Acapulco will have 11 of the currently 30 best doubles players

A week before the start of the XXVIII edition of the Abierto Méxicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, there was an announcement withthe list of the couples that will form the main draw doubles in 2021.

In this list one can find 11 of the best 30 doubles players, as well as three pairs in the ATP Top 8.

The duo formed by Argentine Horacio Zeballos (4) and the Spaniard Marcel Granollers (13), will be thetop seeded couple. They come to Acapulco with their goal to continue with their victories just like they did back in 2020, where they won three titles played on clay (Rome, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires), and were semifinalists in the Nitto ATP finals.

Last year they played in the Abierto de Acapulco and were defeated in the round of 16 against the French Adrian Manarino y Fabrice Martin.

Bruno Soares, #6, and the British Jamie Murray, #18, return to Acapulco with the intention of winning their third trophy.

They won 2 titles in the Mexican tournament back in 2017 and 2018, the second of which they defeated the Bryan brothers in a grand finale remembered by many. This couple is 4th in the Nitto Finals race to celebrate in Turin at the end of 2021.

Meanwhile, the duo formed by the British Joe Salisbury and the American Rajeev Ram, third in the Nitto Final’s race, visit Acapulco for the first time. They are seeking to reaffirm the great tennis level that led them to their second Australian Open Final in a row, where this year they were defeated by the Slovakian Polãšek and the Croatian Dodig, therefore, they were unable to revalidate their Champions’ title of 2020.

Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Pierre Hugues Herbert, who were crowned masters in 2019, will also be at this edition of the Mexican ATP 500. Both are making their first appearance as a couple in this tournament and they come to Acapulco with the trophies of the four Grand Slams (US Open 2015, Wimbledon 2016, Roland Garros 2018, and the Australian Open in 2019). The Mexican flag will be in the main draw, with the best player of the moment, Santiago González who will compete next to the Brazilian Marcelo Demoliner. The Spaniards Feliciano López and Marc López will also be part of the main draw.

The Zverev brothers, champions in 2019, will look for a place in the main draw in the qualifications round.

Mischa Zverev, Alejandro Hernández, Thanasi Kokkinakis y Petros Tsitsipas present in the qualifications round

This Saturday, March 13th, begins the qualifications round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, where several players will seek one of the places that gives access to the tournament’s main draw and try to emulate what Cerundolo achieved two weeks ago in Córdoba (Argentina).

Old acquaintance of the Mexican fans, such as the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, returns to the tournament after his last participation in 2018, or like the German Mischa Zverev, who is looking to obtain his pass to the tournament’s main draw in his 5th consecutive participation.

The Mexican public will also be able to see the Greek Petro Tsitsipás, Stefanos’s brother, who, with only 20 years old, will look for the way to play in the main draw of the ATP 500 for the first time in his career.

The Mexicans will not be absent in this round. Young Juan Alejandro Hernández, 21 years old, will play in the qualifications round, just like Luis Patiño.

The Americans Brando Nakashima or Emilio Nava will also be present in the qualifying round.

Gerardo López Villaseñor, who was the hero of the World Group II eliminations round against Bulgaria in the Davis Cup, received a wild card to participate in Acapulco’s main draw for the third year in a row.

Puerto Vallarta’s player, 25 years old, managed to beat the local Dimitar Kuzmanov in a match that lasted more than three hours and drove them to exhaustion in order to place the final 1-3 after overcoming two tie-breaks.

After Mexico’s victory in Bulgaria, the Mexican team will have to continue fighting for a spot in the World Group I for 2022.

Stefanos Tsitsipás climbs to 5th place in the ATP ranking

The Greek Stefanos Tsitipás,first seed of this tournament’s edition, managed to reach 5th place in the ATP, after making it to the semifinals in the ABN AMOR World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam last week.

With this new ranking, the winner of the Next Gen ATP Finals of 2018, manages to equalize his best position on the ranking (August 2019).

Meanwhile the Swiss Roger Federer, who returns to play in Dubai after recovering from an injury, was backed down to #6 in the ranking.

This is the only change registered in the ranking of the Top 20 in the world. The Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, who will be in Acapulco, rose to 38th place, this being his best ranking after falling in semifinals in the Argentine Open, in Buenos Aires, against the local Diego Schwartzman.

The Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo rose 25 places to rank #112 in the world after reaching the tournament’s final in Buenos Aires, where he could not emulate his brother Juan Manuel, losing against his countryman Diego Schwartzman, who won his fourth professional title and will be present at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

AMT Safety, the protocol that takes care of us all

Our goal is to take care of each other and enjoy the XXVIII edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, therefore, we created the AMT Safety program, which is focused on preventing contagion and to protect us.

This program was created alongside the State of Guerrero’s authorities and its compliance is mandatory in order to enjoy the experience of the tournament.

Below, you will find everything you need to know about this program.

1. Before entering the tournament facilities, you must have and present a negative result of an Antigen test valid no longer than 72 hours. This test must be endorsed by COFEPRIS.
2. Temperature check-up and antibacterial gel will be provided before giving access to anyone with their tickets.
3. Mandatory use of face masks at all times.
4. Keep a healthy distance.
5. Throughout the tournament you will find antibacterial gel dispensers so anyone can disinfect their hands frequently.
6. In the food area, remember to avoid crowds without exceeding the number allowed per table and to wash your hands.
7. Respect and follow all indications given by the tournament staff as well as all signs placed on the premises.

By following the AMT Safety protocol: you take care of yourself, we all take care of ourselves. For more information, please visit: https://abiertomexicanodetenis.com/amt-safety/

• Guerrero’s local authorities confirm the public presence in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.
• All tournament attendees must present a negative COVID-19 antigen test
• The ticket sales for the Tournament continues

Mexico, March 2^nd, 2021.- After the announcement that Acapulco changed to a code yellow for COVID, Guerrero’s State Governor, Héctor Astudillo Flores, held a meeting yesterday with the Director of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, Raúl Zurutuza, where he confirmed the presence of public in the Tournament and allowed to continue with ticket sales to offer the Mexican public the possibility of enjoying the most important tennis event in Latin America.

Following the guidelines established by the local authorities to respect and maintain the current code achieved by the State and the people of Guerrero, all fans attending the Tournament must have a negative COVID-19 antigen test done in a laboratory, hospital or pharmacy. This test should not be more than 72 hours old. If this requirement is not met, the fans will not be allowed to enter the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.      

“It is everyone’s responsibility, organizers, players, sponsors, and fans, to take care of each other and be an example of respect to all health standards established by the authorities,” said the Tournament director.

Due to the sanitary contingency caused by COVID-19, the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC created a security program which will make sure all planning, procedures and execution of all safety measures and protocol are followed in order to guarantee and safeguard the health for all fans, staff, and players within the tournament.

Tickets for the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC are still on sale and can be purchased directly at the Mextenis box office, located in Arcos Bosques, or through the ticketmaster.com.mx platform.

BOX OFFICE PHONE NUMBERS

From Mexico: 55 2167 3232, 55 2167 3055 ó 800 890 8906

From outside the country: + 52 55 2167 3232 ó + 52 55 2167 3055

For more information, please visit our website at www.abiertomexicanodetenis.com

World’s number one, Novak Djokovic, retained his crown as the Australian Open champion after defeating Danil Medvedev 7-5, 6-2 and 6-2.

The Serbian needed just one hour and fifty-three minutes to achieve his ninth title in Melbourne Park, this reaffirms his dominance in this tournament by being the greatest winner in history.

With this triumph, he achieved his eighteenth Grand Slam and he is just one step behind Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, whom, with 20, are the top major winners of all time.

In order to reach the final and beat Medvedev (ATP #3), Djokovic had to defeat three players who will be present in the XXVIII Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

In the second round, he needed four sets to get rid of the American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(2) and 6-3. He won against the Canadian Milos Raonic in the round of 16, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1 and 6-4. In the quarterfinal he played against the German Alexander Zverev, second seed of the Abierto Mexicano. This was a match in which there was moments of real tension, where Nole closed the match by winning the fourth set tie-breaker against ATP #3, 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-4, and 7-6(6).

Medvedev, who is going through a great moment and reached the final with 20 consecutive victories, defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas by 6-4, 6-2, 7-5.

The Greek and first seed of this edition of the Acapulco’s Port tournament, starred in perhaps the best match of the tournament with a two-set comeback disadvantage against Rafael Nadal, number 2 in the world and current champion of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

In the women’s side, the Japanese Naomi Osaka won for the second time the Australian Grand Slam by defeating the American Jennifer Brady in the final by 6-4, 6-3. The 23-year-old player, WTA #3, maintains her perfect pace in Grand Slams, winning all four that she has competed throughout her career.

