Spanish generation led by Rafael Nadal will not be emulated says Feliciano Lopez

Feliciano Lopez believes the current generation of Spanish players spearheaded by Rafael Nadal will not be emulated again in tennis.

Nadal is the greatest Spaniard to ever play the game with 15 time Grand Slams to his name, having recently won an unprecedented 10th French Open win back in June.

The rest of the Spanish contingent have also shown their quality with seven players making up the top 50 of the ATP world rankings, including the likes of Pablo Carreno Busta, Roberto Bautista Agut, Albert Ramos-Violas, Lopez, David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco.

Lopez, currently ranked world number 28, says that while he does not believe there will be so many talented players who will contribute to Spanish tennis again, there are still some great players who can challenge for top honours in the future.

"There are good younger players but I always say that generation of Spanish players in the last ten years won't happen again, first of all because there won't be another Rafael Nadal, without forgetting all the ones that contributed to many achievements of Spanish tennis," Lopez told Marca, as quoted on Tennis World USA.

"It's clear that there won't be another generation like this but I think there will still be great players able to fight for important tournaments in the next years, for example [Pablo] Carreno [Busta] who is the one I like the most and is already among the best players in the world.

"But it's difficult to make comparisons, especially for amazing players of this generation like Rafa."

As for Nadal, the 31-year-old is on course to regain his world number one ranking. Currently ranked number two in the world, if Nadal had won the Rogers Cup which begins on Monday (7 August), he would rise to the summit.

However, with world number one Andy Murray's withdrawal from the event due to injury, all Nadal has to do now is reach the semi-final which will put him in a good position to end the year on top with the US Open taking place later this month.