Fernando Gonzalez to retire next month – Tennis News
Chilean icon, Fernando Gonzalez, will retire from professional tennis after the Sony Ericsson Open 2012 in March. He is eying to relive his memories at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event taking place on the hard courts in Miami before ending his career.
A former world number five, Gonzalez had plans of retiring at the age of 30 and after pondering over it since past few months, he finally announced his retirement. The Chilean faced difficulties while playing his last match at Vina del Mar but made this
decision before entering the tournament.
“I made the decision a couple of weeks ago to end my career at Miami,” the Chilean was quoted in a press conference on Thursday. “It's 100 per cent personal. I realised I don't have the energy to be where I want to be.”
The 31-year-old started his 2012 campaign in great note at the VTR Open last week. He dumped the Spanish challenger, Pere Riba, in straight sets at this ATP World Tour 250 series event. However, the Chilean was ousted in the second round at the hands of
Brazil’s Joao Souza in straight sets. Gonzalez could’ve retired in this event but he wasn’t ready at the moment. The veteran wants to meet Chilean fans living in Miami before saying goodbye.
“If I retired at Vina it would have been too emotional. Miami means a lot for me,” Gonzalez stated further.
The Santiago-born suffered a knee injury last year and played only five ATP World Tour events after recovering from his hip injury in October two years ago. He played his first tour-level event at the US Open last year since undergoing surgery.
Currently ranked 268th in the South African Airways ATP World Rankings, Gonzalez enjoyed a successful tennis career. He bagged 11 tour-level titles and grabbed bronze medal in singles and gold in doubles at the 2004 Olympics held in Athens. The
Chilean also clinched a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He earned the limelight after making a final showdown at the Australian Open in 2007. Gonzalez stunned Lleyton Hewitt and Rafael Nadal en route to finals. Regardless of falling to Roger Federer,
he climbed to his career best rank at the ATP rankings after this.
“I want to have a new start,” the Chilean added. “I'll still be working for tennis, it’s my passion. I’ll take some time to think what I will do.”
Before playing his final tournament in Miami, the Chilean legend is scheduled to play two more tournaments. He will display his skills at the Brasil Open in Sao Paulo and the Copa Claro in Buenos Aires.
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