Feliciano Lopez brings another victory to his family & friends at the Mallorca Championships
The Spaniard beats Purcell in front Rafa Nadal, Carlos Moyá and Marc López at the Mallorca Country Club
Feliciano López is determined to bid farewell to two decades at the top of the tennis world. His victory on Tuesday against Max Purcell in the first round of the Mallorca Championships (6-3, 7-5) allows him to prolong, at least for one more match, his professional career after a very special day in which his entire family and friends of the circuit such as Rafa Nadal, Carlos Moyá, Marc López, Toni Nadal and Tomeu Salvà supported him from the stands of the Mallorca Country Club.
The Spaniard needed an hour and 20 minutes to overcome the Australian and meet up this Wednesday with the Oceanic Jordan Thompson, who on Monday beat the sixth seeded Frenchman, Richard Gasquet (6-3, 6-4). After recovering an initial break of disadvantage, Feliciano Lopez found the way to dominate his rival and to receive the first congratulations of his son in the same court.
"I always thought that I would be able to retire and that my son would be able to see me play. At least I will remember these moments tomorrow and it is very nice because we have been travelling around the world since he was born. At the beginning he didn't know anything but in the last year he has seen me play in Mexico, Barcelona, now in Mallorca and it is very special for me, more than for him who is still very small", said the player from Toledo.
For Feliciano Lopez it was very emotional to be able to count in the stands with the presence of colleagues and friends of battles during his two decades on the ATP circuit. "I was lucky that Rafa, Marc and many tennis friends came today. Some of them couldn't be here, but they were there on Saturday and I felt very supported. It's been many years of career and I feel that beyond winning a tournament or a good result or not so good, I have left a good legacy in terms of friends, I feel loved and appreciated by my teammates and that's what I was always looking for," he concluded.
Day 4 summary
Tuesday saw the completion of the first round of the singles draw with Frenchmen Arthur Rinderknech beating Spaniard Albert Ramos (7-6[0], 7-6[3]) and Constant Lestienne defeating Australian Jason Kubler (6-4, 4-6, 6-4), 6-4) who will meet in the last 16, ensuring a third French player in the quarter-finals after wins for Adrian Mannarino (3-6, 7-6 [5], 6-3 against Argentine Guido Pella) and Corentin Moutet (6-3, 7-6 [4] against Spaniard Roberto Carballés).
Alejandro Davidovich, who will not be among the last eight contenders for the title, is also a local player and the second seed, Alejandro Davidovich. The player from Malaga lost to Pavel Kotov in three sets (2-6, 6-3, 6-4) and now the Lucky Loser will face South African qualifier Lloyd Harris (7-6 [5], 6-3 to Roman Safiullin).
In the doubles draw, the quarter-finals were completed by the duo of Robin Haase and Philipp Oswald (6-7 [4], 6-3, 10-8 to Doumbia/Reboul) and the pair of Yuki Bambri/Lloyd Harris (6-3 [6-2], 6-2 to Erler/Miedler).