Reigning Olympic doubles Marc Lopez reached his career-high at world number 106 at the age of 22 after qualifying for the semifinal at the ATP Finals in Stuttgart in 2004. However, he did not improve anymore and thought about retirement.
“I did not like to travel anymore and when you are World Number 200, everything is more complicated. I was feeling I had lost the train”, said Lopez to El Periodico.
In 2009 he received a phote call from his friend Rafa Nadal, who invited him to play in doubles. The decision to continue focusing on playing almost only doubles tournaments has paid off. This year he has qualified for the ATP Finals after winning in Doha and at the Roland Garros with Feliciano Lopez and the Olympic gold medal in Rio with Rafa Nadal.
“We won the tournament and it pushed me to continue at least for another year. I did many things to Nadal. It was worth. I almost retired from tennis and now in the doubles I am having my best season. In Rio Rafa was very motivated. He came to the Olympic Games without being in a good shape and was suffering from wrist problems. He put a lot of effort after withdrawing from the London Games. I believe he would have not won the gold with me. What he did is incredible. I saw what he did to overcome pain and the tiredness as he played singles and doubles. He is an unique player like a few ones in the world and in the tennis history. He was not born as a doubles player but playing alongside him gives you an unelievable self-confidence. I was very lucky to play with the best doubles partner possible and I took advantage of it. At first I was not due to play with him if it wasn’t for Verdasco’s withdrawal ”, said Lopez
