page_title: Fernando González
section_title: 2008
hierarchical_section_title: Fernando González / Tennis career / 2008
caption_attribution_description: Fernando González against Robin Söderling in the 2009 French Open semifinals
context_page_description: Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi is a former professional tennis player from Chile. During his career he made it to the quarterfinal round of all four Grand Slam tournaments. He played his only major final at the 2007 Australian Open, losing to top-seeded Roger Federer. He is the fourth male tennis player in history to have won each Olympic medal. The gold medal González won together with Nicolás Massú in the 2004 Olympic doubles competition was the first ever gold medal won by Chile at the Olympics.
  Throughout his career, González defeated many past and present top players, including Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moyá, Gustavo Kuerten, Marat Safin, Pete Sampras, and Andy Murray. González qualified twice for the year-end Masters Cup event and was runner-up at two Masters Series tournaments.
  González was known for having one of the hardest forehands on the tour. In Spanish he is called El Bombardero de La Reina and Mano de Piedra.
context_section_description: At the Australian Open in January, González failed to defend all his points from the previous year and fell from No. 7 to No. 24 in the ATP singles rankings. He bounced back the following week, winning his home event at Viña del Mar for the third time, rising to No. 16. In May, he won his tenth ATP title at the BMW Open in Munich. The following month, he reached the quarterfinals of the French Open for the second time, losing to top seed Roger Federer in four sets. In August, González represented Chile at the Beijing Olympics in both singles and doubles events. At the opening ceremony, he was his country's standard bearer. As in Athens 2004, he partnered with Massú in doubles, but was unable to defend his gold, exiting in the first round. In singles, he improved his Olympic record, clinching a silver medal, after beating James Blake in the semifinals. In the gold medal match, he lost in straight sets to Rafael Nadal.
  At the US Open in September, he lost in the fourth round to former local champion Andy Roddick, 2–6, 4–6, 1–6. He ended the season at No. 15. In November, at the end of the season, Stefanki ceased coaching González after a job offer from Roddick. On 12 December, González announced he had hired former Argentine player Martín Rodríguez as his new full-time coach for 2009.
caption: González made the semi-finals of the 2009 French Open, his career-best performance at the tournament.
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