Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi (born July 29,
1980), nicknamed El bombardero de La Reina (Spanish
"The La Reina Bomber"), is a professional tennis
player from Chile. He is known for having one of the
hardest hitting forehands in the circuit. One of his
other nicknames is Mano de Piedra ("Stone Hand").
Throughout his career, González has defeated many
former number-one players, including Lleyton Hewitt,
Andre Agassi, Roger Federer (all while they held the
top spot), Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos
Moyŕ, Gustavo Kuerten, Marat Safin and Pete Sampras.
González began playing tennis at the age of seven.
He moved in with his family to the La Reina commune
in eastern Santiago, where he practiced with his
coach Claudio González (no relation) at the Club de
Leones de La Reina.
As a junior, González achieved the world number one
ranking. He won the US Open boys doubles (with
compatriot Nicolás Massú) in 1997, and the French
Open singles (defeating a young Juan Carlos Ferrero
in the final) and doubles (with Venezuelan José de
Armas) in 1998. That year, aged 17, he made his
Davis Cup debut in Chile's tie against Argentina,
losing in four sets to Franco Squillari. He won his
first Davis Cup tie in a doubles rubber partnering
Massú.
González achieved success at futures level in 1998.
In the three futures events held in Chile that year,
he reached two semifinals and defeated Italian Enzo
Artoni in the final in Santiago.
González plays as an offensive baseliner. His
groundstrokes, especially on the forehand side, are
extremely powerful, even amongst his contemporaries.
His speed and agility allow him to hit winners from
practically anywhere in the court. However, as
offensive baseliners are, he used to be prone to
make a huge number of unforced errors and was less
consistent. His new coach, Larry Stefanki, has
helped him develop an extreme slice backhand which
combined with his aggressive forehand has propelled
his retrieving abilities to a new level and has
given him much more consistency, resulting in less
unforced errors. In addition, he can also approach
the net by chipping and charging and has a wide
array of passing shots including the slice backhand
passing shot, rarely used in modern tennis.
González's serve has also changed since he started
working with Stefanki. His first serve used to be
only a flat serve, but since late-2006 he has
increasingly used a three-quarter of strength slice
serve to move his opponents out of the court and
increase his precision. The addition of an extreme
slice backhand and a slice serve have made him a
markedly better player as he has a wider array of
choices to get him out of jams or move his opponents
to set up his powerful forehand.
González was born in Santiago, Chile. His father,
Fernando González, is the manager of a flour mill in
Santiago and his mother, Patricia Ciuffardi, a
housewife.
González is currently dating Argentine tennis player
Gisela Dulko.
