| Biography | Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (born 29 July 1980) is a retired professional tennis player from Chile. During his career he made it to the quarterfinal round of all four Grand Slam tournaments. He played his only major final at the 2007 Australian Open, losing to top-seeded 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, González defeated many past and present top players, including Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer (all while they held the top spot), Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moyá, Gustavo Kuerten, Marat Safin, Juan Martín del Potro, Andy Murray and Pete Sampras. 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 hardest forehands on the tour. In Spanish he is called El Bombardero de La Reina ("The La Reina Bomber") and Mano de Piedra ("Stone Hand"). |