Spaniard Feliciano Lopez prolonged his 26-year profession by one other day on the expense of Australia’s Max Purcell within the first spherical of the Mallorca Championships.
The 41-year-old, watched by mates Rafael Nadal – again on his native island – Carlos Moya and Marc Lopez, beat the Australian 6-3 7-5 in an emotional opening to his last match.
“It’s a really special win for me, probably one of the most special wins of my career so far, to be honest,” Lopez mentioned in his on-court interview.
“This is over my expectations, to be winning a match at this stage of my career in Mallorca, this beautiful place, surrounded by the ones that I love, my friends.
“Most of them got here for my hypothetical final match. Luckily, it wasn’t the final match of my life.
“I have another opportunity tomorrow (against another Australian Jordan Thompson) and this is very overwhelming, I have to say.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
