Australian Open: Marathon man Feliciano Lopez - "That is an incredible achievement"
Feliciano Lopez is in the third round of the Australian Open after an epic comeback against Lorenzo Songeo . Thus, the Spaniard celebrated a victory for the first time in almost two decades after a 2-0 set deficit.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit:
Feb 11, 2021, 03:12 pm
Exactly 201 minutes and 295 points had been played on Court 7 of the National Tennis Center on Thursday morning, when Feliciano Lopez sank down exhausted on his chair. He was tired, he was drained, it pinched every nook and cranny. He shook his head again and again. He couldn't believe what he had done again in his now very old days as a migrant tennis worker. “Today I'll pat myself on the shoulder,” said the 39-year-old marathon man, who at the Australian Open 2021 was a 2-0 set deficit against the number 21 seeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego in a 5-7, 3-6 , 6: 3, 7: 5, 6: 4 triumph over the full distance.
It was a masterpiece of perseverance and willpower of the man who had earned all respect for his presence in Melbourne - because the Australian Grand Slam of 2021 marked a remarkable milestone in the career of the indestructible Iberian, namely his incredible 75th Grand Slam - Participation in a row. No wonder then that the great Spanish matador, the 20-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, bowed deeply to his compatriot: “It is an incredible achievement that someone has never competed in every Grand Slam for nineteen years and is never seriously injured . ”A curiosity on the side: Lopez's fascinating record series began in 2002 at the French Open in Paris, and it was there and then that he last turned a 2-0 deficit against Argentine Guillermo Canas.
Much has happened in the tennis world since those days, Lopez has seen many generations of friends go. He witnessed the rise of the Big Three, the world domination of tennis by the trio Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. Federer, the Swiss maestro, is next to the Croatian "master of the aces", Ivo Karlovic, the only one left from Lopez's age group. But while Lopez was never bothered by serious injuries on the Tingeltour in a good two decades, Federer had to pass now and then. At the beginning of March, the Swiss will start what will probably be his last career comeback at the ATP tournament in Doha, Qatar. “Feli is a phenomenon. He's still a player who can beat anyone, absolutely anyone, ”said Federer, who himself played 65 major tournaments without a break.
Unexpected continuation of the Grand Slam series
Tommy Haas also belongs to the generation that pushed into the professional tennis business at the end of the last century. Born in Hamburg, he has since retired and is now involved in the industry as the tournament director of Indian Wells. And Lopez: He is both, undaunted in the travel bunch of professionals. But already in office and dignity as tournament boss at the Masters tournament in Madrid. Only there he is not allowed to compete himself, but elsewhere, on all continents, in all time zones, ten months normally. "Year after year, I look to see if things should continue", says Lopez, "so far the answer has always been: yes."
Before the Australian Open, Lopez had actually expected that his record series would come to an end. Not because he would have shied away from the difficulties of traveling to and from the country in Corona times from the outset. But because he became a father for the first time, presumably in the first few days of the new year 2021. On January 4, his wife Sandra gave birth to the cheerful son Dario, and it was she who set the husband off to distant Australia encouraged. “She told me to play. That would make us all happiest later, ”says Lopez.
Here is the men's single tableau
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