Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (born July 29, 1980) is a professional tennis player from Chile. He is known for having one of the hardest hitting forehands in the circuit.[1] In Spanish he is called El bombardero de La Reina ("The La Reina Bomber") and Mano de Piedra ("Stone Hand"). The English-language media has labeled him "Gonzo."
González was born in Santiago, Chile. His father, Fernando González Ramírez, is the manager of the Molino Balmaceda flour mill in Santiago and his mother, Patricia Ciuffardi Muñoz, a housewife. 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.
González is a very private person and rarely discusses aspects of his personal life with the press. Outside of tennis, he enjoys fishing and golf. When he's not travelling around the world participating in tennis tournaments, he spends his time in Miami, where he has an apartment in Brickell. Whenever he has more than two weeks off he stays in his native Chile with his family.
González is one of the few active players to have reached at least the quarter-final round of all four Grand Slam tournaments. He played his first major final at the 2007 Australian Open, losing to top-ranked Roger Federer. He is the fourth male tennis player in history to have won each Olympic medal (gold in doubles and bronze in singles at Athens 2004, and silver in singles at Beijing 2008).
Throughout his career, he has defeated many former number-one players, including Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer (all while they held the top spot), Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moyà, Gustavo Kuerten, Marat Safin and Pete Sampras. González has qualified twice for the year-end Masters Cup event and was runner-up at two Masters Series tournaments.
