The 41-year-old Spanish veteran tennis player extended his career by at least one more day with an emotional victory at the Mallorca Open on Tuesday — the final event of his 26-year career.
Lopez was cheered on by friend and compatriot 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal during his 6-3 7-5 victory over Max Purcell.
Lopez, who reached a career high ranking of 12 and holds the record for appearing in 79 successive Grand Slam main draws, will face Australian Jordan Thompsonon Wednesday.
“It’s a really special win for me, probably one of the most special wins of my career so far, to be honest,” Lopez, who has more than 500 ATP singles wins, said on court at the Santa Ponsa Country Club after his win.
“This is over my expectations, to be winning a match at this stage of my career in Mallorca, this beautiful place, surrounded by the ones that I love, my friends.”
Nadal, who is currently out of action as he tries to recover from injuries, was joined by Carlos Moya in the stands to cheer on their former Davis Cup compatriot.
“Most of them came for my hypothetical last match. Luckily, it wasn’t the last match of my life. I have another opportunity tomorrow, and this is very overwhelming, I have to say,” Lopez added after only his second ATP Tour win this year.
The 41-year-old Spanish tennis player has been appointed tournament director for the Davis Cup finals, the International Tennis Federation has announced.
Lopez, who won the competition with Spain four times, plans to end his playing career after this year.
The group stage will take place from September 12-17 in four European cities followed by the last-eight event in Malaga, Spain, from November 21-26.
“I have some special memories of playing in this competition so I am very happy to be taking a leading role in delivering these events,” Lopez said in the ITF announcement. “As tournament director, my sole focus will be to build on the recent success of the competition and make it the best it can be for players and supporters across the world.”
The Davis Cup was included as an official part of the ATP calendar under an agreement last year between the ITF and the men’s tour. Attendance in February’s qualifying events was up 10%.
Spain and Serbia are together in Group C, setting up a possible meeting between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic. The Czech Republic and South Korea are also in the group, which will play in Valencia.
The United States will face Croatia, Finland and the Netherlands in Group D. That group will be hosted by Croatia, although the city and venue has yet to be announced. Defending champion Canada is in Group A along with Italy, Sweden and Chile — playing in Bologna. Group B consists of host Britain, Australia, France and Switzerland, and will play in Manchester.
The top two teams in each group advance to the Final 8 tournament. A record 155 nations entered the competition this year.
Lopez represented Spain in the Davis Cup five times and helped his country win it in 2008, ’09, ’11 and ’19.
“He is a Davis Cup legend and embodies everything the competition is about — passion, entertainment and pride in representing your country,” ITF president David Haggerty said.
Lopez became tournament director of the Madrid Open in 2019.
A three-time quarterfinalist at Wimbledon, Lopez is set to play in the grass-court Mallorca Championships beginning June 25.
Rafael Nadal has joined an elite group of tennis stars…
The 34-year-old Spanish tennis star has become only the fourth man to reach 1,000 match victories.
Nadal reached the milestone at the Paris Masters after defeating his compatriot Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Nadal joins towering company in Jimmy Connors (1,274), Roger Federer(1,242) and Ivan Lendl (1,068) as the only men in the 1,000-wins club since the Open era began in 1968.
“I know it is a very special number, one thousand,” Nadal said. “Even if it’s not the same to celebrate something like this without a crowd.”
Nadal smiled as he posed at the net with the number 1,000 displayed on the court in a brief ceremony, and then he walked off center court like after any other match.
It was the second milestone he reached in Paris this year, having won the French Open last month to tie Federer with 20 majors.
Nadal’s first win came in May 2002 at the age of 15, when he beat Paraguayan Ramon Delgado in the first round at Mallorca.
A year later, the 16-year-old Nadal stunned the tennis world by beating French Open champion Albert Costa under floodlights in the second round at the Monte Carlo Masters.
By the age of 24, he had already reached 500 wins. His career tally also includes 35 Masters titles and 86 tournament victories overall.
Nadal, who has never won this tournament, next plays Australia’s Jordan Thompson, who upset 15th-seeded Croat Borna Coric 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Roberto Bautista Agut is heading back to the court…
The 32-year-old Spanish professional tennis player will headline the UTR Pro Series-Spain, a three-event series that’ll be played on successive weekends beginning July 10 in Barcelona.
Conspicuous in his absence: ATP No. 2 ranked Rafael Nadal, who hasn’t taken part in any of the growing number of “re-opening” events tennis entrepreneurs and officials have staged during the suspension of ATP and WTA tennis due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Spanish events will feature Bautista Agut, ranked No. 12 in the world, No. 25 Pablo Carreno Busta, and Albert Ramos-Viñolas, who is No. 41. Two of the other committed players are well-known veterans Fernando Verdascoand Feliciano Lopez, both of whom are still ranked in the Top 100.
