AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2022

Feliciano Lopez

Press Conference

J. MILLMAN/F. Lopez

6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Not the result you were hoping for, but what positives can you take from the match?

FELICIANO LOPEZ: I mean, I wasn't expecting to be here in Australia. I arrive only a few hours ago because I got COVID just recently, so I couldn't make it earlier and, what, my expectations were very low, to be honest.

So, yeah, overall, I think I played well, especially the third and the fourth set where I started to feel a little bit better on court. You know, it took me awhile to get into the rhythm, to feel my body ready to compete because it's been a few days without tennis at all.

And so, yeah, it was good overall. I'm very happy that I finally made it and I was able to play another Aussie Open.

Q. I wanted to ask about there was a moment with the crowd in there. Did you have a, were they distracting you or what was that about?

FELICIANO LOPEZ: No, no, no. I mean, it was a few guys that were, you know, cheering up and sometimes they were, you know, trying to distract in between serves, but this is normal.

No, I like playing on that kind of atmosphere but sometimes it can get a little bit wild, especially in between serve, which is not easy and sometimes can be annoying.

But, no, nothing really relevant. It's fine. And I think it's really nice to play in front of the fans always, you know, especially when we've been playing in empty stadiums for quite awhile.