Feliciano Lopez has experienced tennis going through many different changes throughout his career.
Lopez officially retired from competing in 2023, bringing an end to his 26-year professional tennis career.
Despite no longer competing, the Spaniard still remains on the tennis scene with Lopez now the tournament director of the Madrid Open and the Davis Cup Finals.
Still keeping a keen eye on current goings-on in the sport, Lopez has now called out an issue in modern-day tennis that he thinks needs to change.
Photo By DANTO PRESS / Oscar J. Barroso via Getty ImagesFeliciano Lopez calls out ‘issue’ in tennis at the moment
Despite being Spanish, big-serving Lopez’s best surface was actually the quick grass courts.
Lopez won four of his seven career titles on grass and reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals three times.
However, he has now suggested that may not be the case anymore, with Lopez speaking out about how similar surfaces are in tennis nowadays.
He went on to claim that this has made tennis players all compete a lot more similarly, something he believes is taking away the ‘beauty’ of the sport.
“There’s also the issue of the unification that has taken place on surfaces,” Lopez said on the Punto de Break podcast. “Of course before there were clay specialists, because there was a huge difference between each surface. Whether you played at Roland Garros or Wimbledon, or on an indoor carpet the tennis was completely different, completely.
“Now, with the unification of surfaces, what’s happening? The differences have narrowed. Playing on grass or clay now is very different, but nothing compared to before – grass is slower, fast courts are slower. This also makes players’ playing styles somewhat similar.
“You don’t see different players. Personally, I think the beauty of tennis lies in the huge diversity that has always existed. Why? Because the surfaces forced you to. You want to win Wimbledon? Perfect, let’s go and serve and volley man. Ivan Lendl stopped playing in Roland Garros to win Wimbledon – he was obsessed.”
This echoes the thoughts of former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, who has spoken about how much grass has slowed down since he won his only major title on it in 2001.
Feliciano Lopez suggests if he thinks Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner can solve this issue
It does not seem to matter which surface a Grand Slam is played on at the moment, with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner sharing the last seven major titles.
While Lopez was full of praise for Sinner and Alcaraz, calling them ‘spectacular’, he has suggested they cannot solve this issue on their own.
“It’s true that with Sinner and Alcaraz we’re seeing something that’s spectacular,” added Lopez. “First, the rivalry between them, the contrast in styles, but then what I see is that everyone plays similarly. I would like to see more diversity.
“I like to see the one who plays from the backcourt, I like to see the short one who struggles to survive, the tall one who says, ‘Well I have to improve my physique and that it’s not just about serving.’ I mean, I think there’s a bit of a lack of diversity, but that’s caused by, well, the unification of surfaces, by the adaptation of the players to the surfaces available.”
Lopez will be hoping that something changes by the time he fulfils his role as Davis Cup Finals tournament director for the first time in Bologna, Italy, later this year.