Archive for February, 2008

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This week : Las Vegas, Feña is back :-))

February 29, 2008

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[Tournament website]

[Main draw]

[Doubles draw]
Fernando González (14) will return on the ATP Tour in Las Vegas starting on monday. Fernando was out 1 month and 1 week due to an injury.

During his last practrice, he played with the junior, Guillermo Rivera and said :

“the injury is absolutely over. For that reason, it was good to stop all this time, because I wanted to cut that proble. Yesterday, I made examinations, they indicated that I have no longer nothing and for that reason I can travel peacefully “

About his objectives on tour : “my concentration is going to be in both first Masters Series of the season, and Las Vegas will serve as a preparation for those championships”.

Fernando won’t have any points to defend in Las Vegas but his goal is to come back in the group of the best 10 players in the world.

Fernando is the number 1 seed, and will play his first match against the player from Israel, Dudi Sela (64). They only faced once, it was during the DC tie in Israel and Fernando lost, it will be the revenge !!

Fernando will also play in the doubles with the player from Argentina, Lucas Arnold. They’ll face in the first round the pair, Fisher/Starace.

Vamos y buena suerte Fernando !!!

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Video interview, July 07

February 17, 2008

An interview with Fernando, in July 07, enjoy :)

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Exhibition in the streets of Santiago during the Teleton to help the disabled persons

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Interview in the mag HISPANIC (Feb.08)

February 16, 2008

[Interview in the magazine HISPANIC, feb. 08]

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Tennis champ Fernando González has blasted his way through the rankings to become South America’s top pro.

By SOLEDAD GIMENEZ

The professional tennis circuit is buzzing with anticipation over the sport’s upcoming tournaments and its hottest competitors. And the spotlight is shining bright on Chilean native Fernando González.

The winner of eight Association of Tennis Professional (ATP) titles, González is now ranked No. 7 in the world and is the second-highest Latino, just under Rafael Nadal. The highest position González has attained on the ATP Race was fifth place in 2007, after he got to the Australian Open finals with trainer Larry Stefanki, but lost to the world’s No.1 player, Roger Federer.

Feña, as he is known, has been able to get to the quarter-finals of the four existing Grand Slams. González’s biggest goal was to classify for the Tennis Master’s Cup 2007 held in Shanghai, and he achieved it. With that accomplished, he brought this past season to a spectacular end, broke a two-year streak of bad luck in which he hadn’t obtained a single title, and won the Peking Open after defeating Spaniard Tommy Robredo.

There is definitely some strategic planning in the works for this season. Hispanic caught up with González days before the Sony Ericsson Open and got a glimpse of his year ahead.

Hispanic Magazine: What is the outcome of 2007?
Fernando González: The truth is that 2007 was full of ups and downs, but I can say that, all in all, it had a positive outcome. The fact that I was able to get to the Grand Slam finals, and that I classified at the Master in Shanghai is no small feat.

HM: Did you ever imagine that you would be the only Latin American at the Masters Series in Shanghai?
FG: No. Not at all, since there are more and more Latinos competing each year. Plus, David Nalbandian was very close to getting there, too. In any case, the important thing was to have been there, though I would’ve loved to have more Latinos present. It’s very good for the region.

HM: How did it feel to defeat Roger Federer, on the first match of the Masters?
FG: Having won a very tight match … after so many defeats made me evolve as a player. Everybody wants to defeat No. 1, and achieving that gives a boost to your confidence.

HM: To end 2007 as one of the best players in the world was one of your main goals, and you achieved it. What was the key to that?
FG: The key was to become a better player every day, and of course experience had an important role in it.

HM: If you had to highlight three moments of the past season, what would they be?
FG: Finals in Australia, Finals in Rome and defeating Federer.

HM: In 2008 you will have to defend many points. What type of pressure does this put on you?
FG: You always go up and down on the ranking. I just hope I will always have to defend points!

HM: They say that the most complicated thing is not to get there, but to stay there. But it seems you were able to achieve both. To what do you attribute these achievements?
FG: Working hard every day is very important in being able to stay on top, and improving your tennis skills, because someone will always want to take your place.

