By Nick Georgandis
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Photo Credit: Mark Howard |
Unless you're Pete Sampras, odds are that your career isn't going to end on that perfect high note. Still, it takes an impressive athlete to know when it's time to hang it up. Chile's Fernando Gonzalez made the call on his own career Thursday after losing to France's Nicolas Mahut in the first round of the Miami Masters, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(3).
At 31 years old, Gonzalez is hardly a senior citizen on the tour, and ending his career with a double fault in a final-set tie-breaker made for a tough ending, but Gonzalez said he has felt the end coming for some time now.
"The past year and a half has been pretty tough for my career. I don't have the energy to get up in the morning, train like I have to train, travel like I have to travel," Gonzalez said. "I was really tired in the end, and I said I don't want to finish with a double fault. The atmosphere was great."
Gonzalez won 11 ATP titles during his career, finished as the runner-up to Roger Federer at the 2007 Australian Open final and combined with countryman Nicolas Massu to win the gold medal in men's doubles at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, Chile's only gold medal to date.
"I like tennis, I will be around. I have great memories from tennis," Gonzalez said. "But I wasn't enjoying as I enjoyed in the past. That's why I decided to finish my career.
Gonzalez turned pro in 1999 and finishes his career with a 370-202 record and nearly $9 million in prize money.
In the 2004 Olympics, he and Massu shocked Americans Bob and MIke Bryan in the quarterfinals, then defeated Germany's Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler in a marathon 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4 gold-medal match.
Gonzales began the 2007 season by defeating No. 5 James Blake in the fourth round and No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals before falling to No. 1 Federer in the Australian Open finals.
He climbed from No. 9 to a career-best No. 5 after the run. He was ranked in the Top 10 as recently as March of 2010, but an injury-plagued 2011 saw him plummet out of the Top 100.