López Defeats Robin Haase to Claim Swiss Open Title

Posted on July 24, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Feliciano López is a Swiss champion…

The 34-year-old Spanish tennis player beat Robin Haase 6-4, 7-5 in the Swiss Open final on Sunday to claim his first career clay-court title.

It’s the fifth career ATP World Tour title for Lopez, the tournament’s top seed, and his first in more than two years. He previously won two titles on grass and two on hard courts.

Ten years after losing the Gstaad final to Richard Gasquet of France, Lopez lifted the trophy on his seventh trip to the Swiss Alps venue.

Lopez arrived ranked No. 21 in the world and should return to the top 20 when the rankings are updated on Monday.

The 95th-ranked Haase had his service broken once in the first set and twice in the second as Lopez completed the victory in less than 80 minutes.

Marc Lopez & Feliciano Lopez Win Their First-Ever Grand Slam Doubles Title at the French Open

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

The third time’s the charm for Marc López…

The 33-year-old Spanish tennis player and his compatriot Feliciano Lopez won the French Open on Saturday for their first Grand Slam doubles title, denying Bob and Mike Bryan a 17th major trophy.

It was Marc Lopez’s third Grand Slam final appearance, having finished runner-up at Roland Garros and at the US Open two years ago alongside Marcel Granollers. It was Feliciano Lopez’s first Grand Slam doubles final.

The duo became the first Spanish pair to win at Roland Garros in 26 years with a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 victory over their American rivals.

The No. 15 seeds played together only once before at a major tournament and had to struggle to get to the final.

They saved six match points in their quarterfinal win over 2014 champions Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. They went to three sets before downing defending champions Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo in the semifinals.

The Bryans, the most successful pairing of all time, were seeking a third title on the red clay following victories in 2003 and 2013.

“The tough thing about us is that if we don’t leave with the big trophy it’s devastating,” Bob Bryan said. “We have high standards, and sometimes that makes it not fun, because we can’t get any kind of enjoyment out of a final or semi like maybe some other players.

“You know, that’s the burden that we carry. We’re feeling that pain right now. We don’t take any solace out of leaving with the square plate.”

Feliciano Lopez sealed the Spaniards’ win with an ace, and both partners fell on their backs in jubilation.

“You can’t imagine what it means to win a Grand Slam for the first time, against the best players in the sport,” Feliciano Lopez said.

The fifth-seeded Bryans saved a match point in the tiebreaker before evening it 1-1 in sets, but their rivals returned better in the decider and converted two of three break points.

“Winning a Grand Slam is something amazing, and I didn’t have a Grand Slam victory on my résumé,” Marc Lopez said. “Roland Garros is my favorite tournament. It has been the case for quite a long time. When I was a kid, I was watching the matches of great champions, the Spanish champions.”

The previous Spanish doubles team to win the French Open was Sergio Casal and Emilio Sanchez in 1990.

López Reaches First Grand Slam Final Ever in French Open Men’s Doubles

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Feliciano López has reached his first Grand Slam final…

The 34-year-old Spanish tennis player and his compatriot Marc López defeated defending champions Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 on Friday to reach their first French Open final as a team.

Dodig and Melo saved two match points serving at 4-5 in the deciding set, but succumbed two games later.

It will be Marc Lopez’s third Grand Slam final appearance, having finished runner-up at Roland Garros and at the US Open two years ago alongside Marcel Granollers.

Feliciano Lopez is into his first Grand Slam final since finishing runner-up at the 1998 Roland Garros junior doubles tournament.

Lopez/Lopez are aiming to become the first all-Spanish team to win the Roland Garros doubles title since Sergio Casal/Emilio Sanchez in 1990.

They saved six match points in their quarterfinal win over 2014 champions Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

The Spaniards will face Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who raced to the finish in a 7-5, 6-1 semifinal win against Lukasz Kubot and Alexander Peya.

Cuevas Upsets Bernard Tomic to Reach Valencia Open Quarterfinals

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Pablo Cuevas has pulled off a big upset…

The 29-year-old Uruguayan tennis player upset third-seeded Bernard Tomic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Valencia Open.

Cuevas landed just 38 percent of his first serves in the first set but saved six of the seven break points he faced in the second and then earned the only break in the decider to clinch the win in 1 hour, 48 minutes.

Vasek Pospisil also reached the quarterfinals by beating Britain’s Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-4, while American Steve Johnson set up a second-round meeting with second-seeded Feliciano Lopez by ousting Martin Klizan 6-3, 6-4.

Ferrer Defeats Steve Johnson to Win Austrian Open Title

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

David Ferrer is one step closer to earning a spot in the ATP World Tour Finals.

The 33-year-old Spanish tennis player strengthened his hand in the race to the end-of-year finals after winning the Austrian Open with a fighting 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 defeat of American Steve Johnson.

Ferrer, who joins Roger Federer with five titles this year – the pair are second behind Novak Djokovic on nine – now stands in solid contention for one of the two remaining places in the eight-man field for the World Tour Finals starting on November 15.

Ferrer joins Kei Nishikori in joint seventh in the race for the eight-man World Tour Finals in London from November 15-22.

Ferrer claimed the 26th trophy of his career as he defeated Johnson, who was playing in his first final.

Ferrer set up three match points in the third set with his seventh ace after a break in the previous game and converted on his first opportunity.

Ferrer lost the final a year ago at the Stadthalle to Andy Murray.

The last Spaniard to win in Vienna was Feliciano Lopez in 2004.

Ferrer Defeats Feliciano Lopez to Win Malaysian Open

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

David Ferrer’s 25th ATP title has turned out to be a memorable one…

The 33-year-old Spanish tennis player has become the first Spaniard to win the Malaysian Open.

