De Minaur promises to go after more titles starting in Acapulco

  • The Australian confesses his love for the Mexican fans and promises to go for more after his first ATP 500 title.

Acapulco, March 5th.- The champion of the XXX edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC, Alex de Minaur, declared after defeating American Tommy Paul in the finals that he did not worry about who his rivals were during the tournament.

“I set out to give my best and that’s what I’ve done my whole career. I know there are other players on the circuit that the fans wanted to see but in the end I can’t do anything about it. I came in and played my tournament and I played one match at a time “ he stated in a conference after the match.

At 24, he will return to the Top 20 starting next Monday after the 500 points he just won in Mexico, where he felt the greatest affection by the Mexican audience that supported him during the entire three-set match against Paul.

“For me, the fans have been the best every single day, so I really appreciate it. Every match the court was full and they stayed until 3 in the morning. Things you don’t see in any other tournament in the world,” he said.

The Australian played his third ATP 500 final and it´s the first one he conquered. “I think this title is a merit to my hard work and effort. I´ve always thought I had this level and finally I have proven it. Until now I was not entirely happy with my career, I always want more and being better and even here I want more, this only gives me more strength and motivation to continue growing my dreams that are significantly bigger.”

Of Uruguayan father and Spanish mother, de Minaur grew up between Spain and Australia, so his domain of the local language is recognized. “Effort and strength,” he described about his winning week at the Acapulco Open 500.

De Minaur achieves glory in Acapulco

  • The Australian won the seventh title of his career and as of Monday he will be ranked number 18 in the world.

Acapulco, March 4th – Australian Alex de Minaur beats American Tommy Paul 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to become the new champion of the XXX edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC in just 2 hours and 27 minutes.

The Australian came from behind to win the title. Paul clearly dominated, especially during the first set. The American’s plan to shorten the points and get on the net surprised De Minaur and started to deliver results.

Alex understood that he had to be more aggressive to make another comeback. Although Paul also remained solid, De Minaur was looking to force more and more errors from the American. The reward came with his first break of the night.

Tommy did not give up and managed to break immediately to continue with the possibility of closing the match in two sets. To his misfortune, he lost his serve again in one of the most critical points, when he was serving to tie the match at five.

De Minaur took the second set and from there on it was almost non-stop to victory. Paul couldn´t recover from the emotional blow of losing the second set and showed a very different version for the final set.

Alex came close to sealing the victory with a 6-0 lead in the third set, but Tommy Paul managed to get on the board down the stretch. When he had the opportunity to serve for the championship, De Minaur didn’t hesitate. At 40-15, a hooked forehand from the American made him the champion.

De Minaur won the seventh title of his career and the first of this 2023. With this award, the Australian adds his third consecutive season harvesting a trophy, after the championships in Eastbourne and Antalya in 2021 and Atlanta in 2022, while in 2019 he won the titles in Sydney, Atlanta and Zhuhai.

Austrians Erler and Miedler, doubles champions

  • The winners lifted their third career title.

Acapulco, March 4 – Austrians Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler closed a dream week at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC and after eliminating the top seeds in the semifinals won the doubles title.

Erler and Miedler beat Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 7-6(9), 7-6(3).
In the first set the Austrians took a 3-2 lead with a break in the fifth game and then the Americans equalized with a break in the tenth game for 5-5, both defended their serve and reached 6-6 to define in a tiebreak that fell on the Austrians’ side.

The second set was practically a copy of the first with a break in favor of the Americans in the seventh game at 3-4 and for the Austrians at 5-5. Then they came back to define in the tiebreak to win the match and the title.

For Erler and Miedler, 56 and 57 in the doubles rankings, it was their third career title. They previously won in Kitzbuhel in 2021 and Vienna 2022.

The AMT breaks attendance record with more than 90,000 people.

  • The tournament director, Alvaro Falla, said Mextenis has a tournament that responds to the demands of fans with a high level of engagement
  • The tournament received more than 90,000 people for the first time in its history during the eight days of play.

Acapulco, March 4.- The director of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC and CEO of Mextenis, Álvaro Falla, informed that the XXX edition of the tournament received more than 90,000 people for the first time in its history during the eight rounds.

He also considered that the tournament was highly demanding for them as organizers and said that they are committed to bringing the best tennis in the world to Mexico.

In offering a first balance on what happened during the week, in addition to preliminary attendance records, job creation and hotel occupancy left by the AMT, Falla recalled that for Mextenis there are always opportunities for improvement that will be addressed later this year.

“The level of commitment from us and the high demand that the fans have had with us have placed us as one of the sporting events with more editions and of the highest level in Mexico and we know that both will continue to increase,” said Falla at a press conference ahead of the closing of the current edition.

