Feliciano López

Biography

Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (Spanish pronunciation: [feliˈθjano ˈlopeθ ˈði.aθ ˈɣera]; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016. In 2005, López was the first male Spanish tennis player to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon since 1972. He repeated the feat in 2008 and 2011. López defeated Tim Henman at the 2007 Wimbledon second round. He reached the quarterfinals of the 2015 US Open, and won his first Grand Slam title at the 2016 French Open when he won the men's doubles title with Marc López. In 2017, at the age of 35, López won the Aegon Championship at The Queen's Club, London, beating Marin Čilić in a third set tiebreak. He distinguished himself by winning his ATP titles, both in singles and doubles, on all surfaces, hard, grass and clay. During the 2018 Wimbledon Championships, López made his 66th consecutive Grand Slam main draw appearance, surpassing the previous record of 65 consecutive appearances held by Roger Federer. At the 2022 Australian Open, his record reached 79 consecutive Grand Slam appearances. As of 2022 Wimbledon, he shared the record for most Grand Slam appearances with Novak Djokovic and Federer at 81. He has made 21 consecutive French Open appearances, also a record. López also holds the record for most losses on the ATP Tour, with 490. On 22 June 2021, he achieved 500 match wins at the 2021 Mallorca Championships, putting him No. 10 on the list of active players with over 500 match wins. On 13 July 2021 at the 2021 Hamburg European Open, he became the fifth player in the world to reach 10,000 aces on the most aces in career list. With his direct entry in the 2021 Indian Wells, he broke the record with his 139th participation in events in the Masters 1000 category.

== Playing style == López is left-handed and uses a single-handed backhand. He is known for his strong serve and ability to play balls repeatedly on the baseline, and is also a confident net player and has been known to serve and volley. Unlike most Spanish players, who almost always prefer clay courts due to the popularity of that surface in their country, López is an exceptionally strong grass-court player, with three quarter-final runs at Wimbledon (his strongest Grand Slam showing), as well as 4 titles on grass at the Eastbourne International in 2013 and 2014 and at the Queen's Club Championships in 2017 and 2019. This is due in part to his more traditional playing style, which is more like grass-court legends Pete Sampras and Roger Federer than fellow Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo. This traditional arsenal includes a big serve and a willingness to come into the net.

== Career ==

=== Early years === In 1997, Feliciano López made his pro circuit debut in Mallorca on 29 September, losing in the second round to Dušan Vemić. In 1998, he made his ATP debut at the 1998 Open SEAT, where he lost to Jiří Novák in the first round. He then competed on the Challenger circuit, making the quarter-finals of Spain F7 and Spain F8. In 1999, he competed on the Futures and Challenger circuits. He won his first Futures event in Spain F6, beating Pedro Canovas in the final. He also reached one other final, losing to Réginald Willems at the Spain F7. In 2000, López competed in only his second ATP tournament at the 2000 Estoril Open, losing to Juan Antonio Marín. His performance was mediocre on the Challenger circuit, and he reached only two quarter-finals. The next year was a better one for López, as he won his second Futures event in France F3, defeating Juan Antonio Marín in the final, and reaching the final in Maia, losing to Jarkko Nieminen. He also made his first ATP win in the 2001 Chevrolet Cup, defeating Adrián García. However, he lost the quarter-final to eventual champion Guillermo Coria. He also made his Grand Slam debut at the 2001 French Open, losing to Carlos Moyá in straight sets.

