 and 7-6(2). Continuing with his good performance, he would win the Amersfoort Tournament a few weeks later against the Argentine Agustín Calleri 7-5, 6-3.

He would reach the third round at the US Open, losing again to Nalbandian 7-5, 6-3, 6-0. Weeks later he played the 2005 Davis Cup playoff with Pakistan from September 23-25 at the National Stadium in Santiago (Chile), he played 2 duels in the categorical Chilean triumph by 5-0. On the first day he beat Aqeel Khan 6-0 6-0 6-1 and in the doubles he maintained the category with Nicolás Massú beating the Khan / Haq Qureshi duo 6-1 6-3 6-0.

October would be a great month for the tennis player as he reached the quarterfinals of the Vienna Tournament and the Madrid Masters, losing on both occasions to Croatian Iván Ljubicic, and winning the Basel Tournament on hard court (under ceiling), both in doubles and singles, in singles he started beating Andreas Seppi and Michael Berrer in straight sets, in the quarterfinals he defeated British Wild Card Andy Murray 6-4, 3-6 and 6-1; in the semifinals he beat Dominik Hrbatý by a resounding 6-0, 6-3. He won the tournament beating the emerging Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-7 (8), 6-3, 7-5 and 6-4. While In the doubles with Agustín Calleri they defeated Stephen Huss and Wesley Moodie by a double 7-5.

The results in 2005 were good enough for him to attend the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, first as a substitute, and then Andre Agassi's retirement after his first match. González made his debut in the Masters Cup against Argentine Mariano Puerta, defeating him 6-3, 4-6 and 6-0, thus becoming the first Chilean to win a Masters Cup match. He missed out on reaching the semifinal after losing to Gastón Gaudio 6-1, 5-7, 5-7 in a match in which he had three match points. Thus Fernando ended his year and managed to touch the Top Ten ending a great year ranked No. 11 in the world ranking.

2006

2006 was the most regular year of Fernando González despite not achieving any title, achieved the most points achieved by him in the Race 406 (approximately 4060 points of the current ranking system), and also its first year completed within the Top 10.

He reached the quarterfinals at the Auckland Tournament, losing to Mario Ančić by a resounding 0-6, 3-6. He would have a disappointing participation in the Australian Open, losing in the first round with the American Alex Bogomolov Jr. No. 202 in the ranking. After a low start to the season, he would recover his good level in the Viña del Mar Tournament, reaching the semifinals after beat Vasilis Mazarakis, Juan Martín del Potro and Boris Pašanski in straight sets, there he faced his compatriot and friend Nicolás Massú losing in an epic duel of more than 3 hours by 6-3, 6-7(3), 4 -6 ending around 2 AM Chilean time.

A week later he played the round of 16 of the Davis Cup against Slovakia together with Nicolás Massú, Adrián García and Paul Capdeville at the Medialuna Monumental in Rancagua on clay, he opened the series beating Michal Mertiňák in straight sets and then with Massú closed the key by defeating the Slovak duo Lacko/Mertiňák in four sets, thus Chile qualified for the quarterfinals, a stage in which they had not played since 1982. There they faced the tennis powerhouse United States, a series that they played between 7 to April 9 at the Mission Hills Country Club in California on grass. Feña opened the series by beating James Blake 6-7 (5), 0-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 and 10-8 in an epic match in 4 hours and 20 minutes, coming back from 2 adverse sets for the first time in his career. Then Chile lost the next two points being 1-2 down and González played the fourth point against Andy Roddick with the mission of extending the series to a fifth point, something that did not happen and finally the American won 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 and 6-2 closing the key that was a 3-2 victory for the North Americans.

He obtained very positive results in the Masters 1000 on clay: in the first in Monte Carlo he beat the Spaniards Carlos Moyá and Feliciano López in the first two rounds in 3 sets. In the 3rd round he beat Robin Söderling 6-2, 3-1 and withdrew from the Swede and in the quarterfinals he beat Iván Ljubicic 7-5, 6-1. In the semifinals he lost to Roger Federer 6-2 and 6-4. And that is how on April 24, 2006 After his good performance in Monte Carlo, he entered the Top Ten of the ATP Ranking, becoming the third Chilean to do so after Marcelo Ríos and Nicolás Massú, under the legacy of Horacio de la Peña and the contributions of his new coach Larry Stefanki, who will coach Marcelo Ríos until he reached No. 1 in the world. In Rome he also put in another good performance; he beat Stan Wawrinka, Mikhail Yuzhny and Tomás Berdych to reach the quarterfinals where he lost to the king of clay court Rafael Nadal by a score of 4-6, 3-6. Already in the Hamburg Masters he only reached the third round losing to Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 2-6 and 3-6.

He had disappointing performances in the next two Grand Slams; At Roland Garros he reached the second round, being eliminated by the unknown Serbian (and today one of the best tennis players in history) Novak Djokovic, only 19 years old, 4-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 1 -6. And in Wimbledon he reached the third round losing to the Spanish David Ferrer in five sets after winning 2-0 in sets, paradoxically in his previous match he beat Marat Safin in five sets and vice versa, coming back from 2 sets behind.

