Fernando González

In May, he became the first Chilean to reach the finals of the Rome Masters since Ríos won the title in 1998. At the US Open, González was upset by Teymuraz Gabashvili in a five-set thriller. From July to August, González went on a five-match losing streak, which ended in September, when he captured the China Open tournament title in Beijing. In November, he became the first Chilean since Ríos in 1998 to directly qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup. In his opening match, he staged a huge upset by beating top-ranked Federer for the first time in eleven encounters. He then lost to Andy Roddick and Nikolay Davydenko, finishing last of his group. He ended the season at no. 7, his highest year-end ranking to date.

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 Olympic Games in both singles and doubles events. At the opening ceremony, he was his country's standard bearer. Read Less