Feliciano Lopez will mark a new milestone at the Mutua Madrid Open in May. The 36-year-old will be playing for the 17th straight year in the tournament. This year, he will also be handling the responsibilities as the tournament director along with Manolo Santana.

In 2019, Lopez will be the solo tournament director of the event in the Spanish capital. 'I want to learn and join the event's organization,' Lopez said. 'They reacted well to the news and are very happy for me.' He is also aware that his role will be difficult. 'It's not easy with tennis players.

All of us want to play on the best court, at the best hour, in the best condition, and you can't please everyone.' Away from his upcoming increased role in the tournament, Lopez also spoke about Roger Federer giving the clay season a miss for the second consecutive year.

'I want Federer to play in Madrid again before he retires,' said Lopez. 'I was training with him in Rotterdam and I was lucky to speak with him. He told me that he would want to come and play at the Madrid Open because the people loved him there.' Lopez, however, added that when he had spoken with Federer in Rotterdam the Swiss had mentioned that he had not decided about playing on clay.

Lopez also mentioned that Federer won the 2017 Wimbledon after missing the clay season and that his decision to miss the clay season was because he believed he could repeat his success in the grass season. Clarification: An earlier version of this article had been published with misquoted comments from Feliciano Lopez.

The article has since been modified to reflect the correctness of his comments. ALSO READ: Roger Federer explains why he rarely plays American tournaments