Feliciano Lopez to play the first Challenger in seven years in Monterrey
The fifth edition of the Abierto GNP Seguros Challenger in Monterrey in the first week of April, changing the time in the calendar after previously being held in October and joining the Mexican Challenger swing that will kick off in Guadalajara a week earlier. Thiemo de Bakker, Ernesto Escobedo, Maximilian Marterer and David Ferrer have won the title here in the last four years, with Ferrer beating Ivo Karlovic in the final this October in what was the oldest Challenger final ever! WTA Monterrey will take place in the same week, with Garbine Muguruza, Victoria Azarenka and Angelique Kerber who headline the field, and the organizers have revealed the first player who will perform in the men's Challenger draw, signing the 37-year-old Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
The veteran is currently the second oldest player in the top-100 behind Roger Federer and also one of the most consistent players in the last 16 years or so, entering the top-100 in July 2002 and never leaving that group again! Feliciano has been appointed as the Mutua Madrid Open tournament director from 2019 and this will probably be his last season on the Tour, already playing more than 900 ATP matches and winning six ATP titles from 17 final, including Queen's in 2017 when he ousted Marin Cilic in a great title match.
Starting from Roland Garros 2002, Feliciano Lopez has never missed the Grand Slam main draw and he is the record holder with 67 consecutive appearances on the biggest tennis stage, passing Roger Federer who stayed on 65. Lopez had a mediocre career on the Challenger Tour, scoring a 49-44 record and winning two titles from three finals, the last one in Bogota in July 2011. Feliciano made his Challenger debut way back in 1997 and Monterrey will be his first tournament at this level since 2012 when he lost in the first round of Bogota to Guido Andreozzi, having to ask for a wild card as a top-50 player. Lopez will open the season in Doha before heading to Melbourne where he will make his 17th straight appearance following a debut back in 2003.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2CAz8B6
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