• Pacheco achieved the biggest victory of his short career, at the age of 19, by defeating Australian Aleksandar Vukic in three sets in front of a stadium that exploded with euphoria.
  

Acapulco, February 25, 2025.- Rodrigo Pacheco became the first Mexican to win a main draw match in Acapulco since Santiago Gonzalez in 2011 and, in the process, got his first win on the ATP Tour after defeating Australian Aleksandar Vukic in three hours by 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(4) in an intense duel marked by an atmosphere of unconditional support from the Mexican public.

“I have no words to describe what happened, I feel butterflies in my stomach, it was all very fast, it was an incredible emotion and more than anything the Mexican public how they supported me from point one to the last. I’m very happy to get something so big at home, I’m very grateful with everything” he said after the victory.

With his victory, the Yucatecan now has a 1-4 record against Top 80 players in the world and has jumped 78 positions in the PIF ATP Rankings to be among the top 300 players in the circuit. Pacheco received a wild card to be part of the main draw of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC and without being the favorite against the No. 66, starred in an intense battle that was defined in a tie break in his favor.

Shouting ‘Mexico’ and ‘Rodrigo Pacheco’ before each point won in the last set, the 19-year-old promise managed to make the support in the Grandstand his best weapon to get his revenge, because a year ago at the Los Cabos Open, Vukic defeated him in two sets. In the first part of the match he won 18 of 21 points with his first serve and saved three breaks to later break his opponent’s serve in a decisive moment after 6-5 to take the lead.

For the second set, his 28-year-old opponent dominated all the statistics after breaking ‘Rodri’s serve at the beginning, in addition to getting 7 aces. The final set started with a 12-minute long first game, where Pacheco almost managed to break Vukic. During a point he slipped and had to be attended by a doctor who treated a scratch on his arm.

At 3-3, the national player was visibly exhausted and with a break opportunity at 4-4 and the beginning of the traditional ‘Cielito Lindo’ by the fans in a crowded Grandstand, he managed to take the match to a thrilling tie break that finally gave the historic victory to the Mexican tennis promise. Now, he will face the 2024 finalist, Norwegian Casper Ruud.

“I know I’m going to have a chance and I’m going to try to take advantage of it to make it a good match and have a surprise, but the truth is that he is a much better player than me, one of the best in the world and that will serve me well throughout my career,” he added at a press conference.

At the same time, at the Arena GNP Seguros stadium, the current No. 13 of the ATP, Holger Rune, started his first round match in a complicated way against the Spaniard Roberto Carballés Baena, as he had to define the first set in tie break. However, the Dane managed to defeat the 50th-ranked player 7-6(4), 6-3 in one hour and 58 minutes to reach once again the round of 16 in Acapulco. The fourth seed in 2025 is looking to surpass the semifinals he reached a year ago.

Meanwhile, on court 1, Alexander Davidovich Fokina made a surprising comeback against lucky loser Mattia Bellucci, as the Italian had dominated the first set 6-1. The world No. 48 needed a tie break in the second to get into rhythm and ended up defining the third in 2 hours 19 minutes of dueling to earn his pass to the second round of the tournament with a 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-2 win.