He had strong performances on the second North American hardcourt tour reaching the semifinals of both the Canadian and Cincinnati Masters, losing to Federer and Roddick. At the US Open he disappointed, losing in the third round to Andy Murray in a hard-fought four-set Thus, the Chilean closed the season without reaching the fourth round in any of the 4 Grand Slams.

He continued with his good results in the Vienna Tournament, reaching the quarterfinals after beating Gilles Simón and Carlos Moyá in straight sets, there he finally defeated his "black beast" David Nalbandian 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. In the semifinals, he took revenge on Roddick by beating him 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in a great game, before losing to Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in the final.

The following week, he played the Madrid Masters. He made his debut in the 2nd round when he was the 10th seed against the Thai Paradorn Srichaphan, defeating him 7-5, 6-7 (5) and 6-4 in a tough match; He directly agreed to the quarterfinals after the no-show (W/O) of Joachim Johansson, there he faced the 17th in the world Novak Djokovic whom he beat in another tough match 7-5, 5-7 and 7-5 thus leading the H2H forever with the Serbian 2-1 since this was their last meeting. In the semifinals he beat the Czech Tomáš Berdych by a clear 6-3, 6-1 to reach his first ATP Masters Series final, where he lost with world number 1 Roger Federer 5-7, 1-6 and 0-6, although it was still worth it to rise to seventh place in the world ranking. Barely without a break, he played for the third consecutive week in Basel, reaching the semifinals after beating Simone Bolelli 7-6(3) 6-7(2) 7-6(3), Mardy Fish 6-7(5) 6-4 7-6(8) and Argentine Will Card Juan Martín del Potro 5-7 6-4 and 6-4. In the semifinals, he beat local Stan Wawrinka 6-4 double to play his 3rd final in 3 consecutive tournaments, where he again lost to Federer by a score of 6-3, 6-2 and 7-6 (3)..

2006 turned out to be the most regular year in Fernando's career, who despite not winning any title, achieved the most points he has had in the Race with 406 points (approximately 4060 points from the current ranking system), and allowing him to finish the year for the first time in the Top Ten, ranked No. 10 in the world.

2007

Fernando González in his successful participation in the Open of Australia 2007.

He started 2007 in great shape, he debuted at the Australian Open as the tenth seed against the Russian Yevgueni Koroliov, whom he managed to beat 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3 and 6- 2. In the second round, he faced the Argentine promise Juan Martín del Potro, winning in a difficult match by 7-6(7), 4-6, 6-7(3), 6-4, 4-0 and retirement. In 3 In the 1st round he beat the local and former world number 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-2, 5-7 and 6-4. After two somewhat difficult games he played three exorbitant games, in the 4th round he beat the 5th in the world James Blake by a score of 7-5, 6-4 and 7-6(4) thus became the first Chilean to reach the Quarterfinals in the 4 Grand Slams. There he overwhelmingly defeated the No. 2 in the world Rafael Nadal tripled 6-2 to access the first Grand Slam semifinals of his career, there he played another perfect match against the No. 12 in the world Tommy Haas who he crushed 6-1, 6-3 and 6-1 game that was the best of his career in the words of González himself, with 42 winners, 3 unforced errors, and defeating the former 2 in the world in just 91 minutes, thus accessing his only final of Grand Slam (fourth Chilean and third man to do so) conceding three straight wins without losing sets against three Top 15 players. In the final he played with the best player of the moment and world no. 1 Roger Federer with whom he lost in three even sets by 6-7(2), 4-6, 4-6. After showing the best tennis of his career, on January 29 Fernando reached position No. 5 in the ATP Ranking, the best ranking of his career and only five points out of fourth place.

Without a break, he participated in the Viña del Mar Tournament together with an expectant Chilean fan and with great expectation, since if he defended his semifinals from the previous year he would become No. 4 in the world; He went down in the Round Robin format and qualified for the quarterfinals after beating Thiago Alves double 6-2 and Olivier Patience 5-7, 6-0 and 6-4. In the quarterfinals he was defeated by the Spanish Albert Montañés by a score of 3-6, 6-3, 4-6 and thus was only one game away from being Top 4. A few days later he played the first round of the Cup Davis 2007 against powerhouse Russia at the Universidad del Mar in La Serena on clay. He made his debut in the second point against Ígor Andréiev losing 6-4, 4-6, 3-6 and 2-6 thus Chile was 0-2 down in the series. The next day he played a key match in doubles with Nicolás Massú and they managed beat the Russian duo Safin/Andreiev in straight sets. On the last day of the series on Sunday, he defeated Safin 6-3, 7-5 and 6-4 in the 4th point, leaving everything in the last point where Massú fell to Andreiev 2-6, 1-6, 7 -6(1) and 4-6 thus the European team won 3-2.

Fernando Gonzalez during the Masters of Hamburg 2007 where he lost in quarters to the king of the beaten land Rafael Nadal.

