The race of Feliciano Lopez It ended. The 41-year-old Spaniard lost in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 in Mallorca and said goodbye to professional activity after a career that lasted 26 years on the circuit.
Feliciano López said goodbye to professional tennis. EPA/EFE
The debut of the native of Toledo occurred in 1997, in the city of Mallorca. There he played a Challenger Series at just 16 years old and was left with a victory against the Argentine Agustin Garizzio. In that small contest, which ended up in the hands of Álex López Morón, Feliciano began his successful and fruitful career.
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In the nearly three decades in which he competed, Hide he won a total of seven ATP titles and played in eleven other finals. His trophies include: Vienna (2004), Johannesburg (2010), Eastbourne (2013 and 2014), Gstaad (2016) and Queen’s (2017 and 2019). In addition, he was also champion of several doubles titles where the most outstanding was undoubtedly Roland Garros. In 2016, he conquered Paris with his compatriot Marc López after beating the historic Bob and Mike Ryan in the final.
López has also been an important part of the Spain Davis Cup team, playing a total of 31 series. His debut came in 2003 against Australia in Melbourne with a defeat in the doubles with Alex Corretja against Wayne Arthurs and Todd Woodbridge. From that moment until 2021, when he played his last game, Feliciano won four tournaments (2008, 2009, 2011 and 2019) and was also an important part in the 2004 consecration (he put the series 2-2 against the Czech Republic in the first round). in which he was not called up for the final. In this way he is the top winner in Spain along with Rafael Nadal in said competition.
At the ranking level, it was ranked No. 12, very close to the Top Ten, in March 2015. At that time only they were located above him: Grigor Dimitrov, Marin Cilic, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic, Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. However, in doubles it did become Top Ten since for two weeks in November in 2016 it was No. 9.
Throughout his career, Feliciano López won a total of 506 ATP matches in singles and 260 in doubles. Among his most outstanding victories are undoubtedly the one achieved against Rafael Nadal (N°1 at the time) at Queen’s 2010 y Novak Djokovic (also leader of the world ranking) in Dubai 2016. In total he added 39 victories against Top Ten players but without a doubt that his pending account was defeating Roger Federer. The Swiss beat him in the 13 games they played between 2003 and 2017 with the peculiarity that the Spaniard only won four sets in all those matches.
Finally, throughout his career Feliciano López achieved two milestones: He won Queen’s in singles and doubles at the age of 37 in the same season (2019), becoming the oldest player to win both crowns in the same tournament since Ken Rosewall (40) in Jackson 1975. His other mark is that he is the player with more consecutive appearances (79) in main draws of Grand Slam tournaments.
The future of the man born in Toledo in 1981 will have him as the new Director of the Davis Cup Final Phases. “My only goal will be to build on the recent success of the competition and make it the best it can be for the players and fans around the world. I can’t wait to get started,” he commented weeks ago when it was announced.
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2023-06-29 17:17:29
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