The Mexican Guiliana Olmos reached the quarterfinals in the doubles category with the Canadian Sharon Fichman, where they lost against the two finalists: the Czech Krejcikova and Siniakova.

Cordoba, Singapur and Montpellier, this week’s events

This week there will be three ATP 250 tournaments around the world, 9 of the players that will be present in Acapulco will play some of them.

Six players that will be present in the next edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC will be playing in the Cordoba Open in Argentina. The locals, Diego Schwartzman and Guido Pella together with the French Benoit Paire and the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, will be the four top ranked players.

The four of them will play in the second round of this tournament. Schwartzman will face the winner of the clash between Hugo Dellien vs. Marco Cecchinato. Pella will face the winner of Elahi Galan and Kovalik. Miomir Kecmanovic expects a rival that will come from the match between a qualifier and the Brazilian Seyboth Wild. Paire will have to play against the local Nico Jarry or the Spaniard Jaume Munar.

The Serbian Laslo Djere and the Spaniard Pablo Andujar will be competing in this tournament as well.

In the Singapore Tennis Open, the French Adrian Mannarino and the Croatian Marin Cilic (both are the top ranked players of this tournament) will playand will also make their debut in the second round.

The Frenchman will start his participation against the winner between the Latvian Ernests Gulbis and the italian Roberto Marco. Cilic will wait for his rival between the Japanese Taro Daniel and the Hindu Ramkumar Ramanathan. Mannarino and Cilic would only face each other in a hypothetical final.

In the last ATP 250 which will be played this week in Montpellier (France), the American Sebastian Korda, who received one of the wildcards from the tournament, will be playing and looking for his second-round pass against local Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, who was ATP number 5 in 2012.

The other wildcard awarded by the organization, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, was defeated in the qualification round against the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.

Danil Medvedev became ATP Top 3 after his final in the Australian Open

The Russian Danil Medvedev became ATP Top 3 tennis player thanks to the 1020 points obtained by reaching the Australian Open’s final, replacing the Austrian Dominic Thiem. This being his best professional ranking.

The Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and the Norwegian Casper Rudd respectivelymoved up four places to 17^th and 24^th. This new ranking is the best in Rudd’s career.

Russia’s Aslan Karatev registered the highest increase in this week’s ranking in the ATP, who after losing against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open’s semifinals, moved up 72 places in order to rank as number 42, surpassing his best professional ranking in which he was 111. Other top climbers this week in the ATP ranking were starred by old acquaintances of the Mexican fans. Feliciano López, who moved up eight places to be 57^th in the world, the Romanian Radu Albot who went from 85 to now 76 after reaching the third round in the Australian Open where he defeated the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round. South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon moved up 16 places in the ranking and he is now ATP 81.

• The Greek Stefanos Tsisipas, number 6 in the world, will make his debut.
• Germany’s Alexander Zverev (ranked number 7) and Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman (number 9) will playfor the fourth time in Acapulco.
• American tennis’s great promise, Sebatian Korda, will get a wildcard for the main singles draw.

Mexico City.- The Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC announces the list of all players that will participate in the Tournament’s XXVIII edition, in which 3 ATP’s Top Ten players stand out.

The 22-year-old Greek, Stefanos Tsitsipas, current number 6 in the ATP ranking and ATP Finals champion in 2019; together with the 23-year-old German Alexander Zverev, number 7 in the world and thirteen-time ATP Tour champion, will be the AMT 2021 top ranked player.

“For us, as a tournament, we are proud to announce the presence of two of the last three ATP masters, we thank Alexander and Stefanos for their decision to come play in Mexico in this edition and we are sure the Mexican public will enjoy their presence”, said Raúl Zurutuza, Director of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

This will be the fourth time that Zverev participates in Acapulco’s ATP 500, looking to repeat 2019’s final where he lost against the Australian Nick Kyrgios. On another note, Tsitsipas, semifinalist at Roland Garros, will appear in front of the Mexican fans for the first time.

The best ranked of Latin tennis today, Diego Schwartzman (9), is the third Top Ten player present in this edition. The 28-year-old Argentine climbed to the tennis elite thanks to his performances in Rome and Roland Garros, where he respectively made the final and semifinal. The “Peque” who already knows what winning in Mexican lands means (Los Cabos 2019), will pursue the championship in this, his fourth participation in the AMT.