He began the European clay court tour by losing in the second round in Monte Carlo against Igor Andreev. In the Rome Masters he managed to recover his great level at the beginning of the season: in the 2nd round he beat the Russian Dmitri Tursunov in straight sets, in the 3rd round he faced his compatriot Nicolás Massú and in an epic match between the Chileans González won 6-7(4), 6-3 and 6-4 in a duel that ended with the Italian spectators applauding their feet and increased their advantage in the H2H to 4-2. In the quarterfinals he beat the Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela 6 -3, 6-4. In the semifinals, he defeated the local Will Card Filippo Volandri by a resounding 6-1, 6-2 to play his second ATP Masters Series final and 1st on clay and also the first Chilean to play in the final of the Rome Masters since Marcelo Ríos won the tournament in 1998. In it he faced the King of Clay Rafael Nadal, with whom he lost double 6-2. Despite this Fernando recovered the 5th place in the ranking by obtaining 5620 points (only 10 points behind 4th place, Andy Roddick), this being the highest number of points obtained in Fernando's career. The following week he lost again with the Spaniard in the quarterfinals of the Hamburg Masters by double 6-4.

González then had a disappointing run at the Roland Garros, US Open and US Open Grand Slams, reaching as far as the first round in the first two, and the third round in the latter. Fernando thus loses the opportunity to fight for positions among the first 5 in the world.

However, the following week of the US Open Fernando obtains his eighth title, in the Beijing Tournament; in the 1st round he defeated Alexander Peya 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. In the second round he beat his compatriot Paul Capdeville 6-1, 6-2, in the quarterfinals he beat Korean Lee Hyung-Taik 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-4 and in the semifinals he defeated Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 2-6, 6-3 and 6-4 to settle in the final. There he got rid of Tommy Robredo 6-1 3-6 6-1 and thus break the record of not winning an ATP title in almost two years achieving his eighth trophy and third on a hard court.

In the Madrid Masters he reached the quarterfinals after beating Nicolás Almagro and Juan Mónaco in straight sets and there he lost to the German Nicolas Kiefer 7-6(5) and 6-2, this allowed him for the first time in his career to qualify directly for the Tennis Masters Cup, this time as No. 7 in the world, becoming the first Chilean to qualify for the masters tournament since Marcelo Ríos in 1998.

He was placed in the Red Group with the Swiss Roger Federer, the Russian Nikolai Davydenko and the American Andy Roddick. In his first match he faced the strongest rival in the group: Federer and to the surprise of many and for the first time in eleven matches he beat the Swiss and current monarch 3-6 7-6(1) and 7-5. Later in In his second match he had to face Roddick in which he fell unappealably 1-6 and 4-6. In his third match he had to beat Davydenko to advance to the semifinals, something that did not happen and again he lost in straight sets 3-6, 4-6. Thus, he was last in the Group with a baggage of 1-2.

González ended 2007 fulfilling his hopes of qualifying directly for the Tennis Masters Cup, and improving his final ranking, ending the year as world No. 7 (his best ranking at the end of the season), in addition to winning a ATP title. Despite having an irregular performance during the year, his arrival at the finals of the Australian Open and the Rome Masters helped him to stay in the top ten list throughout the year, in addition to maintaining his leadership. as the best Latin American tennis player. For all these merits, in December 2007 he was awarded as the best athlete of the year in Chile in any specialty.

2008

2008 did not start in the best way for González as he was unable to defend the Australian Open final after losing in the third round to 19-year-old Croatian Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7(4), 6 -3 and 6-1. This meant that Fernando González dropped 17 places in the ranking to finish as the 24th in the world. However, he took revenge the following week by being crowned champion of the Viña del Mar Tournament, he began by defeating Paul Capdeville, Diego Hartfield, Carlos Berlocq in straight sets to reach the semifinals, there he defeated the emerging Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas 6-7 (4), 7-6(6) and 6-2 in three hours and 4 minutes, thus he was crowned champion of the final contest, it was necessary to play the final since hours before the duel, the Argentine Juan Mónaco dropped out of the final due to injury, thus González won his first title of the year, 6th on clay and ninth overall. It was also the third time he had triumphed in his country's tournament and thus rose eight places in the Ranking to 16th place.

April begins by playing the final of the American Zone 1 against Canada at the National Stadium in Santiago de Chile on clay; he opens the series beating Peter Polansky 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), 5-7 and 6-2. Then on Saturday together with Nicolás Massú he closed the series 3-0 by beating the Canadian duo Daniel Nestor/Frédéric Niemeyer in five sets and coming from a 0-2 down in sets, finally Chile won the series 3-2 and assured playing the World Group playoffs in September. After this, Fernando decides to rest and not play the Monte Carlo Masters, to return to the courts in May at the ATP 250 in Munich as the 2nd seed, in the 1st round he beat Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-4; in the 2nd round he defeated the Belgian Kristof Vliegen 1-6, 7-5 and 6-3. In the quarterfinals he defeated Russian Will Card Marat Safin 6-3, 7-5, and in the semifinals he defeated Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the final. There he defeated the Italian Simone Bolelli in three sets by partials of 7-6(4), 6-7(4) and 6-3, achieving the tenth title of his career, second of the year and seventh on clay, and his tenth consecutive victory. on clay so far this season, in addition to being at the gates of the top ten list. Barely without rest, he played the Masters in Rome, in the 1st round he defeated the Serbian Janko Tipsarević in a tough match by 3 -6, 7-6(0) and 7-6(6). In the 2nd round he beat the Russian Yevgueni Koroliov by an easy 6-3 and 6-2, in the 3rd round he had to face the Spanish Nicolás Almagro but he withdrew due to injury, due to this he also withdrew from the Hamburg Masters.

