Lopez’s loss at Roland Garros ends record Grand Slam streak

On Tuesday, Feliciano Lopez’s record for the longest streak of consecutive Grand Slam appearances ended with a first-round qualifying loss to Gian Marco Moroni. The former world No 12’s streak started almost exactly 20 years ago at Roland Garros 2002, where he qualified as a lucky loser and subsequently lost to Germany’s Tommy Haas in the second round.  

During his streak, Lopez reached four Grand Slam quarter-finals. Three of his appearances came at Wimbledon––in 2005, 2008, and 2011––while his fourth occurred at the 2015 US Open. Throughout his 79 consecutive major appearances, Lopez earned a record of 98-80. Although Lopez’s consecutive streak is no longer active, he can still match Roger Federer’s overall Grand Slam appearance record (80) should he qualify for Wimbledon this June. 

The day also saw Italian Andreas Seppi fall to countryman Giulio Zeppieri 6-3, 6-4, ending the 38-year-old’s Grand Slam streak of 66 consecutive appearances. Seppi’s record is the third-longest streak of all time, behind Lopez and former world No 7 Fernando Verdasco. In the span of his 18-year run, Seppi achieved numerous fourth-round appearances, including the 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2018 Australian Open.

With both Lopez and Seppi failing to qualify for this year’s Roland Garros, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov now holds the longest active streak of consecutive Grand Slam appearances (45), according to the ITF.

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