The UTR Pro Series tournament format is modeled on the wildly popular exhibition event created by Roger Federer, the Laver Cup (this year’s event, scheduled for Boston in late September, has been canceled due to a conflict with the postponed French Open).
The eight participants in the UTR showdown will be divided into two teams. The matches will be best-three sets, but with a match tiebreaker in lieu of a third set.
UTR, or Universal Tennis Rating, is an organization built on the foundation of a rating system that differs substantially from the formal ATP ranking system. It rates all players, including top pros, solely on the basis of their results against each other in recent matches recognized by UTR. It’s already widely used in junior play and by college recruiters, and has sponsored a number of exhibitions in recent months.
Federer is out of action for the rest of the year due to an aggravated knee injury. Novak Djokovic made his first appearance as a player during the coronavirus pandemic in late June, but the four-tournament Adria Tour he conceived turned into a debacle due to an outbreak of coronavirus. Djokovic was among those who tested positive for Covid-19.
Nadal has kept his distance from the exhibition circuit, and has also expressed disappointment at the prospect of playing without fans in attendance at the upcoming US Open. He hasn’t yet decided if he’ll defend his title in New York.
Rafael Nadal’s face has found a special home Down Under…
The 33-year-old Spanish tennis star, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, is one of the players being honored with a special mural in Perth, Australia.
The inaugural ATP Cupis set to take place between January 3-12 in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, bringing together some of the world’s leading players in both singles and doubles from 24 countries.
Weeks before the start of the action, Nodal got his mural in Perth together with Kei Nishikori and other stars, with the organizers welcoming the 19-time Grand Slam champion.
Nadal is among those who’ll fight for the crown together with his teammates, fresh after conquering the first edition of the Davis Cup Finalsin Madrid.
Spain is the favorite to reach the quarters from Group B, battling against Japan, Uruguay and Georgia at RAC Arena in Perth and hoping to continue the competition in Sydney where eight strongest teams continue the quest for the title in the second stage of the event.
Backed by Roberto Bautista Augt, Pablo Carreno Busta, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Feliciano Lopez, Nadal is eager to lead Spain towards another team competition crown, shining in front of the home fans in Madrid with eight victories from as many rubbers and delivering the sixth Davis Cup title for Spain.
In what was a wild race towards the finish line, Nadal and Djokovic fought for the year-end no. 1 spot for almost the entire season, with the Spaniard making the deciding move in Montreal and the US Open and keeping the lead in the ATP Raceuntil the ATP Finalswhere they both lost in the round-robin stage.
Rafa and Novak will continue their rivalry at the ATP Cup, joined by Gael Monfils, Kei Nishikori, David Goffin, Andy Murray, Grigor Dimitrov, Alexander Zverev, Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Nick Kyrgios, Alex de Minaur, Daniil Medvedev, Karen Khachanov, John Isner, Matteo Berrettini, Fabio Fognini, Dominic Thiem, Diego Schwartzmanand others.
The 33-year-old Spanish tennis star, ranked No. 1 in the world, risked injury by playing eight matches — five singles, three doubles — in six days at the Davis Cup Finals, the new World Cup of tennis.
Nadal won all of them, leading Spain to its sixth Davis Cup title after a 2-0 win over first-time finalist Canada on Sunday.
But in Nadal’s view, the only hero for Spain was grieving teammate Roberto Bautista Agut. He sent Spain on its way to victory by winning the first singles match on Sunday, three days after the death of his father.
“I’ve won the eight matches but the person who was vital in this Davis Cup was Roberto,” Nadal said. “For me, what he did was something almost inhuman. I don’t know how to explain it. It will be an example for the rest of my life. He had to leave, then his dad died, then he came back and practiced with us yesterday, and today he was ready again to play at a very high level. It was something incredible.”
Before Nadal defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 7-6 (7) to clinch the title — Spain’s first since also winning at home in 2011 — Bautista Agut had given Spain a 1-0 lead by beating Felix Auger-Aliassime7-6 (3), 6-3.
Bautista Agut pointed his finger to the sky after winning the final point in his match, and was in tears while speaking briefly to the crowd, which chanted his name. And he was the Spanish player lifting the cup in the title celebrations.
Bautista Agut’s father died on Thursday — a day after his son had defeated Nikola Mektic of Croatia — with his health deteriorating quickly after an illness that stemmed from a 2016 accident.