He arrived at Roland Garros between cotton wool, but still managed a good participation. He started in the 1st round as the 24th seed and more easily beat Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas than in Viña 6-3, 6-3, 6-1; in the second round he beat the Spanish Pablo Andújar in four sets by partials of 7-5, 6-0, 6-7(4), 7-6(3). In the third round he faced the recent finalist from Rome and Seeded 9th Stan Wawrinka, whom he defeated in a five-set battle and after winning 2 sets by 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 and 6-4. In the 4th round he defeated to one of the surprises of the tournament Robby Ginepri in straight sets by 7-6(4), 6-3 and 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals for the second time in Paris, there he was defeated by the No. 1 in the world Roger Federer for the 11th time in the history between the two 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 and losing a streak of 16 consecutive victories on clay. In the first round of Wimbledon he defeated the American again Robby Ginepri 7-6(3), 7-5 and 7-5, in the second round he faced the Italian Simone Bolelli who would have his revenge after what happened in Munich, defeating him in four sleeves 6-7(8), 6-7(7), 6-3 and 6-7(4).

Once Wimbledon concluded, Mano de Piedra prepared to play in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in August, where he was the official flag bearer of the Chilean delegation at the opening ceremony and represented Chile in modality of singles and doubles. As in Athens 2004 he partnered with Nicolás Massú in men's doubles, but they could not defend their gold, losing in the first round against Dmitri Tursunov and Mikhail Yuzhny by 7-6(5) and 6-4. In singles, his participation improved, unlike Athens. As the 12th seed and in the first round he beat local double Peng Sun 6-4. In the second round, he beat Croatian Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-2. In the third round he defeated the Belgian Olivier Rochus by an easy 6-0 and 6-3, in the quarterfinals he dispatched the French Paul-Henri Mathieu by double 6-4 and thus reached the semifinals without losing sets and playing beastly tennis. There he defeated the American No. 7 in the ATP ranking, James Blake, in an exciting match by a score of 4-6, 7-5 and 11-9 in the third set. In what became a historic milestone for his career since it was his 300th victory on the circuit, and for his country, by installing a Chilean for the second consecutive Olympics in a tennis final. Mano de Piedra faced on Sunday, August 17, the No. 2 in the world, the Spanish Rafael Nadal, with whom he lost the gold medal in a good match between & # 34; Feña & # 3. 4; by 3-6, 6-7 (2) and 3-6 in 2 hours and 23 minutes, keeping the silver medal and incidentally placing his country in the medal table of an Olympic Games for the third consecutive time, a good unprecedented streak in the history of Chilean Olympic sport.

In the US Open he beat the Spanish Iván Navarro Pastor and the American Bobby Reynolds in the first two rounds, in the 3rd round he beat the Finnish Jarkko Nieminen 7-5, 6-3, 6-7(3) and 6 -1 showing a great level of play, but in the 4th round he ran into an extraordinary performance by Andy Roddick, preventing the Chilean from advancing beyond the round of 16 by sets of 3-6, 4-6 and 2-6. In September he played the Davis Cup playoff against Australia in Antofagasta on clay, increasing Chile's lead to 2-0 after beating Peter Luczak 6-2, 6-2 and 6-3. In the doubles he made a pair with Massú and lost to Carsten Ball and Chris Guccione in five epic sets. Already on Sunday he closed the series in the fourth point by beating Guccione in straight sets and thus helped Chile to return to the world group for 2009.

After losing in the second round of the Madrid Masters against Gael Monfils, he withdrew from the last tournaments of the season to anticipate his holidays and start next year with renewed energy. In this way, he ends the year ranked No. 15 in the world ranking. At the end of the season, Fernando announced the termination of relations with his coach Larry Stefanki, who will go to work with Andy Roddick, thanks to a tempting financial offer.

In December Fernando is awarded by the Circle of Sports Journalists of Chile, with his third "Golden Condor" as the best Chilean athlete of the year, and on the 12th of the same month he announced that he had hired former Argentine player Martín Rodríguez as his new coach for the 2009 season.

2009

González during the 2009 Australian Open.

