With his 30th birthday looming in July, Fernando Gonzalez knows he may not have many chances left to play in the rich and prestigious BNP Paribas Open. But Gonzalez is skipping Indian Wells this year—not because of a personal injury, but because his country is hurting.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision at all to stay here,” Gonzalez said yesterday from his home in Santiago, Chile, where he’s been lending his star power and support since the February 28 earthquake that killed at least 452 people. “Tennis is my job and it’s my passion, but this is much more important for me—to maybe bring a little bit of happiness to those people, talk to them, maybe play some tennis for them, or whatever they want me to do.”
While his fellow tennis stars are staging a second “Hit for Haiti” fundraiser on Friday in Indian Wells, the Gonzalez will be at home working with the Hogar de Cristo, a Chilean public charity institution providing disaster relief in the form of non-perishable food, blankets, disposable diapers and coal delivered to the southern and central regions of Chile.
Scientists estimate that the force of the quake moved Gonzalez’s hometown of Santiago 11 inches to the southwest. But the world No. 10 says the capital looks okay. “The buildings were prepared,” he said. “But [in] the cities to the south, the small towns, there are two to three million people left homeless,” he says. Gonzalez is part of a group of Chilean sports stars who are heading south today to tour the ravaged areas and, he hopes, “give them an illusion and maybe help them forget a little bit,” he says.
On the day of the quake, Fernando had just lost a semifinal match to David Ferrer at the Mexico Tennis Open in Acapulco when his girlfriend, Chilean model and singer Daniela Castillo, received a text message with news of the disaster. It took Gonzalez an hour to reach his parents and his sister by phone in Santiago. Once he had determined that they were safe, he worked his way home, “an odyssey of three flights, a taxi and van.”
When Gonzalez arrived in Santiago, he recorded a video seeking global assistance (it was posted on the ATP website) and made a series of appearances in Chile. Among the stops: a rally in the northern port city of Coquimbo, where he and the other members of the Chilean Davis Cup squad had been scheduled to play Israel last weekend.
Gonzalez and his teammates were conflicted about whether to go ahead with the tie, but ultimately decided to compete as scheduled. “It was not an easy decision to play,” he says. “But with all the bad news on TV, we thought it could bring a little bit of happiness.”
Playing for country took on even greater significance considering the circumstances. “There’s always pressure in Davis Cup, but this was more,” he said. “We felt we just couldn’t lose because we wanted to give some good news after all the bad news that had been on TV for all week,” he says. And the Chileans won convincingly, defeating Israel, 4-1. By beating Dudi Sela in straight sets, Gonzalez clinched the victory for Chile and earned the nation a spot in the quarterfinals.
Gonzalez will be back on Tour for the next big event, the Sony Ericsson Open later this month in Miami, where he’ll have bigger concerns than just defending ranking points. At a March 22 player party, Gonzalez plans to hold a silent auction featuring memorabilia from tennis and NBA stars. The proceeds will go to the Chilean earthquake relief effort.
Bill Gray is a senior editor and the resident gear guru at TENNIS. Follow his blog, The Pro Shop.