"I have achieved much more than I expected": Feliciano Lopez reflects on career at presentation in Turin

Feliciano Lopez reflected on his standout career at a presentation recognizing his achievements in Turin.

The 42-year-old retired from the sport earlier this year, playing his final tournament at the Mallorca championships, where he made the quarter-finals. His retirement not only marked the end of a long and successful career but also brought in the end of an era, as he was the last player on the ATP Tour who had turned pro in the 1990s.

Lopez turned pro in 1997 at the age of 16 and made his ATP Tour debut in 1998. Throughout his career, he picked up 7 ATP titles and achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 12. In January 2023, the Spaniard announced that the 2023 season would be his last, and he received a wildcard for Mallorca, where became the oldest ATP quarter-finalist since 1995.

Now, Lopez's long career has been celebrated, as ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi and ATP Player Representative Pablo Andujar were among those who paid tribute to the player at a presentation. Lopez then went on to reflect on his career and what he achieved over more than two decades. 

"I feel very proud of my career. I think I have achieved much more than I expected when I started playing professionally," Lopez told ATPTour.com, "It's been great being here again, seeing everyone and I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been working with me for the past 20 years helping me in every single way. And also, it's been very nice that they give us a last goodbye with this presentation that I had a few hours ago with Andrea, with [ATP Senior Vice President of Player Relations] Fernando [Sanchez]. It's been great."

However, he is far from done with the sport, as Lopez became tournament director of the Mutua Madrid Open in 2019, and he stated that he was looking forward to seeing players there for many years to come: "I feel also very lucky that I will continue seeing almost everyone because I'm going to be working for Madrid. Hopefully we're going to see each other again for the next years."

"Overall I've been very happy, and I think I met really nice people along the way, which is great. So it's not goodbye, it's see you later because I'm going to be seeing almost everyone the next five to 10 years. It's been great so far, I'm very grateful for that," he concluded.