He began his season with the Kooyong Classic exhibition tournament in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open. He starts as the 3rd seed beating Iván Ljubicic 6-4, 6-3. In the semifinals he fell against Stan Wawrinka in a close match by 6-7(3), 7-6(1) and 4-6. In the duel for third place he fell against Fernando Verdasco by 4-6 and 3-6. He then played the Australian Open as the 13th seed where he debuted against former world number one and local idol Lleyton Hewitt, whom he beat in a five-set thriller that lasted 3 hours and 7 minutes prevailing 5-7, 6. -2, 6-2, 3-6 and 6-3. In the 2nd round he defeated Argentine Guillermo Cañas 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. In the 3rd round he had another disputed and long match against the Frenchman Richard Gasquet, he came back from two sets down to win in an epic match of more than four hours 3-6, 3-6, 7-6(10), 6 -2 and 12-10, being considered to date one of the best matches of the Australian Open. His next meeting was with the world number one and eventual champion, Rafael Nadal, before whom he lost in straight sets 3-6, 2-6 and 4-6.

In February he participated in the only ATP tournament in his country, the Movistar Open in Viña del Mar, where he made his debut, after being released in the first round, against the Argentine from the qualifying phase, Máximo González, whom he defeated in a tight 7-5, 7-6(7) match. In the quarterfinals he faced Juan Mónaco, in the rematch of last year's final that could not be played due to the Argentine's injury, winning evenly. notable for a score of 6-0 and 6-2. In the semifinals he beat Pablo Cuevas 6-3 and 6-2, and in the final of the contest he beat José Acasuso by an easy 6-1 and 6-3 in just 55 minutes, defending the title categorically, without losing sets and winning it for the fourth time (in 5 finals) in his career, also being his 8th title on clay and 11th of his career. With this victory, he returned to the top 15 of the world ranking.

At the beginning of March, González missed the Davis Cup key against Croatia due to a back injury, weeks later he announced his resignation from the Chilean Davis Cup team due to irreconcilable differences with the federation leaders. He returned to the courts at the Indian Wells Masters. He debuted in the 2nd round as the 17th seed, defeating Lleyton Hewitt for the second time of the season 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. In the 3rd round he beat the 13th in the world James Blake 7-5, 6-1 in a great performance by Feña, in the fourth round he faced the 2nd in the world Roger Federer with whom he lost 3-6, 7-5, 2-6 in a good match for the Chilean. He continued with the Miami Masters, in the second round he beat the Russian Ígor Kunitsyn double 6-4 and in the third round he lost to the Czech Radek Štěpánek 6-7 (1) and 4-6.

He decides to skip the Monte Carlo Masters and begins the European clay court tour in the Conde de Godó Tournament entering thanks to a Will Card, he beat José Acasuso and Juan Mónaco in straight sets to reach quarterfinals, there he defeated the local and second seed Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 4-6 and 6-4. In the semifinals he fell against David Ferrer in a close match 6-2, 2-6 and 6-7(5). In the Masters in Rome he managed to reach the semifinals after beating Jérémy Chardy 6-4 and 6-1 in the Round of 64, then Janko Tipsarević by a double 6-4, in the round of 16 In the final he defeated Jürgen Melzer 3-6, 6-3 and 7-5 in a tough match to defeat Juan Mónaco in another demanding match 2-6, 6-3 and 6-4 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals he lost to the king of clay and world number 1, Rafael Nadal by a double 6-3. While giving autographs in Rome, Fernando sprained his ankle and unbelievably contracted a sprain that prevented him from participating and defend the title in the Munich Tournament and in the Madrid Masters.

Gonzalez arrived at the semifinals of Roland Garros 2009, losing against Swedish Robin Söderling in five sets and being that his best performance in the tournament.

He returns at Roland Garros, already recovered from his injury, advanced to the second week of the Parisian Grand Slam with devastating tennis, defeating Jiří Vaněk, Rui Machado, Josselin Ouanna and Victor Hănescu in straight sets, in the quarterfinals he saw the He faced world No. 3 Andy Murray and delivered one of the surprises of the tournament by beating him 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 to reach the RG semifinals for the first time in his career. The rival would be the surprise of the championship; Sweden's Robin Söderling who defeated undefeated four-time tournament champion Rafael Nadal, and crushed two-time semifinalist Nikolai Davydenko. The match would begin with two sets down until Fernando recovered the score by leveling it at two sets a side. In the fifth set Fernando would lead 4-1 and 15-30, however the impressive level of play of the Swede allows him to win the set and end Fernando's dream with a score of 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, staying one step away from playing his second Grand Slam final. Even so, Fernando became the Chilean tennis player with the best Grand Slam appearances, reaching the quarterfinals at the US Open and Wimbledon, semifinals at Roland Garros and final at the Australian Open. However, the semifinal allows him to return to the Top 10, which he had left in October 2008, being located exactly in 10th place.

After a new injury, he reappeared at Wimbledon, defeating Teimuraz Gabashvili (7-5, 7-5, 6-3) and Leonardo Mayer (6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6 -4), before losing to Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 in the third round.

"Feña" after his duel with Juan Martín del Potro in the semifinals of Washington 2009.

