DOHA: Experienced campaigner Feliciano Lopez of Spain and compatriot Marc Lopez yesterday won the doubles title at the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open by beating Philipp Petzschner of Germany and Alexander Peya of Austria.
It was the third doubles title for Marc in Doha as he guided Feliciano in the one-side final, winning the title clash 6-4, 6-3 in 66 minutes on the Centre Court at Khalifa Tennis Complex.
It was the first meeting between the two teams.
The Spaniards are now 9-5 as a doubles team on the ATP Tour.
“First of all, I want to thank everybody for their support,” Feliciano, world number 17, said yesterday.
“It is a pleasure to play with him. He has become the champion for the third time. Next week we will be in Sydney,” he added.
Marc said it had been a long time since their last pairing at an ATP Tour event.
“We were together 12 years ago. Yes, it has been a long time,” Marc said.
“He (Feliciano) was playing with Rafa (Nadal) and they have been very successful together. For me it is a difficult task to replace Rafa. I don’t think I will be able to replace Rafa.
“But for the moment it is working. First week, we have the title. Hopefully we can have a great season ahead of us. It is another challenge. Hopefully we can compete together at the Olympic Games also,” Marc, world number 32, said.
“We have many tournaments to play. It is difficult to plan and play as we have a lot of players in Spain. Not everybody will be able to play the Olympic Games but we will try,” he said.
The Peninsula
