[olimpo]

Originally Posted by ChinoRios4Ever

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/...876324234.html

Oh it’s a blog on the official site. Thanks! Didn’t see it there before.

[Ferrero Forever]

Originally Posted by Fergie

Why I love Melbourne - Fernando Gonzalez

I am so happy to be back in Melbourne. It’s one of my favourite cities and it seems like even though we are a long way from everywhere, everyone is at home here.

I have had great results at the Australian Open, like when I made the final in 2007 and I’m lucky that I feel at home on the court as well as off the court.

I have been here since 9th January so I am settled in. I am staying at one of the player hotels in the city and I have had a chance to go to some of my favourite places here. I went to the zoo and the aquarium and I had a great time at both of those places. I visited it two years ago before the tournament but that time we didn’t see that much. This time I got really close to the koalas and the kangeroos and it was amazing – we didn’t get to hold the koalas, though, because they were all asleep. I think they do that a lot.

The aquarium was fun, too. My favourite part was the King penguins and I surprised how fast they could swim. They look kind of funny but they are pretty quick through the water. I like to walk around Melbourne because it’s very safe and very nice to look around and you can be in the city and in ten minutes you are at the beach, which I love. St Kilda is great and I went to Luna Park, which has a very old rollercoaster. It was a bit bumpy!

As well as sightseeing and lots of practice and working in the gym, I have been going to some really great restaurants, which is always a good thing to do here. When you are competing you always eat a lot of Italian food because you need to eat a lot of carbohydrates and there are some good Italian places to go in Chapel Street. I like Japanese food too and Chapel Street has a few places that I have tried. I’ve been coming here for about 10 years now so I have a few favourites.

Of course I feel very comfortable on the court, because whenever you have had good results somewhere it helps. I always got really good support here because there are loads of Chileans and they make it a fantastic atmosphere to play in. I met the Chilean ambassador a couple of years ago and he told me that there are only 8,000 Chileans here and I think nearly all of them come to the tennis. Their best chant is ‘Chi, Chi, Chi, le, le, le’ and I love it when I hear that. You can hear almost everything that people shout and it really inspires you.

The fans make the Australian Open great. As well as the Chileans, there are the Dutch, the Swedish, the Croatians, the Serbians and loads of other tennis fans from all over the world. Of course the Chileans are the best, and I hope that I can give them a lot to cheer about in my next match. They are going to be pretty excited.

Haha I really like this interview! And I too love the Chi Chi Chi, Le Le le, Viva Chile chant, its one of the few I've actually been able to do myself

[Ferrero Forever]

Can I ask a silly question? How long has he been with his girlfriend Daniela. I saw her at one of his practices and didn't know who she was, but there was a photo of the two of them on the ATP website cruising down the Yarra (which is a horrible dirty river, they should have gone somewhere nicer). Just curious to find out.

[zine56]

about a year or something like that(?) it was a few months after he broke up with gisela

[Ferrero Forever]

Originally Posted by zine56

about a year or something like that(?) it was a few months after he broke up with gisela

Wow! I'm really out of touch with my Gonzo gossip. Guess I gotta stick around these parts a bit more, which I'm 100% sure I will do, coz he's been the highlight of my Australian Open

[Fergie]

González llegó a Chile para jugar el ATP de Santiago y habló de la Copa Davis

SANTIAGO.- El mejor tenista chileno Fernando González, regresó al país para disputar, desde la próxima semana, el ATP de Santiago, y se refirió además de su inclusión, después de la renuncia, al equipo chileno de Copa Davis.

González evaluó además de buena forma su paso por el primer Grand Slam del año, el Abierto de Australia.

"Fue de menos a más. Es el primer torneo del año y como afronté la preparación quería ver cómo estaba y poco a poco me fue sintiendo bien. Jugué un gran tenis, aunque no sé si el mejor", anotó el chileno.

González perdió en Melbourne ante el estadounidense Andy Roddick, en octavos de final, aquejado un tanto por algunos problemas a sus rodillas.

"Afecta más en las canchas rápidas. Es verdad que en Australia jugué con dolor algún partido, pero en arcilla no debería tener problemas", añadió.

Ahora, González protagonizará el ATP de Santiago. "Chicureo empieza la otra semana, así que un poco de descanso y a empezar a entrenar", explicó.

Copa Davis

Superado su distancia con el equipo chileno de Copa Davis, González se refirió al duelo por la primera ronda del Grupo Mundial ante Israel, en Coquimbo.

"Ojalá que vaya mucha gente a vernos, pues el apoyo es importante. Espero que la cancha esté en buenas condiciones", finalizó.

En tanto, el presidente de la Federación de Tenis y el capitán nacional, Hans Gildemeister, visitaron el escenario del duelo copero en la Cuarta Región y aprobaron el recinto sin miramientos.

El dirigente José Hinzpeter anotó: "Las instalaciones me parecen fantásticas, creo que la gente de la Federación Internacional de Tenis ha quedado sorprendida. El ideal y el sueño que tienen es que el hotel y la cancha estén lo más cerca posible y aquí no están lo más cerca posible, están juntos, en el mismo lugar, y eso es fantástico".

"Las instalaciones no podrían estar mejor", apuntó Hildemeister. El duelo con Israel se jugará el 5, 6 y 7 de marzo.

[silviagz]

Gracias!!!

[RogiFan88]

where is FENA?? why isn't he playing BsAs??? is he playing Acapulco?? hope he's not injured...

[xohxmyx]

Fernando Gonzalez after his participation in the ATP of Santiago, where it he reached semi-finals, will take 2 weeks to prepare his return to the Tour in the Opened Mexican Telcel according to his Calendar. In March he will return to Chile to dispute the Davis Cup in Coquimbo against Israel.

thats from he's website...i miss him

[Smoke944]

Against Querrey in Acapulco. Vamos

[Fergie]

Not bad, vamos

[Ferrero Forever]

He's on the better side of the draw I'd say, but its very tough, heaps of good claycourt players in this tournament

[xohxmyx]

but feña himself is a good clay courter...i havent really checked the draw properly yet so i dont know much about who else is in the tourny but atleast he should be really well rested he's been off court for awhile

[Ferrero Forever]

yes of course he's good on clay, but Verdasco and Ferrero (I only say Ferrero coz he's been doing great lately) are on the opposite side, i think Monaco and Almagro are clear of Gonzo too. I think Gonzo only has Ferrer to deal with by memory

[xohxmyx]

Fernando González está en México, tratando de regresar lo antes posible a Chile, y muy afectado por el terremoto. Este es su mensaje:

Hola amigos:

He seguido muy atento la television y he visto todo lo que pasó. Eestoy muy afectado por las victimas y sus familiares debido a este terremoto. Estoy en Ciudad de México y esta noche vuelo a Lima, donde estaré atento a tomar el primer vuelo a Santiago.

Le doy gracias a Dios que mi familia está bien. Pude hablar con ellos poco después del terremoto y fue un gran alivio. Después de eso no me he despegado del televisor y me da una angustia enorme ver todo lo que ha pasado. Estoy consternado, me duele mucho no poder estar allá. Estoy rezando para que aparezcan cuanto antes los desaparecidos y en buenas condiciones. Me gustaría que supieran que cualquier cosa que pueda hacer para ayudar a la reconstrucción de mi país, la haré con gusto.

Espero estar nuevamente en mi país lo antes posible.

Un abrazo para todos y ¡Fuerza Chile!