He had an outstanding tournament in Washington, reaching the semifinals after beating Alejandro Falla, Wayne Odesnik and Tommy Haas in straight sets. There he met the Argentine and eventual tournament champion Juan Martín del Potro losing 6-7(2) and 3-6. He continued his American hard court tour with the Canadian Masters, in the 1st round he beat the Young promise Milos Raonic in a close match by 4-6, 7-6(6) and 6-4, in the 2nd round he beat Tommy Haas 7-6(2) and the German retired, in the 3rd round lost to Russian and 8th seed Nikolái Davydenko 6-7(2), 5-7. He lost in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters after withdrawing from his match due to right knee discomfort against Czech Tomás Berdych when he fell 4-6, 0-0.

The US Open 2009 was Fernando Gonzalez's last major performance in a Grand Slam, reaching quarter finals losing against Spanish Rafael Nadal.

At the US Open he was seeded 11th and in the first round he faced his friend and compatriot Nicolás Massú, beating him triple 6-3 in their last match between the two as professionals (González led the H2H 5-2). In the second round he beat Frenchman Josselin Ouanna 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1 and 6-0; in the third round he beat the Czech Tomáš Berdych 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 and in the round of 16 he defeated another Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) and 6-4 to advance to the US Open quarterfinals for the first time in seven years. There he lost to world No. 3 Rafael Nadal in a match repeatedly delayed by rain, the match was suspended on Thursday night with Gonzalez trailing 6-7(4), 6-6, 2-3 in deciding game. When the match resumed on Friday, Nadal swept the tiebreaker winning it with four straight points and then won the third set 6-0, thus marking his best year in terms of Grand Slam results, with a record of 14-4 including a semifinal at Roland Garros and a quarterfinal at the US Open, being 2009 the only one that reached at least 2 Grand Slam quarterfinals.

He ended his season with the Paris Masters when he was seeded 10th, he started from the second round, there he beat the American shotgunner John Isner 7-5 and 7-6(3), in the third round curiously he withdrew from his match against Juan Martín del Potro after losing seven match points at the end of the second set, thus he also lost the possibility of ending the year as Top 10 since it was only enough for him to reach the quarterfinals. Consequently, he ends a good season as No. 11 in the world.

On December 21, 2009, he played an exhibition match with the current US Open champion, Juan Martín del Potro at the Movistar Arena in Santiago de Chile, Fernando won the match 7-5, 6-4 against more than nine thousand people.

Afterword (2010-2012)

2010

González during the Open of Australia 2010.

His first tournament of the season was the Australian Open in which he reached the round of 16, in the first two rounds he defeated Oliver Rochus and Marsel Ilhan, in the 3rd round he beat Yevgueni Koroliov in a disputed 5-way match sets and more than 3 hours of play by 6-7(5), 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 and 6-4, in the round of 16 his rival was the complicated Andy Roddick against whom he lost in five tight sets and after 3 hours and 25 minutes by a score of 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 5-7 and 2-6. In the Santiago Tournament (former Viña del Mar) he failed to defend the title achieved In the previous year, he started from the first round as the main seed and there he beat the Spanish Óscar Hernández by an easy 6-2, 6-1; In the second round he beat another Spaniard Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo 6-4 and 6-3, in the quarterfinals he again beat a Spaniard, Marcel Granollers in a double tiebreak to reach the semifinals, there he lost to the eventual champion and Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci by 6 -3, 4-6 and 3-6, after having been up 6-3 and 4-2 on the scoreboard, then suffering stomach ailments.

He also reached the semifinals at the Acapulco Tournament after beating Sam Querrey, Victor Hanescu and Eduardo Schwank all in three sets, finally losing to David Ferrer in three sets by a score of 7-6(4), 0- 6 and 4-6. González decided to get off the Indian Wells Masters 1000 to travel to the areas affected by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile.

In early March, together with his teammates, they defeated Israel in the Davis Cup to send Chile to the quarterfinals, he debuted in the 2nd point defeating Harel Levy in four sets and then played the fourth point, beating Dudi Sela in straight sets to close the series in favor of Chile 3-1, in a key played in Coquimbo on clay. He returned to the circuit at the Miami Masters 1000, debuting in the second round beating Taiwanese Yen -Hsun Lu by double 6-4, in the 3rd round he beat the Argentine Juan Mónaco in three sets by 6-7, 6-4 and 6-2, in the fourth round he lost against the Swede Robin Söderling by 0-6, 7-6(3), 2-6.

He began the European clay court tour in the Houston Tournament as the first seed, in the second round he beat the South African Kevin Anderson 6-4, 4-6 and 6-4, in the quarterfinals he lost to the Argentine Horacio Zeballos by double 4-6. After this Fernando was absent from several tournaments, including the three Masters 1000 tournaments on clay Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid, due to a knee injury, only to return in the Barcelona Tournament (where he lost in the first round against the local Albert Ramos-Vinolas in three sets) and to prepare for Roland Garros. However, in the second Grand Slam of the season he would only reach the second round, being defeated by the Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov in sets runs, when he felt pain in his right knee again.

These ailments would eventually make him miss several tournaments, including Wimbledon and the Davis Cup quarterfinals, which Chile was to play against the Czech Republic.