“There were very good things, including the unprecedented final between Tommy Paul and Alex de Minaur, and others that leave us a lot of learning,” added the Colombian, who regretted the casualties of star players, but at the same time exalted those who ended up being protagonists.

“Although we had casualties, Tsitsipas, Alcaraz and Norrie, we highlight the attendances and applaud the dedication of all the players who came to the tournament, including Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz, Holger Rune, Frances Tiafoe and our finalists Tommy Paul and Alex de Minaur,” he said.

The AMT director remarked that Mexico has the best tennis tournament in Latin America thanks in large part to its new facilities at the GNP Seguros Arena, with a stadium with a capacity for more than 10,000 people. Unlike the 2022 edition, when the venue was inaugurated for the first time and received the public for only six days, this year it opened its doors for eight sessions.

It also generated 1,300 direct jobs and almost 4,000 indirect jobs, and its celebration boosted the occupancy of 5,000 rooms in eight different hotels.

“The AMT is driven by the players, the public and the workers,” said Falla, who also highlighted the media and television coverage, which, he said, will be better than last year’s with more hours of transmission and more viewers.

The tournament director pointed out that the AMT has room for improvement “on which we will focus and work to offer a better edition in 2024”.

He recalled that the 2023 goal for Mextenis is to increase the number of tournaments organized by the company and therefore announced the celebration of the ATP Challenger of Leon, Guanajuato, which will be held from April 10 to 16, 2023.

Tommy Paul seeks the title anda win mexican fans

  • The American is in the final of the XXX edition of the tournament, but confesses he doesn’t feel favorite.

Acapulco, March 4th.- After playing the longest match in the Open history , the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC.

Tommy Paul, who defeated his friend and compatriot Taylor Fritz in 3 hrs 25 minutes, said he feels ready for the final, although he doesn’t believe he has won over Mexican hearts yet.

“I feel great, I couldn’t feel any better, I feel perfect. The match was tough, the muscle cramps started at the beginning of the third set, I think people didn’t like me very much, I don’t know why? that wasn’t much fun, I was cramping and people were yelling at me.”

“I don’t know, it’s weird. I think people didn’t like it or understand. You definitely get stopped at the hotel a lot and it’s good to see how excited people are for all the players. I’d rather have a full stadium supporting someone else than have 200 supporting me. It was a crazy match, but I go into every match feeling like I can win, I’m just going to recover today and rest,” he said at a press conference after his win.

Tommy Paul, 25, will enter the Top 20 of the ATP rankings as of next Monday thanks to playing his first final of a 500-category tournament, the second of his career after conquering Stockholm in 2021.

De Minaur reaches another final

  • The Australian eliminates Holger Rune to reach the title match. His opponent presented physical problems from the second forward.

Acapulco, March 4th – The Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC had a surprise in store on the second to last day of the XXX edition. While the ranking said that Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune could face each other in the final, Tommy Paul and Alex De Minaur each giving the surprise in the semifinals by reaching the final match.

The Australian came into the match against Rune without loosing a set in the whole tournament. De Minaur faced his toughest test so far and although the match did not start in the best way, he managed the comeback to get the ticket to the final and his first victory over Holger.

Rune took the first set after showing a great level, as he had done during the tournament. With his serve he had very few faults and soon took a 6-3 lead to dream about the final.

However, Alex remained competitive and saved several break points to hold on to the second set. Rune’s physical problems began to appear and so did the errors, which cost the Dane the possibility of closing the match in straight sets, allowing the Australian to even the scores.

De Minaur took advantage of his opponent’s vulnerability and quickly took a 3-0 lead in the final set. Rune’s level dropped along with his physicality. Holger refused to back down, but it became increasingly difficult for him to keep  the pace of his opponent. Alex closed out the match with a final score of 3-6, 7-5 and 6-2.

“I’m very happy because it was a very big effort and there is one more match left, so I´ll try to enjoy and play the best tennis possible. It will be a completely new day and I’m ready for the final battle. The support of the fans here in Acapulco is something incredible. Staying until 3 o’clock in the morning”, shared De Minaur after getting the win, knowing what awaits him in the final.

Paul beats Fritz in a historic match to advance to AMT final

  • The duel between the Americans became the longest in tournament history; 
  • Tommy Paul reaches his first ATP 500 final of his career

Acapulco, March 3rd – Americans Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz engaged in a hard match that defined one of the finalists of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC and will go down in history. 

Both took to the court to fight for the pass and gave their best, despite all the cramps and vomiting, respectively, due to the high physical demand of the match. In the end, Tommy seemed to be better prepared and came out with an upper hand.

