- Alexander Zverev (No. 7) advanced to the second round after beating the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
- The young American Sebastian Korda (No. 92), who received a WC, surprised the Croatian.
- The four qualifiers to enter the main draw are set.
The second pre-classified, Alexander Zverev (No. 7), won against the young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 6-1, in the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis 2021.
The 23-year-old German was erratic at the beginning of the match and Alcaraz managed to break his first serve and went up in the match 2-0. Sasha managed to find the rhythm soon after he regained his serve and went up on the scoreboard. In the seventh game he took advantage of a break points and broke Alcaraz’s serve and took an advantage he would not let go.
Both players kept their serve until the seventh game when the rookie’s nerves led him to make unforced mistakes and he ended up handing the set to Sasha 6-3.
“I didn’t know the player and that’s why it took me a while to start the match. In the end I found my rhythm and I am happy with how the game ended. I started to feel more comfortable in the second set, not only in the serve but also my passing shots with my drive.
Zverev, seventh in the ranking, took advantage of the 17-year-old’s nerves and played a very offensive tennis, shooting 11 aces and winning 86% of his first-service points.
“Last year I wasn’t playing well, and I had eye surgery. This year I had a good first match and that helps me build momentum, I hope I keep this as the game progresses”.
In the end, Alcaraz says goodbye but also leaves a great impression to both his rival and the fans.
Meanwhile, Zverev will now play against Laslo Djere (No. 57) who defeated American Steve Johnson (No. 83), in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.
The 25-year-old Serb had never played in the Abierto Mexicano de Telcel presentado por HSBC, but he has adapted to the conditions very well.
The Mexican Gerardo López Villaseñor (No. 561) said goodbye to the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis after falling in the first round against the German Dominik Koepfer (No. 71), in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.
The Mexican, 25 years old, arrived to Acapulco a week ago after being the main player in the Davis Cup series in which he defeated the Bulgaria adding two points in singles. Unfortunately, he did not manage to find the rhythm to win, and although he equalled 4-4 in the first set, things did not work for him in the second.
“Gerry” concludes his third participation in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, but he is very thankful with Mextenis for giving him the opportunity to learn from the best players in the world and to experience this moment with them.
“I think it’s a good week to learn from these important players, how they act, how they train. I trained with Caruso, with Silva and that is what one comes here for, to try to adapt to the speed of that type of players and to also be able to give your best tennis“.
Koepfer is waiting for his rival, who will be between the American Tommy Paul (No. 51) and the Canadian Milos Raonic (No. 15), the match is scheduled at 18:00 at the Grandstand Caliente.mx.
The young Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (No.19), seventh seed, resolved a difficult match against the American Tennys Sandgren (No. 58) which he surpassed by 6-3, 7-6.
Aliassime will have again a complicated clash in the second round in which he will face the American wild card, Sebastian Korda (No. 92), who surprised everyone by eliminating the Croatian Marin Cilic (No. 43) 7-5, 6-2.
Sebastian, son of former tennis player Petr Korda, was a finalist in the ATP 250 of Delray Beach and was crowned in the Challenger of Quimper at the beginning of the year. Among his multidisciplinary team is former world number one Andre Agassi.
Meanwhile, the American John Isner (No.26) won 6-4, 6-3 against the Italian Salvatore Caruso (No.79).
QUALIFYERS
This Monday the four tickets of the qualification for the main draw were set, the American Brandon Nakashima (No.145) continues with good pace in the tournament and has not lost a single set in his first three games of qualifying rounds. On this occasion, he defeated the Italian Federico Gaio (No. 140) by 6-3, 6-3, and won access to the main draw where he will face the American Frances Tiafoe (No.64).
The Italian Joven Lorenzo Musetti (No 119) got a marvelous victory of 6-4, 6-2 against the Portuguese Frederico Ferreira Silva (No. 173).
After Alcaraz fell in the first round, Musetti, who turned 19 on March 3rd, is the youngest player in the tournament. It will certainly be interesting to see how he plays against his Argentine rival, Diego Schwartzman (No. 9).
The American Stefan Kozlov (No. 387) is another qualifier who earned a spot in the Main Draw, after the Dutch Botic Van De Zandschulp (No. 149) retired after falling in the first set 6-3.
Finally, the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor (No. 154) defeated the American Denis Kudla (No. 123), 6-3, 7-6 but his victory didn’t count that much since Kudla got to the main draw as a lucky loser against Kevin Anderson. Unfortunately for both players, they will face each other again in the main draw.
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