By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday June 28, 2023
The 41-year-old Spaniard slashed his way past Jordan Thompson to crack a milestone at his last tour-level event.
Photo Source: TTV
22 years ago a fresh-faced Feliciano Lopez reached his first career quarterfinal on the clay at Vina del Mar, Chile. Today, on home soil in Mallorca, he reached his 93rd in what will be his last professional event.
“I don’t know what to say, honestly,” the 41-year-old said after taking out Australia’s Jordan Thompson, 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-3 on Wednesday to set a clash with Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann in the last eight. “ I said yesterday that winning a match at this stage of my career, it was beyond any expectations.
“And today, as you can imagine, this is beyond – because to be honest, I'm almost 42 years old. Just to be given this opportunity. I think I'm already very fortunate just to be able to play one more time here.
“It's already an honor, and imagine, to be in the quarterfinals – I don’t know what to say, honestly, maybe it’s destiny.”
Lopez hit 11 aces and won 46 of 59 first-serve points to take down 71st-ranked Thompson in two hours and six minutes. The World No.634 broke once in ten opportunities, in the second game of the third set to open up a break lead in the decider that he would never relinquish.
Lopez, who improved to 506-489 lifetime on tour, was overcome by emotion after the victory. He sat at his chair, head in his hands, soaking in the moment before addressing the crowd.
Known as the iron man of the Grand Slams, Lopez holds the all-time record for consecutive Grand Slam singles main draws played at 79. That remarkable streak ended at Roland-Garros last year, but the former World No.12 still sees his longevity as one of his greatest overall accomplishments.
“Apart from the numbers I think my biggest accomplishment probably is to play 20 years in a row,” he said. “To be there all the time, to keep my focus, to still be ambitious in my late 30s. This was always my goal: to stay healthy and to be competitive, and I think it's a great achievement to be playing still, now against players that are sometimes 15 or 16 or 17 years younger than me.”
At the end of the interview, Lopez’s two-year-old son Dario rushed onto the court and was quickly gathered up into the Spaniard’s arms, making the moment even sweeter.
“For me, this is probably my greatest achievement apart from the amount of years that I played on tour.”