• The German tennis player advanced to the round of 16 for the sixth time in his seven appearances in Acapulco.
  

Acapulco, February 25, 2025.- German tennis player Alexander Zverev, world number two and top seed at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC, advanced to the second round of the tournament, after defeating Italian Matteo Arnaldi (No.33), 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-4. 

With this victory, it is the sixth time that Zverev has advanced past the first round in Acapulco in seven participations and only once he has been knocked out in the first round, which was in the 2024 edition. 

Zverev and Arnaldi had never met on the ATP circuit. In the first set, Arnaldi showed his precision with his serve by getting four ace serves to take the set in tie break, physically demanding the German, but the second best tennis player in the world overcame to take the second and third sets with a wide advantage. 

“I feel it was a very difficult match, I think he (Arnaldi) played a fantastic first set. He played very, very well and I still had to find my rhythm on the hard court. I only had two days of practice, so in the end, I’m happy to win against a quality player. And, yes, happy to move on to the next round. I know I have to play good tennis for that (to get to No. 1 in the world). I have to win a lot of tournaments to get there and I need to improve my game. The way I played in South America is not going to be enough. I have to keep improving, I have to keep playing better. I think it was a good start here and hopefully I can play better tomorrow, better after tomorrow and then really find my rhythm in the tournament,” he said 

In another match of the day, American Brandon Nakashima (No.42) advanced to the second round of the Acapulco tournament after beating Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi (No. 62) 7-6(8), 7-5 and now his opponent will be Danish Holger Rune (No. 13) in the round of 16. 

Meanwhile, Canadian Denis Shapovalov (No. 32) knocked out American Nishesh Basavareddy (No. 106), who came from the qualifiers, 7-5, 6-2. Shapovalov will face the winner of the match between American Alex Michelsen and Chinese Bu Yunchaokete in the round of 16.