Bautista Agut, No. 9 in the world, played as teammates Pablo Carreno Busta and Marcel Granollers nursed injuries entering the final.
As for Nadal, he considered himself lucky to be able to play all matches.
“It’s true that I held up, but we know that playing so many matches in this [hard-court] surface is risky for me, something can happen at any time,” Nadal said. “That’s how it’s been in the past, but luckily I held up.”
Spain’s Granollers and Feliciano Lopezhad been scheduled to face Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisilin the now-canceled doubles match, although Nadal was likely to play if the title had been at stake. Nadal played in the decisive doubles on Friday and Saturday.
Voted the tournament’s best player, Nadal sealed the title with his 29th straight Davis Cup singles win, igniting the home crowd’s celebrations.
Tournament organizer and Barcelona soccer star Gerard Pique, his wife Shakira — who performed in the closing ceremony — and Spanish King Felipe VI were among those celebrating Spain’s triumph.
Spain’s other Davis Cup titles were in 2000, ’04, ’08, ’09 and ’11.
The new Davis Cup Finals is the result of a 25-year partnership between the International Tennis Federation and the Kosmos group co-founded by Pique.
Juan Martin del Potrohas earned a spot in the last big tournament of the year…
The 30-year-old Argentine tennis player has qualified for the ATP Finals for the fifth time by beating Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6 (4) Wednesday at the China Open.
del Potro, who reached the US Openfinal this year, last qualified for the season-ending tournament for the top eight players in the world in 2013.
del Potro will next meet Filip Krajinovic in the quarterfinals in Beijing. Krajinovic defeated Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (5), 6-3.
He was the runner-up in 2009, losing to Nikolay Davydenkoin the finals of the ATP World Tour Finals.
The 36-year-old Spanish professional tennis player broke Roger Federer’s record by appearing in a 66th consecutive Grand Slam singles tournament while competing at Wimbledon.
Lopez defeated Argentina’s Federico Delbonis 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 during his first round match.
Back in2005, he was the first male Spanish tennis player to reach the quarterfinals at the All England Club since 1972, when Manuel Orantes reached the semifinals. He repeated the feat in 2008 and 2011.
Lopez won his first Grand Slam title at the 2016 French Open when he won the men’s doubles title with Marc López.
The 35-year-old Spanish tennis player will replace Rafael Nadal on Spain’s Davis Cup team.
Nadal decided to take time off after his Australian Open final loss to Roger Federer.
The Spanish tennis federation said Nadal has been dropped from Spain’s Davis Cup team because of fatigue following his five-set loss to Federer in Sunday’s final.
Lopez will now fill in for Nadal at next weekend’s best-of-five series at Croatia in the first round of the World Group.
The federation said the decision was made after a recommendation by doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro, who said Nadal’s recovery time would be too short. He said it was taken into consideration that Nadal played a significant number of matches after a four-month layoff because of a wrist injury.
“Rafa’s wear and tear in the last month was very significant,” Spain captain Conchita Martinez said. “He needs to recover from his recent efforts and certainly will be with us again in the next rounds.”
The 14-time Grand Slam champion is expected to return to action in Rotterdam from Feb. 13-19.
Nadal, ranked No. 6 in the world, helped Spain defeat India last year to secure its return to the World Group, although he missed his singles match because of the lingering wrist injury.
The other Spanish players to face Croatia are Roberto Bautista Agut, Pablo Carreno Busta and Marc Lopez.
Rafael Nadal has taken full advantage of a golden opportunity…
The 30-year-old Spanish tennis star has added a second Olympic tennis gold medal to all of his Grand Slam trophies, teaming with childhood friend Marc Lopez to win the men’s doubles championship for Spain at the 2016 Rio Games.
Nadal and Lopez came back from a break down in the third set and claimed the last three games to beat Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau of Romania 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the final Friday.
Nadal, a 14-time champion at major tournaments, also won an Olympic title in singles at the 2008 Beijing Games after defeating Chile’s Fernando González. This is the first medal for Lopez.
The silver for Mergea and Tecau is the first tennis medal for Romania in Olympic history.
The bronze went to Steve Johnson and Jack Sock of the United States. They beat the Canadian team of Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 6-4 earlier Friday.
It was another busy day for Nadal, who won his singles quarterfinal in three sets earlier Friday.
Nadal does not play doubles often on tour, focusing on a singles career that has included stints at No. 1 in the rankings and a record nine French Open titles.
Of his nine previous doubles championships, four came with Lopez as his partner, although they hadn’t played even one match together this year until arriving in Brazil.
Lopez was cheered on by friend and compatriot 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal during his 6-3 7-5 victory over Max Purcell.
