Name: Fernando Franciso Gonzalez Ciuffardi
DOB: July 29, 1980
Place of Birth: Santiago, Chile
Country: Chile
Height: 5' 11.5
Plays: Right-handed, one-handed backhand
Turn pro: 1999
Racquet: Babolat Pure Storm GT Racquets 2009
Fernando Franciso Gonzalez Ciuffardi was born on July 29, 1980. As a professional tennis player, he is often dubbed as El Bombardero de La Reina, which means “The Bomber of La Reina” in the Spanish language. He is also called El Mano de Piedra, or “The Stone Hand” to refer to his intense, hard hitting forehand that he is famous for on court.
Gonzalez has thoroughly proven his skill on court by contending against the most powerful players in the tennis scene – former and current number one players. His victories include players Andy Roddick, Carlos Moya, Marat Safin, Pete Sampras, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gustavo Kuerten, Lleyton Hewitt, and Andre Agassi.
Gonzalez started playing tennis when he was only seven years old. With his family, he moved to the city of La Reina of Eastern Santiago to train to be a tennis player. With Coach Claudio Gonzalez (not related to Fernando Gonzalez), he practiced fiercely at the Club de Leones de La Reina.
In the year 1998, Gonzalez participated in a number of futures events that proved to be successful. A total of three futures events took place in Chile, and Gonzales was able to reach two semifinals and one final in which he beat Italian player Enzo Artoni.
In 1999, Gonzalez finally turned pro. In the beginning of his professional career, Gonzalez chose to concentrate his efforts at the futures level. His first challenger quarterfinal was held in Edinburgh, which was soon followed by his first ATP event in Washington. There, Gonzalez passed the first round against Ivan Ljubicic, but unfortunately was defeated by Marc Rosset thereafter.
His first ATP title was won at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships in Orlando, Florida. Gonzalez defeated Massu in the final, and went on to claim the title of the first ATP final with all-Chilean players. This is the first time since the 1982 Itaparica final – Jaime Fillol against Ricardo Acuna.
Thereafter, Gonzalez gained his second ATP title in February at Vina del Mar. In the final match, he beat player Nicolas Lapentti to ultimately claim his second title. He then went on to win a third title at Palermo, Italy, reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, and make the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters event (beating both Andy Roddick and Tim Henman along the way). In addition, Gonzalez went up the singles rankings in the ATP Champions Race and passed the top Chilean player Marcelo Rios (also formerly ranked number one). Gonzalez jumped 118 spots, and was fittingly named as one of the most improved players of the ATP season.
Gonzales won yet another title at Vina del Mar in the month of February – this time, beating Gustavo Kuerten. In August, Gonzalez participated in the men’s doubles tournament at the Athens Olympics, where he teamed up with player Massu. In a historic match, Gonzalez’s team achieved Chile’s very first Olympic gold medal, beating the German doubles team of Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuttler. Additionally, he achieved a bronze medal in the men’s singles category for his country Chile. Currently, he is training for the 2005 World Team Cup.
In the following season, Gonzalez won his first hard court title in January at Auckland, New Zealand. Gonzales continued his success as a doubles player at his first ATP doubles tournament. Partnered with Martin Rodriguez, Gonzalez won the ATP doubles title on a clay court in Valencia – it would be his second doubles victory since the Athens Olympics. In June, he reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, but did not progress any further. However, Gonzalez stepped up his game a month later to win the ATP tournament at Amersfoort, The Netherlands (clay court). He continued to prove himself as an all-around player by participating in the indoors-carpet singles and doubles tournament in Basel. He won both titles; he partnered with Agustin Calleri for the doubles title. Gonzalez’s overall performance in 2005 earned him a ticket to the end of the year Masters Cup in Shanghai, China. He was originally chosen as a reserve, but was upgraded to a player status after Andre Agassi withdrew from the tournament after the first game. After defeating Mariano Puerta, Gonzalez became the first ever Chilean player to win a Masters match. Gonzalez did not make the semifinals; he was defeated by Gaston Gaudio in a match in which he had three match points. Gonzalez ended the year ranked as the number ten player.
With his new ranking, Gonzalez became the third Chilean player to enter the top ten singles rankings, after players Rios and Massu. His number ten ranking happened soon after his victory in the quarterfinal match at the Monte Carlo Masters. On a personal note, Gonzalez switched his coach Horacio de la Pena with Larry Stefanki in May, a short time before his appearance at the Monte Carlo Masters. In October, Gonzales lost against Roger Federer at his first singles final at the Masters Series in Madrid.
Gonzalez then reached a career high of being the world’s seventh best player, but finished with his original number ten ranking by the end of the year.
At the Australian Open in January, Gonzalez battled his way up the singles final and thus broke a number of Chilean records – he became the fourth Chilean (and third Chilean male) to reach a final in a Grand Slam tournament and the first Chilean to have made it to the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments, a truly remarkable feat. Although he did not win the final, he defeated a large set of famous players along the way: Lleyton Hewitt, James Blake, Rafael Nadal (ranked world’s number two player), and Tommy Haas. Ultimately, he was defeated by Roger Federer in a close match of straight sets. In January, Gonzalez jumped to the number five spot in the world rankings (career best ranking), with only five points behind the number four player. Four months later, Gonzalez reached the Rome Masters finals, a Chilean first since Rios won the title in 1998. Gonzalez won the China Open tournament title in Beijing, which proved to be a relief after his five-match losing streak from July to August.
Gonzalez was born to his father Fernando Gonzalez and mother Patricia Ciuffardi in Santiago, Chile. His father was a manager of a Santiago flour mill, while his mother was a housewife.