LOCAL Houston | The City Guide MARCH 2015 | Seite 48

Local March 2015FINAL.qxp_002houston 2/21/15 3:42 PM Page 48

FELICIANO LÓPEZ
HOUSTON RANKS AT THE TOP OF ONE TENNIS PRO’S TRAVEL SCHEDULE

Though not from Houston, professional tennis player FELICIANO LÓPEZ
considers Houston one of his favorite spots to hit the court. And he’s
got a lot of basis for comparison. Currently ranked 14th in the world,
López has an intense travel schedule and pretty much always has since
he started playing professionally almost 17 years ago. “It’s beautiful –
I feel very lucky to play there in Houston,” the top-ranked pro says on
his upcoming tournament next month in River Oaks.
Talking with López, he’s about as polite as they come, but you wouldn’t
know it on the court with his 200km/h serve, where he takes pity on
no one. Although he considers tennis a “beautiful sport,” it is his job
and he’s raked in almost $10 million throughout the course of his

career. The hardest part of playing professional tennis for López isn’t
the 3–5 hours of hard work he puts in on the court at least six days a
week, it’s the grueling travel schedule that comes along with it. “I have
a lot of favorite X