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AEGON CHAMPIONSHIP

June 23, 2017

Feliciano Lopez

London, England

F. LOPEZ/T. Berdych

7-6, 6-7, 7-5

Q. You're back in the semifinals at Queen's, your third one, first since 2014?
FELICIANO LOPEZ: Yeah, I'm very happy, everything that has been happening during this week. I think I have been playing great. The fact I reached the finals in Stuttgart was very important for me, coming to Queen's with a lot of confidence. Hopefully we can continue the great run.

Q. Do you feel a difference, the confidence you got in Stuttgart coming into Queen's? Does it really make a difference?
FELICIANO LOPEZ: Yeah, it makes a difference. Tennis is 90% mental. And as soon as you win, this is the only thing that matters at the end. And, yeah, I'm very happy, you know. It's been a great week in Stuttgart, so coming to this tournament, 500 on grass, seeing the draw, and, you know, it's always so tough from the very beginning here at Queen's, no?

I lost some first rounds in the past against players like Cilic or Anderson, top 10 players or top 20 players from the very beginning. So I think I was a lot of confident, no, coming to Queen's after reaching the finals there.

And also the fact that I beat Wawrinka in the first round was also very important for me. It was a tough round, but after I beat him, my confidence went also up again, and second and third round I think I played -- I can say I played some of my best tennis.

Q. Nearly two-and-a-half hours on court against Tomas. There was nothing to choose between you. We get to the third set, you get your first break point, and it happens to be on match point that you have to save.
FELICIANO LOPEZ: It was tough. Yeah, tough to accept, you know, the way the match was going on, because it was almost impossible to return. We were serving great, both of us. Yeah, only three points he lost in the second set, these two tiebreaks, the way I served the match point. So it was a lot of drama on the court today, no?

Those matches, when you win, it's amazing feeling. And it's also an extra confidence for tomorrow.

Q. How about that challenge to break for the 11th game? At one point it didn't look like you were going to make the challenge.
FELICIANO LOPEZ: No, of course I was going to make the challenge, but the umpire, he was confused because I was asking for the challenge, but I raised my hand, and it was also a lot of noise and he was a little bit confused, I think.

But from the very beginning I was asking for that challenge, no? I have to ask for this challenge. It was so important.

Q. Grass court season is tiny compared to the rest of the year. How much do you enjoy having the grass beneath your feet?
FELICIANO LOPEZ: Well, winning matches I enjoy more, but yeah, it's short swing in the grass. We have an extra week now, which is great for players like me. I wish it would be longer, but yeah, it's only four weeks, and, you know, it's about to try your best in these three, four weeks that you play, and this year has been great for me.

I really, after Stuttgart, it was great. I haven't won so many matches during this year. It was a tough year for me. I was injured in the first tournament. Couldn't play for almost a month. Then I couldn't practice as I like, and then it was tough to win matches. So from already two months I have been practicing normal, winning on clay, as well, some great matches and here on the grass more. And, yeah, it's been -- I'm already in the right path again, so I'm very happy.

Q. Finally, you don't have an awful long time to recover before you face in the semifinal Grigor Dimitrov, a repeat of the final 2014.
FELICIANO LOPEZ: Yeah, not much time to recover. I will try to do some treatment now with my physio, a good meal tonight hopefully, and try to be ready for tomorrow. That's all I can do.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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