PETE ZIEBRON
Two time Eastbourne Champion Feliciano Lopez Pete Ziebron Images
Feliciano Lopez successfully defended his title today in Eastbourne, defeating #1 seed Richard Gasquet of France 6-3 6-7(5) 7-5. The win was the 4th career title for Lopez, although he will not be back next year to attempt to win the event for a third consecutive year since the men's tournament will not be conducted in Eastbourne due to a change in the ATP scheduling.
Lopez dropped only one set in the tournament and even needed to play both his quarterfinal and semifinal matches yesterday due to late afternoon rain on Thursday. "I'm going to be a bit tired heading into Wimbledon" Lopez said on court after the match "But this is the best preparation I can have."
Indeed Lopez will be battling fatigue as he recorded a 9-1 record on grass over the last 2 weeks as he also reached the final at Queen's Club in London one week ago. Despite holding a match point against Grigor Dimitrov, Lopez fell in 3 grueling sets 7-6(8) 6-7(1) 6-7(6).
Throughout the 10 matches Lopez has played in England at Queen's and in Eastbourne, Lopez won 20 of the 24 sets played. All 4 of the sets he lost were in tiebreakers, including one each in the tournament finals.
Historically, Lopez has fared well on grass. Here are some of his impressive accomplishments over the years:
- Champion @ Eastbourne 2014
- Champion @ Eastbourne 2013
- Finalist @ Queen's Club 2014
- Quarterfinalist @ Wimbledon 2011
- Quarterfinalist @ Wimbledon 2008
- Quarterfinalist @ Wimbledon 2005
- Quartefinal Win over #1 Rafael Nadal @ Queen's Club in 2010
- 3rd round Win over #5 Marat Safin @ Wimbledon in 2005
- Quarterfinal Win over #6 Tomas Berdych @ Queen's Club in 2014
- 3rd round Win over #10 Andy Roddick @ Wimbledon in 2011
Despite playing so much tennis coming into Wimbledon, Lopez has been handed a kind draw for the first two rounds. He will open play as the 19th seed against a qualifier, world #143 Yuichi Sugita of Japan. Should Lopez advance to the 2nd round, he would play the winner of Alejandro Falla, the world #69 from Colombia or qualifier, world #162 Ante Pavic of Croatia. Feliciano Lopez is in the bottom half of the draw, in Roger Federer's quarter.
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