• With the objective of repeating the final in Acapulco, the Norwegian tennis player will know this Tuesday his opponent in the round of 16.
• Czech Tomas Machac (No. 25) will face German Daniel Altmaier (No. 76) in the second round; they have never met on the ATP tour.

Acapulco, February 24, 2025.- Norwegian tennis player Casper Ruud, World No. 5 and second seed of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC advanced to the round of 16 with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Frenchman (No. 61) in a match that lasted one hour and 42 minutes. 

Despite having a difficult start to the match after losing the first two games, the 2024 finalist recovered with a powerful serve and a solid backhand from the back of the court to take the first set. In the second set, Ruud broke Rinderknech’s serve twice to secure his ticket to the second round at the ATP 500.

“I’m honestly thinking one match at a time. Today was a good match and I will try to take advantage of it. Every match you can win here or on this surface gives you confidence, so I know what it’s like to play a final here because I did it last year, but that doesn’t mean I will do it again this year. Of course, I’m going to try to give my best, the defending champion is not here, so I’m sure there will be a new champion this year because Alex (De Miñaur) is not here, but anyone can win, there are many great players,” Ruud assured in a press conference after his victory.

At the same time, in the match that opened the Grandstand activity, German Daniel Altmaier (No. 76) overcame Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (No. 44) by 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, who last year left him out of the tournament in the second round, so he got his revenge. That was the German’s best performance in Acapulco.

On the other hand, in one of the most even duels of the day, Czech compatriots Jakub Mensik (No. 54) and Tomas Machac (No. 25) faced each other, with Menchac winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to get his seventh victory of the current season and his first win in the AMT.

It will be the first time that Machac and Altmaier will face each other on the ATP Tour as professionals, they have only played once and that was at the junior tournament in Antalya, Turkey, in 2019, with victory for the Czech tennis player on clay court.