Acapulco, Gro., February 29, 2020.- The title at the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Telcel, presentado por HSBC, was for Nadal. The spaniard defeated Taylor Fritz 6-3 and 6-2 in just 1 hour and 13 minutes.

Nadal left his record in the tournament at 20-2. On his other 4 participations he either won the title (2005 and 2013) or lost against the player who became the eventual champion, first against Sam Querrey, 2017, and in the second round against Nick Kyrgios. The spaniard’s name will be remembered as the last champion at the Mextenis stadium. Rafa has the records of being the youngest champion in Acapulco (2005), and now the oldest, at 33 years old.

This is the first title of the season for the Spaniard and 85 in his career, he leaves his record in ATP finals at 85-37. With today’s match, he’s been winning at least one title a year for 17 consecutive years.

“Winning in Acapulco is always special because of the closeness to the tournament and the people. It’s an important title in an important moment, I didn’t start the year as good as I wanted, but I got better, I came into the tournament a little bit saturated because I didn’t get a lot of rest and this was a week to build my confidence. I leave with my objective cleared, I’m very happy, I want to enjoy this and get ready for Indian Wells”, said Nadal.

“This doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good year; it only gives me confidence and lets me be in a privileged position”, he added.

Three breaks in the match were enough to lead the victory of the number two in the world, who was facing Fritz (second american to reach a final in Acapulco; first one was Sam Querrey, in 2017) for the first time. Now, Taylor has 0-3 in the matches against top ten players. This was just the fifth final in his career (first in ATP 500); he has raised a trophy before (Eastbourne 2019).

Fifteen years after his first participation in Acapulco, Nadal comes back as the winner of 19 Grand Slams. With this confidence, his ruthlessness imposed himself on Fritz, based on a solid serve and good returns.

Nadal and Fritz reached the final with the same percentage of points won in the second serve (50%), but tonight was different. Rafael had 76% in this category, while Fritz went down to 35%, just winning 6 out of 17 points when playing with his second serve.

Fritz did better when it came to aces, with 10 and without double faults, by one ace from Nadal and two double faults. In the first set the american held his serve until the 8th game, when Nadal didn’t miss the opportunity to break and the lead.

Fritz tried to hold his serve but the break in the fifth game, and one more in the seventh, gave Nadal the championship.

Nadal wins the title without giving up a set and losing only 25 game on his way to the throne.

Acapulco, Gro., February 29, 2020.- The colombians were unable to take the trophy at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, presentado por HSBC, against the polish Lukasz Kubot and the brazilian Marcelo Melo. They defeated Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal (#1 couple on the tournament) at the men’s doubles final match at the Grand Stand Caliente.

Kubot and Melo, eighth seed and #8 in the world’s doubles ranking, won 7-6, 6-7 (4), and 11-9 in one of the toughest finals in the last few years at the tournament.

The first set ended with a tiebreak in the polish Kubot and Melo’s favor, but the colombians (#1 in the world’s doubling ranking) leveled up by winning the second tiebreak.

The title was decided on a super tiebreak, in which Farah and Cabal had a match point with the score 9-8, but Marcelo Melo made his two serves effective to place himself 10-9; the next point, Juan Sebastian Cabal was unable to hold his serve, letting the match escape, provoking sadness and frustration of their fans who supported them throughout the week.

It was Kubot and Melo’s revenge to defeat the colombians in their last match last year at the Masters 1000 in Rome. In eight encounters between these two couples, Farah and Cabal had succeeded in five occasions and lost 3 of them, but they still cannot win the title at Acapulco, where they dispute their first final.

It’s Melo and Kubot’s title number 14 as a team. For the polish, this was his fourth final at the AMT and his third title, since he won in 2010 with Oliver Marach, in 2013 with David Marrero, and in 2020 with Marcelo Melo; he lost a final with Marach in 2009. This was the brazilian’s third final in Acapulco, with titles in 2015 with Ivan Dodig and in 2020 with Kubot, also he lost a final back in 2011 with Bruno Soares.

The new Doubles champions at the Abierto Mexicano will add 500 points to their ranking ATP, and also share a prize of 119,750 dollars.

Acapulco, Gro., February 29, 2020.- Heather Watson will go down in history as the last singles champion in the Mextenis stadium at the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Telcel, presentado por HSBC, who will have a new home next year. It was not an easy match, she had to defeat a very tough rival who played like an experienced player. This was the 17-year-old canadian’s first final at WTA, Leylah Fernandez complicated things for Watson, but Watson’s experience kept her afloat and won 6-4, 6-7 (8), and 6-1, after 2 hours and 46 minutes.

This is Heather’s fourth title (2016, Monterrey; 2015, Hobart; 2012, Osaka), it is her first singles title in Acapulco, since she is a former doubles champion alongside the german Tatjana Maria (2018).

Watson, seventh seed and 69-WTA, defeated the canadian for the third time (semifinals in Vancouver, 2019; second round in Quebec, 2018).

Heather, 10 years older than Leylah, assured her victory until her 10^th match point, because in front of her, there was a rival that ran for every ball and forced her to play 3 sets, so she could hang on to the title.

This is Fernandez’s first time in Acapulco, she got in through the qualy, she is the youngest player that has reached a final here, she is also the third teenager who reaches a WTA final in the season. The other ones are Dayana Yastremska (19), in Adelaida, and Leonie Kung, in Hua Hin.

The Canadian showed signs of nervousness, it was her first final, and she was unable to keep her first two serves (0-4). Then, she was able to recover one in the eighth, but Watson didn’t miss her chance to close the set in 43 minutes.

The second set foreshadowed something similar when Heather broke again during Fernandez’s serve, and then confirmed to gain a lead of 3-0.

In the second set, even though Watson broke Fernandez’s break, the canadian started to find her rhythm and leveled the match. After that, both players kept their serve until they reached the tiebreak.

Watson didn’t take advantage of five match points when the tiebreak was 6-2, Leylah won five straight points in order to win the set, in a great demonstration of grit. She never gave up, her determination made her win the set when Watson sent a returned of serve passed the baseline.

In the third set, Leylah was only able to win a game and Watson, finally, was able to raise her arms in triumph.