TMS - MADRID

October 17, 2005

Feliciano Lopez

FELICIANO LOPEZ: Yes, a little disappointed. I haven't been feeling comfortable on the court. You always expect you're going to play well. But today was not a day I was feeling comfortable at any point. I didn't have a good day.

FELICIANO LOPEZ: Yes, but then the third set I had a breakpoint and didn't take advantage of it. It wasn't a good day.

FELICIANO LOPEZ: Yeah, I don't think we're going to play because he's injured and he needs to keep his strength for singles. Well, the doctors advised him not to play doubles. I understand he's in a very important point of his career, having the whole Masters ahead of him.

FELICIANO LOPEZ: No, today's defeat is tough no matter if I play doubles or not. I would have liked to have played doubles with Rafa, but there's time. Obviously, in Madrid to play doubles is nice, but the hopes were for my singles match, not for the doubles.

FELICIANO LOPEZ: I don't know, but I'm sure he's going to play singles. I don't think he has any problem. However, he has an inflammation in his knee. The fewer number of matches he plays, the better. But I think he's going to still play singles.

FELICIANO LOPEZ: Today.

FELICIANO LOPEZ: I think it's going to make it okay. You know, we players wanted Albert Costa to be the captain, but we also like Emilio. We're sure he'll do a great job.

FELICIANO LOPEZ: Well, I'm not having a good moment in my play. He was a tough opponent, tough rival for the first round. Once the match is played and decided in the draw, the only thing I had to do was to play. But I'm not really fit right now. Not even in a very special tournament as this one. . Not even this fact has made me play as well as usual.

FELICIANO LOPEZ: About him retiring? Well, I wish he didn't retire because he's a great companion. The moments we have shared on the tour are very special. I wouldn't like to be left alone. But it is difficult. Maybe he's been 12, 13 years in the top, playing many matches per year. Maybe it's a personal thing he has to decide. After this match, take his time to think. Should he keep playing or not? I think it's going to be a big decision. He can still do well next year. If not, he's had a great career, won a Slam, won a Davis Cup, won many, many tournaments that he has to his name. That's a good retirement anyway.

FELICIANO LOPEZ: You do like this subject, don't you (smiling)? Okay, so yesterday we had a meeting with Pedro Munoz to express our opinion. He gave us his opinion, why he decided to choose Emilio, and a few things he decided since he became president. We, the players, told him the things we thought he had not decided correctly. It was a way of expressing our opinions. His job, the job of the Federation in this case, decisions towards Davis Cup, captains, headquarters, we talked about all this for future decisions, to make decisions maybe a bit together, to tell each other what we thought, because it's not the same as speaking on the phone than individually having a meeting. Ferrero wasn't there yesterday because he was out. But I think it was a very positive meeting and we're going to work together towards the future. At least that's what we hope.

FELICIANO LOPEZ: You do like the subject (smiling). Rafa has already spoken. We all have spoken and given our opinion. Still he has decided to choose Emilio. We agree on the fact that he's able, Emilio is able to do this job. The only thing is that the president has not taken our advice. We do know that. We are a bit disappointed, but that's it. Most of the players, we wanted a captain, which is Costa. Well, still, the president has decided to choose Emilio for his reasons. What you do need to know is we have nothing against Emilio. Even if it's not our first choice. The thing is that we know Albert better. But we do believe that Emilio is going to do a great job. The past is the past, the decision is made. We need to give him confidence and create a great atmosphere towards the Davis Cup next year. That's it.

FELICIANO LOPEZ: No, I'm not going to reveal details the president has told us. However, you take into account his personality, his career as a professional, his relationship with the tennis players, and that's how you make decisions. We all think Emilio is able to take this role. It doesn't mean we players do not grant him confidence.