HM: How much has the influence of Larry Stefanki and Carlos Burgos affected this professional growth?
FG: A lot. With Larry I’ve been able to improve many things in a short period of time, and I’m still improving. On the other hand, with Carlos Burgos I was able to get into a physical shape I had never been in before.

HM: The Sony Ericsson Open is a tournament that brings satisfaction to many. What does this event mean to your agenda?
FG: This is the most important tournament, after the Grand Slams, especially for us Latinos since we feel at home.

HM: What goals have you set for this starting season?
FG: Hopefully to be able to participate in the Master tournament again, and what I want more than anything else is to win a Grand Slam.

HM: With all the traveling you do, do you have time to relax?
FG: I make time whenever I can.

HM: Do you get to visit places other than the tennis courts when you travel?
FG: The truth is I do, but not really as a tourist! I try to take something from every city I visit. I can’t conceive of the idea of going around the world without getting to know it. There are magnificent places that are worth seeing.

HM: Before the pre-season, it’s key to find a place to relax. Where do you vacation?
FG: I almost always choose places where there are the least amount of people possible. The circuit demands a lot of energy and those places give me a lot of peace and revitalize me.

HM: What are the positives and the negatives of the demands brought by the professional circuit?
FG: The positive thing is that you never stop playing, and that, in a way, allows me to always be a child, doing what I do best. And in that way, I feel like I’m not working. I enjoy what I do very much. The bad thing is to have to travel so much. That forces me to be far away from my loved ones, and likewise, I can’t devote as much time to them as I would like to.

HM: Once retired, do you think you’ll stay in the world of tennis somehow?
FG: I will, 100 percent, since it’s what I like to do most.

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Interview with Carlos Burgos (Dec. 2007)

February 16, 2008

[El Mercurio - Dec. 2007]

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Carlos Burgos has a busy life : manager of the gymnasium Clinica Meds en Santiago, and physical trainer of Fernando González, Paul Capdeville, and Adrian Garcia.

The story begins 4 years ago during the Davis Cup. “There, I knew the boys and started the idea to work with Fernando (González) and later with Paul. As Adrian had a ranking similar to Paul, it was ok. It has been three years that I’m working with Fernando and two with Paul and Adrian”.

Why do you think that you have three of the 4 best chilean tennis players ?

I think that the confidence exists. Obviously, the results of Fernando help because the high work is validated by the results. But, moreover, the relations you have with the players, you become the witness of what they live during the tournaments, we are a kind of third ear”

Massu is missing to have all of them ?

Impossible !!

Why ?

Because I can’t. At this level, the players have people who are working exclusively with them. Fernando reacted well to share the physical training with Paul and Adrian, because when a player has a ranking closer, it can be a direct opponent, it changes the thing.

Massu is with the argentine Claudio Galzagorri

Yes, I think that El Vasco is a great physical trainer, a man with a lot of knowledge and experience. I think that Nicolas will be ok with him.

How influences the age of Fernando González (27) in the upcoming goals ?

With the sportsmen, a proportional relation occurs inversely between which he can give and the years that are lasting.The goals each year are more difficult and more over, you have to be focuse on what happens on tour, because it’s very dynamic

And, how is the tour. What are the main goals with Fernando in 2008 ?

What we want this year is to improve his aerobica power. He has to see the changes produced on tour. The indoors tournaments are slower, Wimbledon is slower and the idea is that Fernando can play more long points without being tired fast.  Several years it was  counter-productive to work simultaneouslywith a faster player and at the same time with with greater resistance, but now it sounds very coherent “.

During this period of preparation, in which part do you work the most ?

It’s what we called the training off season. The advantage is that you can incorporate great volumes of work, something you couldn’t do if you were in the tournaments. For that reason, we can make a work with races,  jumps etc.. Some, have already finished this period of training, Fernando has just started because he went to Shanghai.

What do you think they find in you?

You have two possibilities. The first one is from a point of view of a militar discipline, you do what we ask you to do. The other is the one with professional respect which inspires you and in addition the other persons. I think more to the last one. On the tour, you share other things with them, which transforms you as a support and I try to help them each time they need, I think that the things are working well.

Currículum and family

Carlos Burgos is Professor of Physical education of the Playa Ancha University. In addition, is a master of Biological sciences of the Medecine Faculty in the University of Chile, specialist of Exercice physiology, Manager of the Clinica Meds.

He has a wife Vanesa and two girls, Fernanda (10) and Isidora (7)

Burgos  revealed that “this year Fernando will try to travel alone, we are going to send a trainer who will be with him in the tournaments so that it will help him to recover well between the matches”

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Positive news from Carlos Burgos :-)

February 16, 2008

Positive news today from Carlos Burgos, Fernando’s physical trainer, in latercera.com  today :)

“This injury, that I would call more a pain was found on time in an IRM. Fernando, at the moment, is good. He has a little inflammation and a little pain in the abdominal zone, but he can run and do a lot of things without any problems”

Burgos remembered that “this already happened last year after Australia when he arrived with a pain at his shoulder. But, it’s part of the competition, it’s not a mystery. The level played on the ATP Tour is so demanding that the players are always exposed on this kind of injuries.”

About Fernando’s return…

The physical trainer is optimistic, and assures that ” most possible that, after the conversations with the doctor who arrived on monday, he could play in Las Vegas, the 3rd of March.  I think that it would be the  most reasonable considering than it is a tournament that will serve as a preparation for the Masters Series  of Indian Wells and Miami, and is almost sure that he’ll be there “.

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New commercials VTR

February 15, 2008

New commercials with Fernando for VTR (thanks to FFGC)

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On the cover of a tv cable magazine “Vive” :)

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Article in the mag (translation by the webmaster)

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Good inside
By Federico Bulsara

The best Chilean sportsman in 2007 is not tired to accumulate successes and faces a season with a lot of challenges : staying in the top 10, playing the Olympic Games in Beijing, and trying to make Chile back in the DC World Group. And above all, in his full agenda , he still have the place for the solidarity.

Roger Federer is the one who is the nearest of the perfection that it exists in tennis. To win against him doesn’t require that the Swiss got a day with a low yield, unless if his rival played very good that day. Until the 12th of last november, Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi didn’t know what it was to beat the world number 1. Ten times he tried but lost. But, he played the perfect match to win this first match of the Shanghai Masters Cup, which had all the attention of the tennis planet in China, tournament with the 8 best players in the world.

We’ll never forget. Because this mark made the best year in the carrier of the chilean player. Until now, his balance in the previous seasons was known as the crown of Roland Garros juniors in 1998, 7 ATP titles in the singles ( he got the 8 in 2007), 3 in doubles, 2 titles in the World Team Cup, one gold medal in the Olympic Games in doubles with Nicolas Massu and another one in bronze in the singles)

And, what the Bombardero de la Reina did ?

A lot, perhaps too much. He started in january when he was the third chilean after Ayala and Rios to reach a grand slam final. In the Australian Open, only the immensity of Federer could stop the chilean, who played his best tennis during the semi final against the german Tommy Haas with 42 winners and 3 unforced errors. Before, he defeated the world number 2, the spanish player Rafael Nadal.

This start of the season allowed him to jump from the ATP 9 to the ATP 5 in the ranking, his best ranking ever in the ranking. At the end of the previous year, he was number 7, he finished for 2 consecutive year in the top 10 and for the 3rd year he won more than 1 million dollars.

For the journalists in Chile, Who else than Fernando could win the title of the best of the best ?

No one. It’s the second time that Fernando received the most important distinction in Chile, in 2004, he received it with Nicolas Massu for what he’s done in Athens.

His stability in his personal life, with any doubt, helped him to deal with this great year. Since the mid 2006, Fernando is dating with the Argentine, Gisela Dulko, tennis player like him. The best, to understand him and to support him in the life full of trips. Together, they played an exhibition in Viña del Mar where they showed their love in the whole world.

Nevertheless, he’s still one of the personality the most recognised (appreciated) in the country, he avoids to appear in the pages which are not sports.

Out of the tennis courts, Feña is not insensitive when talking about solidarity. For example, he remembers that on the 3rd of December 2004, with Nicolas Massu, Don Francisco, they played a match in the national stadium to obtain money for the Teleton.

It wasn’t the only time and it won’t be the last time. On the 2nd of october, last year, on the Paseo Ahumada, he played a match with Robinson Mendez, player in a wheel chair, it was to support the campain of Mario Kzeutzberger. He ended the year 2007 with an exhibition in the Arena Santiago wth the player from Argentina, Augustin Calleri. They gained 90 millions of pesos for the foundation “Hogar de Cristo”, to build a center for the children in Tocopilla.

Talking about the future…

It seems that it’s a part of the inventory of the national sportsman, but González has only 27 years old. An age in which he is fully mature and solid to continue to face new challenges. The bar is high but he showed that he could do it.

With simplicity, he said that his objective for 2008 is “the same as always, playing and feeling well. “A place in the ranking ?” if I play well and feel good on the court, automatically, the ranking will improve”.

During these days, González is in Viña del Mar, a tournament very special for him, he won it in 2002 and 2004. Nevertheless, the last time I was there, I suffered : it was just after his efforts in Australia, he was eliminated by the spanish Albert Montanes in the quarters.

The rest of the year is to win points. Trying to threaten the supremacy of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. Playing another time the Masters for the chilean would be another dream.

For the year 2008, he also have challenges. After the loss against Israel, Chile lost in the American zone in the Davis Cup. It only remains to come back in the World Group. In april, the first obstacle will be Mexico or Canada (from the webmaster : now we know it will be Canada), If they win, they’ll play the play-offs.

More.. In august, all the sports planet will have the eyes in Beijing. The capital of China will host the Olympic Games. González will go there to reediate the days of glory he shared with Nicolas Massu in Athens.

Does he suit to everyone ?

Yes, it’s Fernando González. One authentical idol. Women would like to be with him and the men would like to be like him

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Feña honoured en la Villa Alemana :-)

February 15, 2008

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Fernando was honoured last tuesday in Villa Alemana (near Valparaiso) for the start of the Copa Milo, a competition for the young players (14-18 years old). About 500 persons were there, Fernando started to remember when he played there.

“I remember this tournament of Villa Alemana like it was yesterday, moreover that I have a lot of friends and I practriced many times here. I remember this cup, I was there with Massu as well”, he remembered when he won in 1995, he was 14 years old only.

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Fernando withdrew from San Jose, Memphis, Las Vegas :-((

February 11, 2008

15.02 – More news… no Las Vegas for Fernando, he’ll be back in Indian Wells. Get well soon Feña !!

11.02 – Bad news for the fans of Fernando. He is injured and will have to rest several weeks due to an abdominal injury. He felt the pain in Viña del Mar during his match against Hartfield but the support of the warm audience of Viña gave him the strengh to continue to play and to win the tournament. Fernando hopes to come back in Las Vegas, but he hopes to be at his best for the MS of Indian Wells starting on 13th of March.

Fernando was supposed to travel on thursday to the US, to start the US season. He has to rest 5 days and work with the kiné at the Clinica MEDS in Santiago. Then, he’ll go to practrice in San Diego and will try to come back for the tournament of Las Vegas. The positive point is that Fernando won’t lose many points during this break.

We are sorry for Fernando and wish him a good rest. Get well soon Feña !!! Not only the chileans fans who will always support you, even the europeans !!!

Regarding the rankings, Fernando is number 16 this week !

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My pics from Chile :)

February 10, 2008

Here are some pics from my trip to Chile : Santiago, Patagonia, Atacama, Valpo & Viña :)

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Upcoming schedule, next : San Jose

February 10, 2008

Here’s Fernando’s schedule until the beginning of the European clay season.

At the moment, Fernando has a week off, maybe he’ll spend a couple of days in Viña to watch Gisela Dulko play. Good luck to her this week !! Vamos !!

It will be a busy winter for Fernando, buena suerte !!

18-24 February : SAP Open, San Jose, California

22 Feb. – 02 March : Memphis, Tenessee

03-09 March : Tennis Channel Open, Las Vegas, Nevada

13-23 March : Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, California

24 March – 06 April : Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, Florida