Feliciano Lopez is in danger of having his record streak of Grand Slam appearances ended as he sits barely above his lowest ATP ranking for 20 years.
Feliciano Lopez is still playing tennis despite a very advanced age for a tennis player. The Spaniard simply enjoys the game too much to walk away from it. Recently he won his latest trophy albeit it was a doubles one with Tsitsipas in Acapulco. Lopez has been playing a very long time and after making his Slam main draw debut as a 19-year-old at Roland Garros 2001 he never missed one.
He competed at 79 consecutive grand slam events which is obviously a record but there is a chance he won't extend that streak. Currently, he is ranked 113th in the world and the streak is in danger of being ended by potentially not being ranked highly enough to enter a Slam. He was even asked about it at the Acapulco Open where he express his calm about it:
“The truth is that now I am not thinking about Roland Garros. In
the end, the record is a consequence of being able to remain
competitive and be in the top 100, which is where I would like to be and
where I think I still have the level to be. For me, each Grand Slam [appearance] is an individual record."
He further said:
“The truth is that I don’t think: ‘I’m going to add 78, 79, 80. etc.’ For me, each Grand Slam is a small trophy. Being
40 years old to be able to play them is very special. I don’t think so
much about the record but how lucky I am to be there again.”