	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 7, 2018

Feliciano Lopez

Madrid, Spain

F. LOPEZ/P. Andujar

7-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish.

Q. We saw table before on TV when it says it's your Masters 130, one more than Federer. Another record on your side. What do you think about this stat?
FELICIANO LOPEZ: Well, I think that I have been playing for a lot of years on the tour. I think that I have always been lucky to be able to play so many years in a row without being injured.

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.

Q. I want to ask you about the match. How different was it to play once they closed the roof? Is this year different compared to others now that next year you're going to be director of this tournament?
FELICIANO LOPEZ: Concerning your first question, I think that the match was tough. I think that Pablo has been playing really well. He's won a challenger and an ATP tournament. After two years suffering with a lot of problems, he has gone through two or three surgeries, it's incredible how he has come back, how he has recovered. Very few people manage to recover after going through what Pablo has gone through. Not only to recover, but doing it in the way he's doing it.

Last time I played Pablo on clay, he beat me easily. I think he's a very complicated player because he has a great serve. Whenever we have a player with this kind of serve, it's difficult for a lefty like me to play him.

I think that in the match of today, I had ups and downs. I tried to be aggressive. I was serving well. I tried to stop the long rallies. In general, I think overall it was a decent match from my side for a first round.

Concerning your second question, of course playing here in Madrid is special for me. I have played every year. It's a very special tournament for me. It has been really special during my whole life. It's a strange feeling to know that next year I'm not going to be able to play this tournament. I'll try to give 100%. I'll try to enjoy it as much as possible, enjoy the hours I have here on the court, either in doubles or in singles.

Next year unfortunately I won't be able to play. But I'm also very excited because I will be director. That's great. That's life. Sometimes you have to make decisions, and sometimes they have their good side and sometimes they don't. In this case it's a very good decision. I also understand the ATP has this law where a player who is involved in management, he cannot play the tournament. I think it's a fair law.

Q. Was there a moment when you were playing the match you thought that this could be your last match? Also it's the 10th anniversary of the Caja Magica. What does this venue represent for you?
FELICIANO LOPEZ: I'm conscious this is my last year here. But during the match I didn't have the feeling that it could be my last match. I just wasn't thinking about that. I won the first set, so that maybe made me a little bit more relaxed when I started the second set. At any moment, I felt that the match, it was very complicated that I could lose, it was my last match here. I didn't have that doubt during the match. During all of these days, I have in my mind I have to give 100%, I have to enjoy it as much as possible.

Concerning the 10 years here, I think this tournament has gone through a lot of changes. All of them have been to improve. Before where we used to play in the Rocodromo, I loved it back there because the conditions were great for me, the conditions really suited my game. A couple years ago in Madrid, they didn't used to have such a big venue. It didn't actually have any professional tennis tournament. Suddenly we had one. It was a great surprise for all of us, something new. We were really proud of it. We were really excited about it, all the people from Madrid.

After that, I saw all the changes as we came here. As you all know, it really changed. It started to be a mixed tournament of 10 days, something completely different, very big, in a place where we have three courts with a roof. You can close it.

Today, for example, you have seen they closed the roof. Suddenly they closed the roof, it was raining, and we could play easily. This tournament has these kind of things. They have these facilities. It's great to be able to have three roofs that can close. I think only Australia is something that has something similar. It's something to be very proud of.

Q. For your next round, Schwartzman. Also the doubles draw, I think you're playing tomorrow your first match with Marc. How do you see that doubles draw? Do you think you can win the doubles tournament?
FELICIANO LOPEZ: Well, for me, Masters 1000s, they are the most complicated tournaments. I'm saying the level of every single match from the beginning till the last one, it's even higher than in Grand Slams. Here only the 50 best players of the world play. In doubles I think it's even harder because there are very few teams, and it's a small draw.

Marc and I are playing well. We come from winning a title in Barcelona, which has been great for us. For us, every tournament like this is an opportunity to do something big together. Last year we made it to the semifinals. We played some great matches here. I think this year we can do it again.

As I'm saying, we're also prepared to lose because we know that this tournament is difficult. At the end we have, let's say, 15 or 16 teams which are the best of the world in the rankings. Each week we face each other. We know how difficult it is.

Tomorrow I'm expecting a tough match. We're going to play against two top players. They play fast. The conditions here are going to suit their game. Here in these kind of situations, the matches are decided by a few balls. We're prepared for it and we're going to go for it.

Q. At the beginning you were saying you played a lot of years, and next year you won't be able to play. How much more are we going to see you on the courts?
FELICIANO LOPEZ: I don't know. It's the eternal question. In the last years I have enjoyed a lot. I've been playing five or six years recently, and I've never had a long-term goal of when I'm going to retire. I always thought whenever I was over 30 years old and I saw that I was physically strong and mentally prepared, I felt that I was fit and I could be competitive, my goal was to play one more year, then finish the year, play another one...

What I can tell you is next year I'm going to play, too. After that, I don't know. In the long run, I don't know what will happen. But next year I will play for sure.

Q. The other players already treat you as a director of the tournament? How do they see you? As a tennis player or part of management?
FELICIANO LOPEZ: Well, inside our small circle, all of the players know my new role here. Obviously the closest ones, they ask me about some small things concerning the tournament or they talk to me about things that could be improved in the tournament. The vast majority of them just congratulate me and they support me because they are very happy that I'm able to be part of the management in the future. They think that people like me, active tennis players, or they have just retired, we can do a great job because we know the circuit, especially concerning the players' side.

Tennis players, we are not easy to treat. But it's good to have a tennis player involved in management. People are happy. They've accepted it very well. From my side, I have to say I'm very happy, very excited. The majority of them are surprised a little bit. The youngest don't know the tournament so well. They're surprised how big the tournament is, how it's managed, some details that this tournament has that others don't.

They treat me well. They treat me like a future director, let's say, but like a current tennis player, too.

Q. Next year when you're going to be director, do you have any proposals on your mind?
FELICIANO LOPEZ: It's complicated. I always talked about it. I made it to this tournament in the best moment. I think it's 17 years, if I'm not mistaken. They have done it great. It's great here. I come at the peak, the easiest point, let's say. The tournament is already established. People in Madrid are expecting it every year to come and see the tennis. Obviously this tournament has always had the will to improve, to make things better. It's been an innovative tournament.

I would like to have Federer back in Madrid. 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.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297