From the begining it seemed that Fritz was not as sharp as in his previous two matches. On the contrary, Paul maintained the pace that took him to the semifinals and managed to take a 6-3 lead in the first set.

Fritz broke first in the second set, but lost the lead in the next game. Tommy broke it again and put himself in a position to serve for the win, even missing a match point with a smash into the back of the court. Taylor recovered the break and ended up taking the set in the tiebreak by 7-6(2). 

In the final set, Fritz, ranked number five in the world, went ahead first, but Paul came from behind to regain the break. Tommy even had a couple more match points over Fritz’s serve, but Taylor stayed alive.

Shortly before the third set tiebreak, Fritz began vomiting as a result of fatigue. After that he was never the same and in the tiebreak he was clearly outplayed by Paul, who overcame muscle cramps to take advantage of his opponent’s fitness and signed for the final 7-6 (2).

A duel between Americans looked to be an even match, so much so that it became the longest in tournament history. When Tommy Paul clinched his fourth match point, the clock had overpass 3 hours and 25 minutes, eclipsing the match between Stefan Kozlov and Grigor Dimitrov in 2022, which lasted 3 hours and 21 minutes.

Austria vs. USA in the doubles final

  • The winners will receive 500 points and the finalists 300.

Acapulco, March 3rd – On the fifth and second to last day of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC, the pairs that will dispute the final in the doubles tournament were defined.

The duo formed by Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler, both from Austria, were the surprise pair in the AMT doubles final after beating the top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, from the Netherlands, 6-4, 4-6, 10-4.

The Austrians will face Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow of the United States in the final, who defeated Sweden’s Andre Goransson and Japan’s Ben McLachlan 5-7, 7-6(2), 13-11.

The four seeded couples fell back and now there will be a new champion couple in Acapulco. In addition to the trophy, the winners will receive 500 points and 123,710 dollars and the runners-up 300 points and $65,980 dollars.

Holger Rune: “I enjoy playing in Mexico”.

  • The Dane made it to the semifinals after beating Berrettini.
  • He shared the importance of staying focused to try to reach the final.

Acapulco, March 3.- The lower part of the main draw suffered surprise exits, both the elimination of Casper Ruud and the retirement of Matteo Berrettini. However, Holger Rune raises his hand as the main favorite for the title in that section. For the Dane, the crowd has been a factor, as has his concentration.

“I think the fans are amazing, they have shown me a lot of support at times, they have great energy. I really enjoy playing in Mexico,” Rune recalls about his first participation in a professional tournament in our country.

Regarding what he might encounter with De Minaur, Holger remembers the times he has had to face him and the complex challenge that the Australian means. He recognizes that he will have to be focused to have a chance of taking the match.

“I expect a tough match. Alex always offers tough matches. I played against him twice last year, it was very tough. I have to be 100%, be sharp, take the things I did well today for tomorrow and go for it, that’s what I did today,” Rune said.

“At the moment I take one match at a time. I try to focus on tomorrow’s match. I don’t even remember who are in the other semifinal, so I just focus on Alex tomorrow. I have to be 100% focused on my thing, go out and have fun,” expressed the Dane.

Beyond Matteo’s withdrawal on Thursday night, Holger highlights the good level he showed against one of the toughest opponents of the tournament. He then commented that he will need to be just as focused for his semifinal match.

“I was feeling very good. I think I was playing very disciplined, very solid, I was sticking to the tactic almost every point. Very happy with how I handled the situation. Naturally wish Berrettini the best, it’s never good to end a match like that but if I look at it from my side I played a very solid match,” Holger explained.

Rune dominates and advances to semis

  • The Dane had taken the first set 6-0 and was up 1-0 in the second set when Berrettini retired due to an injury with a right calf problem.

Acapulco, March 2nd – The match that many expected had an unfortunate outcome. Holger Rune made it to the semifinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC after a great performance and the withdrawal of Matteo Berrettini.

The Italian had shown a great game in his previous matches, but from the beginning of the match against Rune he looked different. Matteo did not have the same mobility or acceleration in his shots. He struggled to compete.

On the other hand, Rune was close to perfection. His serves were sharp and his return was accurate. He moved well from the back of the court and managed to neutralize Berrettini.

The match had to be suspended due to a light drizzle when Rune was leading 4-0. Shortly before the break, Matteo requested the presence of the physio for a problem in his right calf, but the call could not materialize due to the arrival of some scattered rains.

When the action resumed, Berrettini had complications to compete both with his serve and return. After Rune had started 1-0 in the second set, the Italian decided to retire from the match.

Thus Holger Rune advanced to the semifinals of the tournament, where he will face Alex De Minaur for a place in the title match.

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