- The French veteran and the American defeated Bosnian Damir Dzumhur and Portuguese Nuno Borges, respectively.
Acapulco, February 24, 2026.- When Frenchman Gael Monfils is on the court, the only thing that is certain is that there will be tennis, effort, and spectacle. In his farewell season on the ATP Tour, the French showman decided to play in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC, where he defeated Bosnian Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 7-6(5) in the first round.
Known for his charisma and good tennis, Monfils, currently ranked 170th in the ATP rankings, drew a crowd of 2,000 fans who filled the Grandstand at the GNP Seguros Arena complex and enjoyed his surprise victory over the world number 60.
Monfils secured his victory in an hour and 53 minutes of play, sealing the deal with incredible points in the second set tiebreak.
“It was great, lots of energy, lots and lots of energy. The crowd was there, the energy was there. It’s been a tough year, I’ve been training. I’m proud, I’ve had an incredible crowd, and if I keep playing like this with confidence and with the energy of the crowd… I just want to play the next (match) with even more confidence and energy, and see what happens,” Monfils said.
In the second round, the 39-year-old Frenchman will face Monegasque Valentin Vacherot, the sixth seed in the tournament.
Tiafoe, meanwhile, defeated Borges 6-4, 6-4 in a 90-minute match. The American, seeded eighth and ranked 28th in the world, broke his opponent’s serve in the first game of the first set, and that was the difference.
In the second set, he broke Borges’ serve in the fifth game, who broke back in the sixth game, and then Tiafoe broke Borges in the ninth game and closed out the set with his serve.
In the second round, Tiafoe will face his compatriot Aleksandar Kovacevic for a place in the quarterfinals.
Another veteran, 37-year-old Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, ranked 51st in the ATP rankings, fell in two sets, 6-3, 6-4, to Japan’s Sho Shimabukuro, ranked 130th in the world. The Japanese player will face China’s Yibing Wu in the second round, who eliminated Norway’s Casper Ruud, the third seed.
In other results, Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic defeated Australia’s James Duckworth 6-4, 6-1, and Italy’s Mattia Bellucci defeated Australia’s Rinky Hijikata 7-6(5), 6-3.
In the doubles tournament, France’s Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul, seeded third, defeated American Evan King and Australian John Peers 6-2, 7-6(4), while Americans Robert Cash and JJ Tracy fell 5-6, 7-5, 10-6 to American Vasil Kirkov and Bart Stevens of the Netherlands.
