De Miñaur will look for a two-time championship against Casper Ruud

|

  • The Australian and Norwegian have only met once before in ATP tournaments; the victory went to Alex de Miñaur in 2019
  • Ruud reached his first Acapulco final in his third appearance at the tournament.

Acapulco March 1, 2024.- The reigning champion of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC, Alex de Miñaur (No. 9) will seek the in Acapulco two-time champion against the Norwegian Casper Ruud (No. 11), who arrive for the first time to the dispute of the trophy in Mexican lands and to his first ATP 500 final.

De Miñaur advanced to the final when Draper retired in the third set due to physical discomfort. Alex started the match dominating with a very fast serve with an average speed of 195 km/h, superior to his opponent, and broke the German’s serve at least twice. 

In the second set, Draper began to show physical discomfort and medical assistance had to come in, and when he was 4-0 down in the third set, the German decided to retire to leave the set 6-3, 2-6, 4-0. 

With this result, Draper accumulated three defeats against De Miñaur in the ATP circuit and has never been able to beat him. They had faced each other on two previous occasions with positive balance for Alex in 2022 at Wimbledon and in 2023 in Tokyo. 

“The truth is that they have treated me very well Acapulco, to come and be in the final makes me proud of that and well, give me the option tomorrow to play for the title, try to defend my title, now I am a little bit closer,” he said after finishing his match. 

The Australian is reaching his second final this season after winning the title in Rotterdam, “I think mentally it has been the most important thing, I had a change of chip to start this year and I said I’m going to be more aggressive and I’m going to play one on one against the best in the world because running only from side to side was not working for me, so that was the step forward I have taken and, we are at the beginning of the year, but the plan is to continue like this, stay strong and see where I can get,” he said. 

In the other semifinal, Norwegian Casper Ruud, seeded sixth, reached his first final in Acapulco in what is his third participation in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC, by beating Denmark’s Holger Rune (No. 7) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 23 minutes. 

Rune started winning the first set with a powerful serve that earned him 6 aces, and broke Casper’s serve, but in the second set Ruud came from behind to take the victory and reach his first final in this tournament. 

With this victory, Casper Ruud maintains his superiority over Rune by extending his lead of six matches won to only one lost against the Dane in ATP tournaments. 

“I had a very good feeling, I felt very good in this match. I felt good in Mexico, including Los Cabos and tomorrow I’m going to try to do my best. Alex [de Miñaur] is one of the best players on Tour,” said Ruud.

CONTACT

info@abiertomexicanodetenis.com

P. de los Tamarindos 400 A,
B. de las Lomas, C.P. 05120,
Cuajimalpa, CDMX.

+52 (55) 2167 3055


© ABIERTO MEXICANO DE TENIS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED