Mallorca Championships: Stefanos Tsitsipas troubles, Farewell Feliciano Lopez, Wimbledon hints – Three takeaways

Rafael Nadal, Carlos Moya and Marc Lopez all made an appearance as Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez bowed out of what was billed as his final ever competitive singles tournament at the Mallorca Championships. Paul Hassall went along to take in the pre-Wimbledon grass event in Santa Ponsa, Calvia that proved to be a competition of emotion and shocks.

Three takeaways from Mallorca

Tsitsipas has found a (romantic) spark off the court – but does he now need one on it?

Stefanos Tsitsipas currently sits No. 4 in the ATP race, reached this year’s Australian Open final and made the last eight at Roland Garros – so why is there a persistent, nagging feeling that the world No. 5 is missing something crucial in his attempt to take the next big step forward in his career?

A shock early exit has become a worryingly common occurrence in recent weeks for the Greek and his defeat in Mallorca means he heads to Wimbledon with plenty of question marks over whether he is a realistic contender for the title despite being fifth seed in SW19.

If we rewind slightly, Tsitsipas followed up his impressive run Down Under with an underwhelming sunshine swing but regrouped courtesy of some solid results on clay – a surface many regard as his best shot at regular silverware – reaching the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo, Madrid and the French Open as well as the final in Barcelona and the last four in Rome.

Sounds pretty solid doesn’t it, so what’s the issue?

Well, a closer look at those tournaments perhaps highlight why Tsitsipas appears to be moving away from vying for the world No. 1 spot, like he did late last year and back in January, to looking like his place in the top five is vulnerable.

In Monte Carlo the draw had opened up for the 24-year-old, two-time defending champion to make it three titles in a row in the Principality. There was no Carlos Alcaraz or Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic suffered a surprise third-round exit, but despite having by far the greater clay-court pedigree, Tsitsipas was shocked by Taylor Fritz before being outclassed by Alcaraz in the Barcelona final a week later.

Tsitsipas then failed to take advantage of another kind draw in Madrid where he looked odds-on to reach another final, but he was stunned in the last eight by lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff.

There was another ‘what if’ moment in Rome with the draw yet again opening up nicely as Djokovic and Alcaraz fell early, only for self-proclaimed hater of clay, Daniil Medvedev to upset the Greek in the semis.

Another humbling loss to Alcaraz put paid to Tsitsipas’ French Open hopes and a closer look at his match-ups with the young world No. 1 don’t make for good reading given the Spaniard is four years his junior and has leapfrogged him in the pecking order of Grand Slam contenders.

A major title seemed inevitable at one stage but right now there are evident doubts especially given the way the upper echelons of the tour are able to brutally expose his one-handed backhand and his less than efficient return game.

A switch to the grass has so far failed to inspire an upturn in fortunes with defeats to Richard Gasquet (Stuttgart) and Nicolas Jarry (Halle) followed by more disappointment in the Balearics to leave him 1-3 on the surface from three warm-up tournaments.

It’s worth nothing that Tsitsipas’ last title was way back at the 2022 Mallorca Championships, but his defence fell at the first hurdle as he was deservedly beaten by German Yannick Hanffman in round two.

Parting ways with Mark Philippoussis, a coach widely credited for playing a big role in his run to this year’s Australian Open final and having a calming influence on him within his close-knit family set up, may not be working out quite how Tsitsipas would have hoped.

Results since the split have been well short of his own expectations and it’s hardly the run-up to Wimbledon he was anticipating despite appearing very happy with life away from tournament travails as part of ‘Tsitsidosa’ – tennis’ latest power couple.

Tsitsipas has waxed lyrical about his new-found relationship with former world No. 2 Paula Badosa, practising regularly with the Spaniard and claiming she is his favourite player who motivates him to be better and fall more in love with tennis.

The spark is clearly there for the Greek but now he needs to start channelling it into his performances on court.

Feli’s fond farewell

Tsitsipas’ premature exit in Mallorca allowed one of Spain’s most long-standing stars to hog the spotlight a little longer, with Feliciano Lopez eventually bringing down the curtain on a 26-year pro career.

The 41-year-old was bidding to end on a high on home territory in what organisers billed as his last tournament, and there was a celebratory vibe in the air as the Opening Night gala paid tribute to the five-time Davis Cup winner.

That was topped when Rafael Nadal turned out with Carlos Moya and Marc Lopez – his doubles partner during their 2016 French Open triumph – to cheer him on alongside his family in the VIP boxes for his first-round match against Australia’s Max Purcell.

The veteran Spaniard did not disappoint his A-list backing as he prolonged his farewell with a 6-3 7-5 victory on Tuesday evening, clocking up 11 aces which took him up to fourth spot on the all-time career list in that category.

Twenty four hours later – and following the shock exit of last year’s winner Tsitsipas – there was an element of deja vu around the grounds as once again preparations were set for Lopez to say farewell.

There was even a lengthy discussion regarding the logistics of the post-match tribute/celebration for Lopez amongst organisers in the media zone.

The man nicknamed ‘Feli’ has enjoyed some of the best results of his career on grass with two Queen’s titles forming part of a haul of four singles trophies on the surface. Even in the twilight of his tennis years his serve and volleying can be a potent weapon and once again, he insisted on putting the tributes on the backburner as he outgunned Australia’s Jordan Thompson 7-6 1-6 6-3 to become the oldest man since Jimmy Connors (42) in Halle back in 1995 to reach an ATP quarter-final.

With all of the pre-tournament favourites now out, even Lopez began to consider that he had a title shout, but it was to be third time unlucky for the Spaniard as he was comfortably beaten by German Yannick Hanfmann 6-2 6-4.

This time the Mallorca organisers had the green light for a well versed outpouring of praise for the former world No. 12, with a video message from the now absent Nadal also playing out on the big screen as he was joined by his family on Centre Court.

Indeed, there would be no fairytale finale with the sight of his close friend, the 22-Grand Slam champion, returning to the front row again on Saturday evening celebrating a trophy triumph, but after seven titles, over 500 match wins, five Davis Cup victories and a French Open doubles title, it’s not been a bad ride for the player turned Madrid Masters tournament director.

Happy retirement Feli.

It’s a grass warm-up event so what does it mean for Wimbledon?

Well, Mallorca 2023 doesn’t tell us much in terms of a realistic dark horse for the title.

Back in 2019 the AELTC announced an intention to invest in several new grass tournaments across both the ATP and WTA, with Mallorca securing funding to head up a men’s event fronted by Toni Nadal. Following a delay as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ATP 250 tournament launched in 2021 and this was its third year with eye-catching names such as Medvedev and Tsitsipas amongst the early winners.

That wasn’t the case this year with finalists Adrian Mannarino and Chris Eubanks unlikely to be seen by many as players who could actually go on and push the likes of Djokovic for the Wimbledon crown. Indeed, Eubanks has never previously been beyond qualifying in SW19 and Mannarino’s best performances at the grass-court major are a trio of round-four appearances.

It could have been a different story in Mallorca, but last year’s SW19 finalist, Nick Kyrgios withdrew through injury and Felix Auger-Aliassime opted against accepting a wild card. There were then early exits for Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Tsitsipas and Ben Shelton as Mannarino was just one of the seeds in the draw that reached the last eight.

It opened the door for some unlikely names to enjoy the limelight and Mannarino took on Eubanks hoping to claim his third ATP Tour title and his second on grass with the American bidding for a maiden success on the surface.

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