Assistant Tournament Director Feliciano Lopez is enjoying his last year as a player at the Mutua Madrid Open (as tournament director, ATP laws forbid him to play next season), but as he prepares to finish his playing career at the Caja Magica, he’s already fixated on his biggest goal as tournament director for 2019: BRING ROGER FEDERER BACK!
Federer has not played at Madrid since losing his opening match to Nick Kyrgios in 2015. The Swiss has elected to skip the entire clay-court season for the second consecutive year, but it is believed that the 20-time major champion will make the rounds on clay at least one more time before he ends his illustrious career.
From the sound of it, Lopez is going to do everything in his power to make 2019 the year that Federer comes back to Madrid.
“I would like to have Federer back in Madrid, he told reporters on Monday. “I already said that in one breakfast we had with Manolo and with Gerard for the European press. I think as Federer doesn't have many more years to play tennis, I would like to see him back here in Madrid. I think it's a small goal, not from my side, but all of the people at the tournament. Let's see if we are lucky enough to see Federer one more year here in the tournament.”
Meanwhile, Lopez will have to be content with breaking one of Federer’s records. His first-round win over Pablo Andujar marked his 130th lifetime appearance at a Masters 1000 event, moving him past Roger Federer and to the top of the all-time list.
“I think that I have always been lucky to be able to play so many years in a row without being injured,” he said. “Of course, it's great to be able to have played so many Masters 1000s and Grand Slams without failing. It's a stat that reflects my consistency, that I have been very lucky not to be injured in all this time.”