Spanish Veteran Feliciano Lopez’s Incredible Streak Comes to an End at French Open 2022

40-year-old Spanish tennis player Feliciano Lopez has been one of the legends of this game. Even at this age, he’s still playing tennis at the highest level. Recently, his focus a little bit shifted towards managing tennis competitions, like the Madrid Open. Notably, he is the new tournament director at the Madrid Open. Despite all the success in his career, he will feel a bit sad about his recent streak, which ended earlier in the qualifying rounds at the French Open.   

The streak is over for Feliciano Lopez 

Recently, the Spaniard was playing in the qualifiers at the French Open, trying to qualify for the main draw. Unfortunately, he lost to the 166th-ranked Italian player Gian Marco Moroni in straight sets. Despite being the no.4 seed in the qualifiers, his loss has shocked tennis fans. Most importantly, with this loss, his streak of appearing in 79 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments just ended. 

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Notably, this streak started in the 2002 French Open and ended in the 2022 French Open, almost after 20 years. During this period, Lopez had a 98-80 overall winning record. His best result at a Grand Slam level came at Wimbledon where he reached the quarter-final stage on three occasions. Also, he reached the Quarter-final once at the US Open in 2015. 

Another Grand Slam appearance streak ended yesterday 

Yesterday, Italian tennis player Andreas Seppi also lost his Grand Slam appearance streak at the hand of another Italian player, Giulio Zeppieri. Earlier, at the Australian Open, he surpassed Roger Federer with 66 Grand Slam appearances. However, this streak didn’t last, as the 38-year-old Italian player lost at the French Open qualifier. Notably, his streak started at the Wimbledon in 2005. 

In the meantime, Roger Federer has the most number of Grand Slam appearances, 81. Lopez has a great chance of matching the Swiss Maestro’s record, as Roger will likely miss the next Grand Slam at Wimbledon as well. In terms of Women’s tennis, the 7-time Grand Slam winner, Venus Williams has the most number of Grand Slam main draw appearances, 90. According to reports, she will probably make her return at this year’s Wimbledon. 

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