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MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 2, 2016

Feliciano Lopez

Madrid, Spain

F. LOPEZ/L. Mayer

7-6, 4-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Last year you lost against Mayer. This year you got the revenge.
FELICIANO LOPEZ: I think it's a complicated match. He is an overall complete player. He hits the ball very well and serves pretty good. Here in Madrid it's complicated to play against him. It's tough to play against him with the conditions that we have here, and especially in the first match when you're not just used to conditions here. It's not easy to return his balls because they're very heavy.

In the end, I think it's been a pretty tight match. The first set I just won in the tiebreak by a couple of points. I served pretty well, and then I missed two in the second set and didn't manage to come back. I had a couple break points but I didn't manage to convert them and recover my lost serve in the second set.

In the third set I think I was playing a little bit better than him. I had a few more chances. When I was returning the ball I was doing well and serving pretty well. The games were good.

Finally in that game, in the third match point, I could win it. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to play a little bit better.

Q. Now you'll have a couple days off to play the match against Bautista or Giraldo. Which do you think suits your game better?
FELICIANO LOPEZ: Roberto is really in shape. He's one of the best players. He's been doing great this season. They are very different players. Giraldo is a player that smacks the ball very hard and plays well in Madrid. He likes the altitude. He's Colombian and he is used to the altitude and plays pretty well.

Roberto is overall a very compete player. He has very powerful shots. We have played this year already in Indian Wells a very tight and tough match. I really don't have any preference. I think both matches will be very difficult. Giraldo won two matches in the previous rounds, so he must be playing very well. You're more confident, and it's not easy to play against players that have played in the previous rounds.

I think Roberto has a difficult match, and let's see who wins. Well, it really doesn't change whoever I play against.

Q. This is the 15th time you're here. What are your expectations for Madrid?
FELICIANO LOPEZ: Well, what I expect is to win every match that I play. In the end, I'm not a person that looks at the draw and thinks, Let's see where I can make it or who am I going to play in this round or the next round. I knew today's match was very tough.

Mayer beat me here last year here. When I saw the draw, I really didn't like it at all to play him in the first round. I'm happy to have beat him, but now I have to continue. I have to recover as soon as possible and then I will look further.

Right now I don't want to think about the next rounds or anything. For me, Wednesday's match is as complicated as today's, and that's all I want to think about. I don't want to think about anything else and I don't expect anything.

Q. I wanted to talk about your match against Agassi in 2002 and what it means for you to have been playing for 15 years.
FELICIANO LOPEZ: It means I'm a very fortunate player. I've been playing tennis a lot of years. I didn't think to be able to play so many years and have such a long career. I feel very proud and fortunate to be able to still be competitive with my age. That's first of all.

Secondly, well, I'm very lucky to have a tournament like this in my city where I live since it started until today. I said it yesterday, that it's been 15 great years with a lot of the matches and things to remember. I've seen the evolution of this tournament.

It's a very special tournament. I always say that. Hopefully I will be able to continue playing more times. Let's play this year and do as good as possible and try to enjoy tennis as much as possible.

Q. It's important to play at home, isn't it? Can you talk about Madrid's audience a little bit?
FELICIANO LOPEZ: Yeah, the crowd here in Madrid, I always said it's a tough public for the people that play against us because they support a lot of the Spanish players. I've lived very emotional matches here where people support you a lot.

I'm not going to lie: I can really feel it, that in the important match moments of a match people support you in a very good way. You feel it, and also the person that is playing against you feels it. For example, whenever he misses a first serve, you know, he feels it.

I think that people in Madrid support us a lot, especially with the Spanish sportsmen, of course. Whenever we play the Davis Cup here, for example, against its U.S., I don't know which year it was, it was spectacular. The audience was great that day.

I remember matches of mine here against Federer or w whoever that the people were really supporting me a lot. It's true that in those particular moments, tough moments, people really support you. I want to thank them for that. It's a great way to be here.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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