=== 2002–2005 === In 2002, López competed on the ATP circuit regularly. He started the year with his first semi-final at the 2002 ATP Buenos Aires, losing to Nicolás Massú. He followed it up with a quarter-final appearance at the 2002 Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, losing to Antony Dupuis. He also reached the second round of the Miami Masters, losing to Àlex Corretja in the final. He then won his first Grand Slam match at the 2002 French Open, defeating Didac Pérez in five sets, before losing to third seed Tommy Haas in straight sets. In his Wimbledon debut, he reached the fourth round, losing to André Sá four sets, after defeating Guillermo Cañas in five sets with the fifth going to 10–8, in the second round, a match that lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes. This was his first win over a top-20 player. He then gained revenge for his loss to Sá by defeating him in López's US Open debut in the first round in straight sets, before losing to Gastón Gaudio in the next round. He then reached the quarter-finals in Hong Kong and Tokyo. In Tokyo, he defeated Marat Safin in the second round, his first win over a top-5 player. He also reached the third round of the 2002 Madrid Masters, losing to Andre Agassi. He ended the year in the top 100 for the first time, at no. 62. In 2003, López started the year with first-round exits at Doha and Auckland. He made his Australian Open debut, reaching the third round, but losing to Younes El Aynaoui in four sets. He performed badly in the first rounds in Milan, Marseille, and Rotterdam. He then reached the quarter-finals in Dubai, losing to Tommy Robredo, and in Estoril, losing to Max Mirnyi. He reached the second rounds of Indian Wells and Monte Carlo. In his second French Open, he lost to Mariano Zabaleta in straight sets. He once again reached the fourth round of Wimbledon, where he lost to Roger Federer in straight sets. He then reached two straight semi-finals in Stuttgart and Kitzbühel, losing both to eventual champion Guillermo Coria. He continued his form by reaching the quarter-finals at the 2003 Canada Masters, losing to David Nalbandian in straight sets. After early losses in Cincinnati, Long Island, the US Open, and Moscow, he reached the quarter-finals of Vienna, the Madrid Masters, and Basel. He ended the year with second-round exit at the Paris Masters, where he lost to Guillermo Coria, his fifth lost to Coria. He ended the year ranked no. 28. In 2004, López began the year with a 1–3 record, losing in the first rounds of Sydney, the 2004 Australian Open, and Milan, with his only win coming at the Davis Cup. He reached his first final at the 2004 Dubai Open, losing to Roger Federer. He then reached the second rounds of the 2004 Indian Wells Masters, the 2004 Miami Masters, the 2004 Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, and the 2004 Monte Carlo Masters. He also reached the fourth round of the 2004 French Open, losing to Gustavo Kuerten. This was the furthest he had reached at the French Open. He then lost in the third round of 2004 Wimbledon, losing to tall Croatian Ivo Karlović. In his next three tournaments, he reached the second round, in Stuttgart, the Canada Masters, and the Cincinnati Masters. He also reached the quarter-finals of Kitzbühel, losing to Fernando Verdasco. In the 2004 US Open, he reached the third round, before losing to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt. Then at the 2004 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy, he won his first title, defeating Guillermo Cañas in the final. He ended the year with a quarter-final appearance at the 2004 Paris Masters, losing to Guillermo Cañas. He ended the year at world no. 24. He started 2005 with quarter-final appearances at the 2005 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, losing to Roger Federer, and at the 2005 Medibank International, losing to Radek Štěpánek. At the 2005 Australian Open, he reached the third round, losing to Joachim Johansson in five sets with the fifth set going to 11–13, in a match that lasted almost four hours. This propelled him to world no. 20 and the semi-finals of 2005 Open 13, once again losing to Joachim Johansson. He then reached the third round of the 2005 Indian Wells Masters, losing to Fabrice Santoro in straight sets, and the quarter-finals of the 2005 Estoril Open, losing to Gastón Gaudio in straight sets. He then reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at 2005 Wimbledon, losing to Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets. He also reached the quarter-finals in Kitzbühel, losing to Mariano Zabaleta in straight sets. At the 2005 Pilot Pen Tennis, he lost in his third final to James Blake after winning the first set. He then reached the quarter-finals of the 2005 BA-CA Tennis Trophy, losing to Radek Štěpánek in straight sets. He ended the year ranked world no. 34.

=== 2006–2008 === 2006 was a plateau year for López. He suffered early losses throughout the year. However, he did reach the third round of the 2006 Australian Open, losing to Ivan Ljubičić. He reached the third round of the 2006 Nottingham Open, losing to Jonas Björkman. He reached the final of the 2006 Allianz Suisse Open Gstaad, losing to Richard Gasquet. He reached the third round of the 2006 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, losing to eventual runner-up Andy Murray. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2006 PTT Thailand Open, losing to Jarkko Nieminen. He ended the year at world no. 81, 47 spots lower than the previous year. In 2007, López started the year badly, having a 2–5 record in his first five tournaments, managing a win only at the 2007 Australian Open, losing to Novak Djokovic, and at the 2007 SAP Open losing to Vincent Spadea. However, he followed it up with a quarter-final appearance at the 2007 Tennis Channel Open, losing to eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt. He then lost in the second round of the 2007 Indian Wells Masters, losing to eventual semi-finalist Andy Roddick. He reached the fourth round of the 2007 Miami Masters, losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic. He then followed up with a 1–5 record, with his only win coming in the 2007 Open SEAT over compatriot Guillermo García López. López reached the third round of the 2007 Wimbledon Championships, losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, after he ended Tim Henman's Wimbledon career, beating him in a five-set thriller in the second round, Henman having been two sets up. He then reached the semi-finals of the 2007 Mercedes Cup, losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. He reached the fourth round of the 2007 US Open, losing to eventual champion Roger Federer, the first set being the fewest games won by Federer in one set in the whole tournament. He followed it up with three straight quarter-finals at the 2007 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, losing to eventual champion David Ferrer, at the 2007 BA-CA-TennisTrophy, losing to eventual runner-up Stanislas Wawrinka, and the 2007 Madrid Masters, losing to Roger Federer. He ended the year ranked world no. 35. In 2008 López once again had a bad start, but rebounded at the 2008 Dubai Tennis Championships by reaching the finals, losing to Andy Roddick. He then reached the third round of the 2008 Miami Masters, losing to Dmitry Tursunov. He suffered first-round losses at the next three Masters Series at the 2008 Monte-Carlo Masters, the 2008 Rome Masters, and the 2008 Hamburg Masters. However, in the middle of these tournaments, he managed to reach the third round of the 2008 Torneo Godó, losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. He once again lost early in the first rounds of the 2008 French Open and the 2008 Queen's Club Championships. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, for the second time losing to Marat Safin. He recorded a 2–7 record after Wimbledon with wins coming only at the 2008 Countrywide Classic and at the Davis Cup World Group. He then reached the semi-finals of the 2008 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy, losing to eventual champion Philipp Petzschner, the semi-finals of the 2008 Davidoff Swiss Indoors, losing to eventual champion Roger Federer, and the quarter-finals of the 2008 Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid, losing to Rafael Nadal. He also helped the Spanish Davis Cup team to win the title against Argentina by beating Juan Martín del Potro. He ended the year world no. 31.

