Topic: Feliciano Lopez

Feliciano López Diaz-Guerra (Spanish pronunciation: ) (born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish professional male tennis player. He was born in Toledo and now lives in the Spanish capital Madrid.

In 2005, he was the first male Spanish tennis player to reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon since 1972, when Manuel Orantes reached the semi-finals. This is Lopez's best Grand Slam result so far and he repeated it at Wimbledon in 2008, losing to Marat Safin in four sets, and again in 2011, losing to Andy Murray in straight sets. He is the player who ended Tim Henman's Wimbledon career, beating him in a five set thriller in the second round in 2007 having been two sets up. He is sponsored by Wilson and Joma. In 2009, he played the then-longest match in Australian Open history, losing to Gilles Müller, before the Rafael Nadal–Fernando Verdasco semi-final eclipsed it in time. Throughout his career, he has played in the most 5 set matches that have gone beyond 6–6, his longest fifth set being 16–14 at the 2009 Australian Open against Gilles Müller.

Like many of the top Spanish players, Lopez is left-handed; although, unlike most of his compatriots, he uses a single-handed backhand. He will usually slice his backhand instead of opting for the topspin drive. He is known for his strong serve, and ability to play balls repeatedly on the baseline. He is also a confident net player, and has been known to adopt the serve-and-volley routine of play during matches.