SEGOVIA, July 29, 2016

2009 Open Castilla y León champion Feliciano López returned to the Villa El Espinar on Thursday in order to get ready for the American hard court swing. The Spanish veteran, who captured his fifth ATP World title in Gstaad last Sunday had an one hour practice session with Japanese teenager Akira Santillan.

“I have heard of him by Richi Sánchez and he told me that it would be great to practice with him. We have played together today for the first time. He is very talented with a good serve and a lot of variety in his game. He will have a great future. Playing tennis today was great,” López told after his training.

Feliciano López

He also talked about his recent success in Switzerland.

“Winning a tournament is always nice and special. With the title in Gstaad, I have claimed titles on all four surfaces. That’s a good achievement and proves that I am still competitive. I can still play at highest level,” the world number 18 explained.

Seven years ago, López lifted his first title on the ATP Challenger Tour on the hard courts in Segovia.

“I competed here for the first time in 2003. I got injured and was sidelined for some time. It was nice to win the tournament the next time. It is a very special event, in which the best Spanish competed in. It is nice to see that those kind of tournaments still exitst, as they are important for the future of our tennis.”

López will next play at the new ATP 250 Abierto Mexicano event held at Los Cabos in Baja California.