FERNANDEZ Gustavo

Type of Impairment
Spinal Cord Injuries (paralympic.org, 01 May 2012)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (paralympic.org, 01 May 2012)

Impairment Details
He injured his spinal cord at age one. (paralympic.org, 01 May 2012)

General
BIOGRAPHY
In 2018 his biography "Hambre de Lobo" [Hunger of the Wolf] was published. The book was written by Sebastian Torok with a prologue by Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal and narrates the story of Fernandez's life. (megustaleer.com.ar, 01 Dec 2018)

MENTAL GAME
He works with a sports psychologist to improve his intensity and focus. "Sometimes, when you're winning a match by a lot or you get an important difference, your playing level goes down. The idea is to maintain the intensity. There is a way to train that. In my daily life, which wasn't so organised, I started to organise my practises, my timetables, my rests. Now I can't leave the plates laying around. My mental coach won't let me! Arranging clothes, arranging everything. It's part of the sacrifice, but you get used to it." (lanacion.com.ar, 03 Jan 2019)

He became the first Argentinian wheelchair tennis player to win gold in both singles and doubles at one edition of the Parapan American Games when he was victorious in both events in 2019 in Lima, Peru. (SportsDeskOnline, 31 Mar 2020)

He became the first Argentinian wheelchair tennis player to win gold at the Wimbledon Open in England, when he claimed victory in singles at the 2019 edition. He was also the first Argentinian wheelchair tennis player to win gold at the Roland Garros Open in France, following his victory in singles at the 2016 edition. (SportsDeskOnline, 31 Mar 2020)