Feliciano Lopez: The incredible Grand Slam record of the history-making Spaniard

“Name the three tennis players you’ve won ATP Tour doubles titles with?”

Feliciano Lopez confidently names the first two before a lengthy pause.

“Fernando Verdasco, Marc Lopez… Wow. Who’s the other one?”

“He’s a Scottish guy.”

“Oh no,” says Lopez, hands over his face. “How can I miss that one? I’m so stupid. I lost my memory, it’s crazy. Andy Murray.”

The Spanish tennis player came unstuck on a question put to him in an interview for the ATP Tour website in 2021, in a playful quiz testing him on his lengthy career. He turned pro in 1997 but his most recent success was at the Mexican Open in February where he won the doubles title with Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The reason Lopez was so mortified about forgetting the partner in question – winning the doubles title with Murray at Queen’s in 2019 – was because it was such an iconic moment in both their careers.

Murray was returning to the court for the first time after having potentially career-ending hip surgery, so the British crowd at the pre-Wimbledon tournament were at their most joyful and supportive at seeing their tennis superstar back playing again.

The then 37-year-old Lopez, meanwhile, had quite the week himself, winning not only the doubles title with Murray, but also the singles crown… earlier the same day.

An emotional Lopez told BBC Sport reporter Sue Barker on court after beating another veteran of the tour, 34-year-old Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2) to win the singles: “I thought the best moment of my career was in 2017, when I was holding this trophy and talking to you, here in this court. But it is not. It is right now.”

“Have you got any energy left for another final?” asked Barker.

“Not really. I’m going to speak to Andy, but I think he’s going to be responsible today,” joked Lopez. “I don’t have much energy in my body, but my adrenaline is so high now, so hopefully it’s going to be another great final.”

And it was. In the end, both took up the challenge in another scintillating match up, in which the victors beat Briton Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram 7-6 (8-6) 5-7 10-5.

Lopez, who thrived off the buzz of support for his playing partner, couldn’t quite take in what he’d done, especially after having to defend himself against allegations of match-fixing in a previous event, a few days before the tournament began. He said in the press conference afterwards:

“It’s incredible. It’s tough to believe actually, that I won this tournament in 2017 – that was the best win of my career – and then I did it again two years after, and then I won the doubles half an hour after, so it’s tough to believe honestly.”

Quarter of a century

Lopez has had a few difficult-to-believe moments in his nigh-on 25-year career. The now 40-year-old has been breaking records left, right and centre in the past few years with a bumper crop of headlines documenting his records such as ‘Feliciano breaks the ATP Masters 1000 appearance record’ and ‘Feliciano Lopez celebrates 500 wins milestone’.

Just last month, however, Lopez’s record streak of consecutive Grand Slam singles main draw appearances came to an abrupt halt when he failed to advance past the qualifying stage for Roland Garros. Italy’s Gian Marco Moroni was the interloper, ending the impressive feat of 79 consecutive appearances and Lopez’s attendance at every Grand Slam since the clay-court major in 2002.

Nevertheless, Lopez’s latest history-making appearance, is such that by playing the Netherlands’ Botic Van de Zandschulp in the first round of Wimbledon 2022 on Tuesday (28 June), he will become the first player ever to compete in at least 20 of each of the four majors.

American Serena Williams and Swiss Roger Federer are next closest with 20 or more in three Grand Slams – the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open – with both on 19 appearances at Roland Garros.

Lopez reaches the milestone first though, courtesy of a bit of luck, replacing Dominic Thiem in the 2022 Wimbledon draw after the Austrian pulled out with injury. Come Tuesday, Lopez will also match Federer's record total of 81 Grand Slam appearances.

There’s another bonus to his longevity, on a more personal note this time. Following his singles win at Queen’s, Lopez turned to his “wife-to-be”, model Sandra Gago, who was courtside. “To be honest, she doesn’t have much idea about tennis and when we met… things didn’t go well. I started losing and losing. Now I can show her I’m a decent tennis player!”

Wimbledon: How to watch the All England tennis Championships

Wimbledon takes place from Monday 27 June – Sunday 10 July 2022 at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in south west London.

You can find all the latest information, including a list of broadcasters by territory, on the Wimbledon website.