He had announced his return for the Toronto and Cincinnati Masters 1000, however, a new injury prevented him from participating. He returned after three months out at the ATP 250 in New Haven thanks to a Will Card, being the 3rd seed he made his debut in the second round where he lost against the Czech Radek Stepanek 2-6, 4-6. At the US Open he retired in the third set of his first-round match against Croatian Ivan Dodig, when he was losing 6-7(2), 6-1, 1-0. On September 21, he made the decision to undergo surgery on the right hip and also in the knee in New York, he entered the operating room on October 4 and is expected to be eight to nine months out of the circuit.

Fernando, due to his injuries and subsequent operations, only managed to compete the first third of the year in a healthy way and even so he ended the year in the top 100, in position No. 68 in the world.

2011

He returned to the circuit on April 25 in the Belgrade Tournament on clay after 8 months out being in the 516th position of the ATP ranking (he managed to enter by invitation), facing the Slovakian Martín Klizan (156th) having a good debut since he defeated him by partials of 6-2 and 6-4 in the first round, and thus he won an ATP match again after 11 months since May 2010 at Roland Garros. Already in the round of 16 he had a more difficult obstacle since he had to face the Spanish Feliciano López (37th) losing by partials of 4-6 and 6-7 (4) being eliminated from the tournament.

Later, at the Challenger in Prague, he achieved an amazing performance, reaching the semifinals of the tournament and retiring in that instance due to muscle pain. The following week he appears 81 places higher in the ATP ranking, becoming the new 374th in the world ranking.

Fernando could not recover to participate in Roland Garros, however in his preparation for Wimbledon he won the exhibition tournament in Liverpool which is a good precedent.

González during Wimbledon 2011, his penultimate participation in a Grand Slam.

Already at Wimbledon, Fernando started quite well as he defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov (n°24) in the 1st round by sets of 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(3) and 6- 4. Then in the 2nd round he faces Rik de Voest (147th) who he beats by a triple 6-4 in just 105 minutes of play, to then be eliminated in the 3rd round by the French Jo- Wilfried Tsonga (n°19) by partials of 3-6, 4-6 and 3-6 in 1 hour 24 minutes not being able to go to the round of 16, although this would not be bad at all since it would allow González to rise from position 478° to 295°.

On the North American hard court tour he only participated in the ATP 250 in Los Angeles, losing in the first round to Ígor Kunitsyn 4-6, 3-6. He made his debut in the last Grand Slam of the year, the US Open at the first day of competition losing in an even match in the first round against the Croatian Ivo Karlovic by 6-4, 6-4 and 7-6(3).

Then in September he played the Davis Cup playoff against Italy with the aim of keeping Chile in the World Group, he made his debut in the second point against the young talented Italian Fabio Fognini, in a match in which he had to retire after going losing 2-6, 6-4, 1-2 and suffering a tragic injury, where Fernando acknowledged having cried intensely in the dressing room for the disappointment of getting injured again, so Chile was 0-2 down and in the doubles the Chilean duo Aguilar /Massú lost in straight sets against Bolelli and Fognini, causing Chile to be relegated in a series played at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago on a hard court.

On October 17, he announced the closure of the 2011 season, stressing how exhausting it was to return to the circuit after eight months of inactivity, waiting to overcome the injuries and have a great 2012 pre-season, to fulfill his dream of participate in the London Olympic Games. End the season ranked 298th in the ranking.

2012

He began 2012 playing an exhibition tournament in Punta del Este, Uruguay where he participated in a mini-championship with Gustavo Kuerten, Gastón Gaudio and Juan Martín del Potro as a preparation for the season. In his first duel he faced the & # 34; Gato & # 34; Gaudio whom he beat 6-3, 3-6 and 6-3 to access the final, there he fell to the trans-Andean Juan Martín del Potro by partials of 3-6 and 4-6, despite losing he was seen to González very mobile and physically well during these 2 matches. However, he announced his withdrawal from the Australian Open due to a virus and hip pain. Finally, he ensures his return to the professional tour after five months without playing an ATP tournament in the next VTR Open in Viña del Mar on Chilean clay thanks to a Will Card, in the 1st round he defeated the Spanish Pere Riba by a double 6-4 and thus won a professional match again after 8 months, in the 2nd round he faced the Brazilian João Souza against whom he lost 3-6 and 6-7 (6). On February 9, 2012 he called a press conference, in which he announced his retirement after the Miami Masters in March of 2012. González pointed out that he currently does not feel energetic, nor is he willing to give all the effort it takes to get back to where he wants to be, so he prefers to step aside.

After a week off, he played the Brazil Tournament, his second to last as a professional thanks to another WC, there he lost in the first round against the Russian Igor Andreev 2-6, 3-6. The following week he played the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires, in the first round he defeated Albert Montañés 7-5, 1-0 and the Spanish retired, in the second round he beat another Spanish Albert Ramos double 7-6, in the quarterfinals he was eliminated by world no. 5 and eventual champion David Ferrer 2-6, 4-6.