=== 2009: First Masters semifinal, Davis Cup winner === In 2009, López started the year with a string of first-round losses, in the 2009 Heineken Open to Jarkko Nieminen, in the 2009 Australian Open to Gilles Müller, and in the 2009 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament to Julien Benneteau. He then competed in the 2009 Open 13 and made it to the quarter-finals, before losing to eventual champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. López struggled after this, and at one point he suffered eight straight main-draw losses in a row. In the midst of his bad run, he won a title at the Open Castilla y León Challenger event, beating Adrian Mannarino in straight sets. At the inaugural Shanghai Masters, he advanced to his first Master Series semi-final, beating David Ferrer, Jürgen Melzer, and Robin Söderling en route. However, he retired due to a right ankle injury in his semi-final match against Rafael Nadal, trailing 1–6, 0–3. Despite his poor year on the ATP tour, López did play a key role for the Spain Davis Cup team, helping them win the 2009 Davis Cup with doubles wins in the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals.

=== 2010: Second ATP title === López started his 2010 season by playing in the 2010 Medibank International Sydney, where he lost to eventual runner-up Richard Gasquet in the first round. He then competed in the 2010 Australian Open, where he reached the third round, defeating Pablo Cuevas and Rainer Schüttler, but lost to seventh seed Andy Roddick in a close four-setter. In the 2010 SA Tennis Open as the third seed, he beat Benjamin Balleret, Blaž Kavčič, and Rajeev Ram in the first three rounds, reaching the final after defeating top seed Gaël Monfils in the semi-finals. He went on to win the tournament, beating the eighth seed Stéphane Robert. Thus, he ended his five and a half-year title drought and won just his second ATP-level title. His finals record now improved to 2–4. He lost in the first rounds of the 2010 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament and 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships. He then reached the third round of the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, losing to sixth seed Robin Söderling, after defeating Paul-Henri Mathieu and receiving a bye. He lost to Mardy Fish in the third round, after defeating Michael Berrer in the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open. In the European clay season, he lost in the first round of 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters to Tomáš Berdych. He then won his first clay victory of the season by reaching the third round of the 2010 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, losing to Robin Söderling. At the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, López reached the quarter-finals, losing to Ernests Gulbis, but upset Marin Čilić en route. After he disappointingly lost in the opening round at the 2010 French Open, he appeared at the 2010 Aegon Championships, the first grass tournament of the year. He beat Grigor Dimitrov and Julien Benneteau. He went on to stun top seed and world no. 1 Rafael Nadal to reach the semi-finals. There, he lost to Mardy Fish. In the 2010 Aegon International, he retired against 342nd-ranked Briton James Ward down 3–6, 4–5. He then played at 2010 Wimbledon, reaching the third round, but losing to Jürgen Melzer. He then lost three straight matches, beginning in the semi-finals of the 2010 Farmers Classic to Andy Murray, and the first rounds of the 2010 Rogers Cup and the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters. He reached the fourth round of the 2010 US Open, losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in straight sets. He then ended the year with a five-match losing streak: in the second round of 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships and the first rounds of the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters 1000, the 2010 If Stockholm Open, the 2010 Valencia Open 500, and the 2010 BNP Paribas Masters.