Feliciano López lost this Thursday against the German Yannick Hanfmann 6-2 and 6-4, saying goodbye in the quarterfinals of the Mallorca tournament and ending his career as a professional tennis player after more than twenty-five seasons on the circuit, with seven singles titles and six doubles in the ATP.
The 41-year-old player from Toledo could not extend his presence on the grass of the Balearic event. Currently ranked 634 in the world ranking, he chose the Mallorca tournament as the final stage of his career. Accompanied by his family, his wife and his son in Palma, he has lengthened his stay in this competition day by day. He beat Australian Max Purcell in the first round and then Jordan Thompson, also from the Oceania, in the round of 16.
It did not give him to overcome Hanfmann with whom he had already lost in 2017, in the Gstaad tournament. The German, 48 in the world, a semifinalist in Houston this season and protagonist of the great surprise of the competition by eliminating the first favorite, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, took an hour and ten minutes to say goodbye to one of the most important tennis players in the world. Spanish tennis: five Davis Cup titles and with a style of play opposite to the rest of the ‘Armada’ components.
Erected as the fourth player in history with the most direct aces with a total of 10,260, only behind the American John Isner (14,260), the Croatian Ivo Karlovic (13,728) and the Swiss Roger Federer (11,478), he became the the oldest quarterfinalist in an ATP tournament since the American Jimmy Connors, in Halle, in 1995, at the age of 42.
Feliciano had already assumed his dismissal this season. Dedicated for a long time to organizational and management tasks, at the Madrid Masters 1000 he was recently appointed director of the 2023 Davis Cup Finals.
His appearances on the track have been dropper this course. He reached the second round in Acapulco, his first tournament of the year, last February. She beat American Christopher Eubanks and lost to her compatriot Frances Tiafoe. Later, he stagnated in the first rounds of the Murcia challenger, surpassed by the Italian Matteo Arnaldi, of the Count of Godó, beaten by the Belgian David Goffin and already on grass, in Stuttgart, eliminated by the Japanese Yosuke Watanudki and in the first section of the previous phase of Queen’s, knocked down by the French Arthur Rindernech.
In Mallorca he has achieved another two victories. With three added in 2023 he ends his professional journey. Hanging the racket Feliciano López who finished the match treated by the tournament physiotherapist with discomfort in his right thigh.
Yannick Hanfmann advances in Mallorca who will play the semifinals with the winner of the match between the French Adrian Mannarino, fourth favorite, and Corentin Moutet. The other semifinal will be played by the South African Lloyd Harris who beat the Russian Pavel Kotov (7-5 ??and 6-2) and the American Christopher Eubanks who beat the French Arthur Rinderknech 7-6(5) and 7-6(4).
At the end of the match against Hanfmann, Feliciano López took the microphone to say goodbye. “This is a moment that I thought would never come but here I am. Luckily I have been lucky enough to retire in my country, in front of my people and on a surface like grass that is so special to me”, he highlighted.
The player from Toledo highlighted that “I have always tried to understand tennis as a show and I have tried to make people happy who make an effort to pay for a ticket or are in front of the television, I hope I have succeeded”.
Finally, he remembered all the people who have accompanied him, such as his coaches, and of course his family. “My father is not here but if he had not instilled in me this love for the sport I would not have come here.” Moved, he also praised his partner: “Sandra, you have given me the most beautiful thing I have in life, which is our son Dario, and I thank you for your unconditional support and your desire to always be by my side.”
