{"id":100140,"date":"2025-04-19T21:44:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T19:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/feliciano-lopez-parte-del-exito-de-este-torneo-es-porque-se-juega-en-madrid\/"},"modified":"2025-04-19T21:46:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T19:46:38","slug":"feliciano-lopez-part-of-this-tournaments-success-is-that-its-played-in-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/feliciano-lopez-part-of-this-tournaments-success-is-that-its-played-in-madrid\/","title":{"rendered":"Feliciano L\u00f3pez: “Part of this tournament\u2019s success is that it\u2019s played in Madrid”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feliciano L\u00f3pez, director of the Mutua Madrid Open, discusses the present, his future and his position in \u2018planet tennis\u2019. The former world No. 12 knows the tournament held in the Caja Magica like few others. Now, as the leading figure behind the scenes, he is focused on providing unique experiences for players and fans alike.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s it like to manage the biggest sports event in Madrid?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of responsibility and there\u2019s the pressure of ensuring everyone takes good memories home with them. But the tournament is now over 20 years old and it has an amazing team that has taken it to the point it\u2019s at. We\u2019ve consolidated this format, but there are always small things that can be improved.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What response do you get from the fans?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

People are very happy. Also, we\u2019re getting increasing numbers visiting us from outside of Spain, which was a goal. On the weekends, above all the first one, a lot of families come and we have something amazing, which is the walkway in the Tennis Garden, where you can see great matches, and world number ones practising… all very close together. And the players also like going out and seeing all the kids waiting for them for autographs and photos. We\u2019re in debt to those fans, who are always so excited to come here.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How are the two-week Masters 1000s changing tennis?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a very ambitious project from ATP and Madrid is lucky to have something over other tournaments, which is the Caja Magica: three stadiums with roofs. The Australian Open is the only other one that can say that. And we\u2019re hoping the new stadium will be ready in 2027, which will be the final step to reach the top.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But there are always rumours about the future of the tournament in Madrid, purchase offers…<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The tournament is here until 2030, regardless of who owns it. But if someone wants to buy it, they\u2019ll realise that the tournament is the way it is because it\u2019s in Madrid and its citizens feel like it belongs to them. Part of this tournament\u2019s success is that it\u2019s played here, in Madrid. The City Council has been our ally from year one.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How do you see the future of clay?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that the Masters 1000s are two weeks, it means some tournaments have to be moved or cancelled. The goal is for the tour to be increasingly economically powerful. The biggest clay events will continue to be between Monte Carlo and Roland Garros. It might get squeezed a little more, but it\u2019ll never disappear, because it\u2019s a historic surface.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you agree with Becker when he says that Alcaraz is the most charismatic tennis player he has met?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alcaraz has something special. Apart from the fact that he\u2019s an elite athlete, he has versatility and the ability to improvise and offer things that 99% of players can\u2019t. The fans love him.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Did the last finals between Swiatek and Sabalenka bolster women\u2019s tennis at the tournament?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They\u2019ve dominated the last two years of women\u2019s tennis and I think it\u2019s positive that the fans have someone to admire. Their matches here have been spectacular and that\u2019s what people want to see, the best battling it out between themselves.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is the tournament hoping to see Badosa excel again?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been great to see Paula back to her best. At the tournament, we can imagine what it would be like to have Alcaraz leading and Badosa in the Top 10. Sometimes we think things are normal when they\u2019re not, such is the case with Spanish tennis today.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you think Spanish tennis is starting to have that \u2018second tier\u2019 of players like those that accompanied Rafael Nadal?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking with humility, I\u2019d say we won\u2019t have another generation like the one we had in the last 20 years. Now we have great players, but not as many as before. It\u2019s a question of making the most of Alcaraz and Badosa\u2019s leadership to ensure there is a large group of players to accompany them, as we saw before with Arantxa and Conchita.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Feliciano L\u00f3pez, director of the Mutua Madrid Open, discusses the present, his future and his position in \u2018planet tennis\u2019. The former world No. 12 knows the tournament held in the Caja Magica like few others. Now, as the leading figure behind the scenes, he is focused on providing unique experiences for players and fans alike.\u00a0\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":100138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[875,837],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mutua-news-en","category-noticias-tenis-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100141,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100140\/revisions\/100141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}