Interesting double page in La Tercera today about Fernando’s other life on tour. During his free time during the tournaments, he likes to go sightseeing. Here are the different places which have impressed him this year.
The other life of Fernando González on tour
[Source : La Tercera – Nov. 4th, 2007]
[Translation by the webmaster, written by Rodrigo Lopez H.]
The life of the tennis players can be exhausting with so many travels by plane and the life in the hotels. Nevertheless, it brings another type of satisfaction, like knowing the most impressive places in the world where the tour stops. And, the “bombardero de la Reina”, evokes the memories which had the most touched him to visit this year, including the China Wall, and the old town of Jerusalem.
The year started in Oceania and will end in Asia for Fernando González. The passeport accumulates a lot of stamps with the entrances and the exits from the different countries where he stopped for the ATP tournaments. Fernando played 21 tournaments in 2007, less than the other ATP players. The idea is to not be tired and to privilege the most important tournaments. In spite of his important fall in the middle of the season, the balance is positive. Since friday, he qualified for the Masters Cup in Shanghai, and moreover, has a secure place in the top 10 for the second consecutive year.
But, in the life of the tennis player, nothing is limited to pure results. And a lot of say with ingratitude what it is to leave far during part of the year, with a boring routine, between tennis clubs and hotels and of the ceaseless transfers by plane, but there’s a side B in the life of the players, who got also satisfactions.
“I don’t know if i could have another work where I could discover so many places, and different cultures. So, I can’t complain even if it’s difficult to travel all the year”, explains the Bombardero de la Reina.
It’s the other life of the number 1 player from Chile on the tour, with visits of historical places during his free time.
“This year, the places which impressed me the most were in two weeks, I was in two great places : the China Wall and 5 days before, we were in the old town of Jerusalem, to play the Davis Cup tie against Israel”, the player says.
This last trip even if it wasn’t a good memory on the sportive level, with the defeat against the locals, it will remain one of the great experiences of 2007.
“It’s that everyone always hear that this place has a great history. It affects the peole who come and see and the faith they have. And, above all, I had the chance to be with my family, which was very enriching. “
Beijing was also an important destination for the national player, where he has been impressed :”by the pollution, although they already told me that they are going to close the factories 6 months before the Olympic Games next year. Visiting the China Wall and the summer palace was fascinating”.
A travel which brought luck
Already, more than a year of dating, with his travel mate who is his fiancee, the Argentine Gisela Dulko. The opportunities to see eachothers is during the grand slams, when men and women compete in parallel, but they also have to make compatible their calendars when it’s possible. It was like that in May, González travelled in Budapest where the Argentine played. And, the player from Santiago brought her luck because Dulko won her first title in her career. They had the possibility to visit together the city and historical places, like the Parliament of Budapest.
A place to be with the family
Fernando González is spending most of the year far from Chile and far from his family. So, when he can and when the time allows him, members of his family join him. It allows them to know and visit the different places. New-York is one of the favorite places of the Bombardero. And, it was like that when with his father, his sister Patricia, made a typical tour on boat to the statue of liberty, from where we can see the skyscrapers of the Manhattan island. The Santiago native, was with his father in the San Pedro place, in Rome, during the MS Roma and where, this year, he reached the final, losing to Rafael Nadal.
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