I get excited when it comes to Real: Lopez

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Feliciano Lopez.

Feliciano Lopez was wreathed with a beard in the last edition of the Champions Tennis League (CTL). Does he miss the facial foliage this time as part of the Nagpur Orangers?

“Not really. I did a commercial for Braun shavers before I came to India,” said the statuesque Spaniard on the sidelines of a CTL media conference.

The six-footer also endorsed big brands such as Hugo Boss, Ellesse and L’Oreal. He resents being asked about life as a model though, instead keen to be known as a tennis pro.

With looks to kill for, it was not surprising that he appeared on Los Serrano, a long-running Spanish TV serial.

He quickly dismisses it as a one minute role he never expected to play. “It was short, but great fun,” he recalled.

Does his quiet and intense public persona match his off-court personality? “I am actually quiet but get excited when it comes to Real Madrid,” he says.

Why Real, we ask the Toledo native.

“Madrid is just 40 kms from my hometown and I have a lot of friends in the capital,” he says.

Everyone in the family roots for Real except his mother who supports Barcelona. “Affections are passed on down the generations,” states the ATP men’s singles No. 17.

His fast and furious game is tailor-made for grass. “I realised grass was better suited to my game 15 years ago.

“As a big guy, I can cover the net better too,” explains the member of the vanishing serve and volley tribe, who followed in the footsteps of Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.

Looking back on his career the southpaw is a shade philosophical.

“As you get older, you begin to think, travelling as you do for 35 weeks a year,” says Lopez, who supports his doctor friend’s cancer charity with fund-raising for research into the dreaded disease.

Four years ago, he met his would-be wife Alba Carrillo, a model, through a common friend.

“We had a wonderful relationship and our marriage in July came at the right time. My life is more complete now,” added, the jet-setter, who has a large following on Twitter.