The year 2019 was not a bad one for Feliciano Lopez - especially not during the week of the AZP Tour 500 event in the Queen's Club in London. The Spaniard not only won the title in singles, but alongside Andy Murray also the doubles. No question that Lopez, one of the last serve volley mohicans on the tour, will soon give up his racket. Which he also reaffirmed in a question and answer session on Twitter.

"I never planned to stop at short notice. I've always played the past few years as if they were my last. And then at the end of the season I evaluated how the season went. Based on that, I decided to keep playing. It worked well, ”said Lopez, who has already taken over the agendas of the tournament director at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid. This year the event had to be canceled, instead 16 women and 16 men took part in a virtual tournament, which Kiki Bertens and Andy Murray finally won.

Drawn from Nadal's wedding

Feliciano Lopez will be 39 this September, just a few weeks after Roger Federer has also reached this age. And yet the Spaniard can still keep up well on the tour, he is currently in position 56. Why?

“There are two important reasons for this. Number one is the fact that I've never had a major injury in my career. You have to work on your physical condition from an early age. ”In addition, he can trust good genes, says Lopez. And: "I think that my way of playing and my technique kept the wear and tear to a minimum after not putting everything into every stroke of a match." Not like his buddy Rafael Nadal. At his wedding, Feliciano Lopez last autumn, after taking a few photos, had taken more strength than when he was successful in the Queen's Club.