At Home on Grass, Spain’s Lopez Downs Ancic in Straight Sets
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WIMBLEDON, England – Feliciano Lopez is doing just fine on his own.
The 23-year-old Spaniard, who until recently had received more attention for playing doubles with Rafael Nadal than for his own tennis, yesterday moved into the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, trouncing last year’s semifinalist, Mario Ancic, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
The win produced a bit of history for Spain, which had not seen one of its own in a Wimbledon quarterfinal since Manuel Orantes in 1972. If his play yesterday is any indication, Lopez might stand a chance against no. 3 seed Lleyton Hewitt, who overcame a scrappy performance by American Taylor Dent, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3. All in all, not bad for a man who took the wrong exit out of Court 1 after his win over Marat Safin in the third round.
“It’s easy to dream,” said Lopez, who is one of six Spaniards in the top 50. “I just want to play the next round as well as I did today.”
Though Lopez’s run here is atypical of a Spanish player, he is not cut from the same cloth as his clay-court brethren. He grew up in Madrid playing on hard courts and learned to serve and volley and move forward every chance he could. Like Nadal, Lopez is left-handed, but his serve is far more powerful a weapon. He routinely clocks in at 130 mph or better and has an eye for the far corners of the service boxes.
Lopez looks like a man attending a 1970s costume party dressed as a tennis player. He stands 6-foot-2 and is best described as gangly. His hair hangs long in the style of Bjorn Borg, and he always wears a headband. When Lopez volleys, his arms move like spaghetti. While Nadal has clearly spent hours bulking up his arms and chest, Lopez seems to live very far from a weight room.
Not that Lopez needs to change much this tournament. Against, Ancic, he had all the answers. So frustrated was the Croatian after being broken in the first game of the second set that he threw his drink bottle, flung his racket, and then slammed it to the ground as soon as the ball boy had handed it back to him. Ancic cracked the frame, receiving a warning and a fine.
Lopez was modest about his victory.
“I don’t think Mario played as good today,” he said. “He maybe was a little bit nervous.”