After almost a month off, he played his last tournament as a professional, the Miami Masters thanks to a Will Card, he debuted in the first round on March 21, 2012, facing Frenchman No. 92 in the ranking Nicolas Mahut, against whom he lost in a hard-fought match by partials of 5-7, 6-4 and 7-6(3), ending González's professional career at the age of 31 and after 12 years in the elite.

Withdrawal

After his retirement, Fernando announced that he would play a farewell match in Santiago against the recently retired Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, world number one in 2003 and Roland Garros champion that year. The match was held on April 13, 2013 in the Puente Alto district on a hard court and was a double 6-4 victory for El Bombardero de la Reina, thus saying goodbye with a triumph for his audience.

In March 2013, he announced that he would officially begin a career as a coach, having the young Chilean Matías Sborowitz as his first pupil. In May 2014, he joined the Colombian Santiago Giraldo's technical team.

ATP Champions Tour (2014-present)

Fernando has participated in the ATP Champions Tour since 2014; exclusive tour of veterans whose participation is only reserved for Grand Slam or Davis Cup finalists. In this Tour he has won 3 titles; defeating Andy Roddick in the final in London 2014, Michael Chang in Seoul 2015, and Tim Henman again in London 2015. In 2015 Fernando finished as No. 1 in the world in the Seniors category, being the second Chilean in history to do so after Marcelo Ríos in 2006.

Tributes

He was invited in 2004 by Chilean President Ricardo Lagos to the Palacio de La Moneda in Santiago, where he leaned out of a second-story balcony to greet thousands of people. In 2012, the Association of Professional Tennis Players published a farewell video and the Chilean Chamber of Deputies awarded him a medal and a diploma for his professional achievements and human qualities, during a regular session held at the Chilean National Congress in Valparaíso. In 2015, the International Tennis Federation awarded him a Commitment Award trophy for having played a minimum of 20 series in the Davis Cup, during its Annual General Meeting held at the Santiago Marriott Hotel. a street named after him in the Chilean commune of Colina.

Davis Cup

González made his debut in the Chilean Davis Cup Team in April 1998 against Franco Squillari of Argentina at the age of 17. He has participated in all the Davis Cup series since then, being a fundamental pillar for Chile. At the beginning of 2009 Fernando announced his retirement from the team due to irreconcilable differences with the leaders of the Federation. At the beginning of 2010 Fernando rejoined the team thanks to the intervention of President Michelle Bachelet, for which he played in the first round of the world group against Israel, in which he earned his two points for Chile helping to overcome Israel by a total of 4-1. He has an overall record of 31-12 (20-6 in singles and 11-6 in doubles). Together with Nicolás Massú they have been the most winning duo in the history of Chile with a record of 9-4. The best result achieved by the team while Fernando has participated have been the quarterfinals in 2006, being defeated by the powerful American team by 2-3, and the quarterfinals of 2010 being defeated by the Czech Republic team where he had to absent due to injury.

Style of Play

His greatest idol since childhood has been Andre Agassi.^{[citation needed]} He used a Babolat Pure Storm racket. He was right-handed with a one-handed backhand. González was a player who showed muscular development and moved with great ease on all kinds of surfaces. He was recognized for his powerful forehand and fast serve, for which the local press dubbed him Hand of Stone (granted by journalist Juan Pablo Salas from El Mercurio)^{[ citation required]} or The Bomber of La Reina (invention of Leopoldo Iturra of La Tercera),^{[citation required]} while in the English-speaking press he is also known as Speedy González or Mr. Forehand.^{[citation needed]}

Gonzalez performing an “atomic” in Wimbledon in 2011.

He recorded the «atomic forehand»: a powerful offensive shot that consists of standing on the toes —increasing the pressure on the ground—, releasing the tense body —to give it firmness— with the free arm tucked in —decreasing its inertia rotational-, perform a vehement twist of the trunk forcing mainly the central muscles, hit with "delayed release" of the racket -increasing its momentum and torque-, and advance the leg of the same side -to avoid falling-, feasible anywhere the court and moment of the point, caused by the need to compensate for the lesser friction that weakens the blows on the slippery clay of Santiago de Chile due to its typical Mediterranean climate with a long dry season, configured during adolescence in the 1990s and baptized as analogy with atomic energy for the amount released during a reaction. It has been adopted by Casper Ruud.

Under the tutelage of Larry Stefanki (April 2006 to the end of the year 2008), Fernando developed a better balance in his game, in the sense of knowing when to hit hard and when to take slices or shots with greater placement and less force. One of the main criticisms that was leveled at him was his lack of regularity, since he could play in an extraordinary way in one week, and lose in the first round the next. His last coach was the Chilean Horacio Matta and his physical trainer Carlos Burgos. Previously he was trained by Horacio de la Peña and Martín Rodríguez, among others. On the ATP Circuit, he had fatherhood over Juan Mónaco (6-0), and over Stan Wawrinka (5-0) and his black beasts were Nikolai Davydenko (0-6), who neutralized the "atomic forehand" with powerful groundstrokes, as well as Roger Federer (1-12) whom he could only beat once after twelve defeats, and Andy Roddick (3-9) with whom he lost nine times.

Historical classification