Ferrer, the tournament’s top-seed, defeated countryman Feliciano Lopez 7-5, 7-5 in the final on Sunday.

Ferrer got decisive breaks in the 12th game of both sets to clinch his 25th ATP Tour title in just over 90 minutes.

Ferrer, playing his 50th tour final, improved his record against Lopez to 9-6.

Lopez Upsets Kei Nishikori to Reach BNP Paribas Open Quarterfinals

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Feliciano Lopez has pulled off the upset…

The 33-year-old Spanish tenista took down No. 5 seed Kei Nishikori in straight sets to to reach the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday.

Lopez pulled ahead in the first set, and then survived a hard-fought second set to win 6-4, 7-6 (2).

“I really had one bad game at 5-4,” Nishikori said. “Until then I was playing better. I was dominating the strokes. He was hitting good serves, but I had all the chances.”

Lopez reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells for the first time in 13 tries. Lopez has previously been stretched to three sets in his first two matches.

He next faces Any Murray in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal advanced with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Gilles Simon to stay on track for a shot at his fourth career title in the desert.

Nadal next plays sixth-seeded Milos Raonic, who defeated 17th-seeded Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-2 in a fourth-round match.

Nadal served a love game to close out his match that began as a dust storm swirled outside the stadium under overcast skies. He connected on 70 percent of his first serves in beating Simon for the seventh time in eight meetings.

Lopez Defeats Milos Raonic to Reach the Rogers Cup Semifinals

Posted on August 9, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Feliciano López is the last Latino standing at the Rogers Cup…

The 32-year-old Spanish tennis player downed Canada’s Milos Raonic in Friday’s heated quarterfinal match, winning 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.

The unseeded Lopez broke the home favorite to love to secure the lone break in the first set, but squandered two mini-break leads in the second-set tiebreaker to keep alive Raonic’s bid for a second consecutive Rogers Cup semi-final.

The left-handed Lopez stayed with Raonic in the decider, saving the only nine break points he faced in the match while serving at 2-all.

This week, the World No. 25 has saved 27 of 29 break points faced.

He would later break the Raonic serve to go up 5-3 before comfortably holding to close out victory in one hour and 57 minutes.

He’ll next face Roger Federer in the semifinals, after the former World No. 1 defeated Lopez’s compatriot David Ferrer in three sets.

Lopez Defeats Richard Gasquet to Successfully Defend His Aegon International Title

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Feliciano Lopez is a back-to-back champion…

The 32-year-old Spanish tennis player beat top seed Richard Gasquet of France 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5 on Saturday to complete a successful title defense in the Aegon International final.

It’s the first time the third-seeded Lopez has retained an ATP title, and the first time he has beaten Gasquet in their six career meetings.

Lopez, who held championship point against Grigor Dimitrov last week at Queen’s Club but couldn’t seal the deal, is the first player to reach back-to-back grass-court finals before Wimbledon since 2001, when Lleyton Hewitt won at Queen’s and s-Hertogenbosch, and Thomas Johansson won Halle and Nottingham.

There was little to separate him and Gasquet, with two breaks giving the Spanish left-hander the opening set, and Gasquet, the 2005 and 2006 champion, winning the tiebreaker in the second.

In the third set, games went with serve until Lopez broke to lead 6-5 and then served out the match for the fourth title of his career.

Nadal Leads a Strong Spanish Charge at This Year’s Wimbledon

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal is ready to kick some grass at the All England Club… And, he’s leading a strong charge of seeded Latino players competing at Wimbledon.

Despite winning his ninth French Open title and maintaining his World No. 1 ranking, the 28-year-old Spanish tennis superstar has been seeded No. 2 at this year’s Grand Slam tournament.

Nadal was relegated to the No. 2 spot when his French Open final foe Novak Djokovic, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, was given the top seeding by the All England Club ahead of him. Tournament officials take a player’s grass-court record into account when assigning the men’s seedings.

Defending men’s champion Andy Murray, who last year became the first British player to win the Wimbledon men’s title since 1936, was bumped up two spots above his world ranking to No. 3.

Seven-time champion Roger Federer is No. 4, while Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka is down two spots from his world ranking at No. 5.

But Nadal isn’t the only Hispanic tenista earning a seed at this year’s event…

In all, there are nine Latinos among the 32 seeded players – all hailing from Spain – including David Ferrer at No. 7, Fernando Verdasco at No. 18 and Feliciano Lopez at No. 19.

Here’s the complete list of seeds (with their world ranking in parenthesis):

Men

1. Novak Djokovic, Serbia (2)
2. Rafael Nadal, Spain (1)
3. Andy Murray, Britain (5)
4. Roger Federer, Switzerland (4)
5. Stan Wawrinka, Switzerland (3)
6. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic (6)
7. David Ferrer, Spain (7)
8. Milos Raonic, Canada (9)
9. John Isner, United States (11)
10. Kei Nishikori, Japan (12)
11. Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria (13)
12. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia (10)
13. Richard Gasquet, France (14)
14. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France (17)
15. Jerzy Janowicz, Poland (24)
16. Fabio Fognini, Italy (15)
17. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia (16)
18. Fernando Verdasco, Spain (23)
19. Feliciano Lopez, Spain (25)
20. Kevin Anderson, South Africa (18)
21. Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ukraine, (19)
22. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany (27)
23. Tommy Robredo, Spain (22)
24. Gael Monfils, France (21)
25. Nicolas Almagro, Spain (26)
26. Andreas Seppi, Italy (34)
27. Marin Cilic, Croatia (29)
28. Roberto Bautista Agut, Spain (28)
29. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain (31)
30. Ivo Karlovic, Croatia (33)
31. Marcel Ganollers, Spain, (30)
32. Dmitry Tursunov, Russia (32)

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