Acapulco, Gro., February 24, 2020.- Alexander Zverev, John Isner, Sloane Stephens, and the mexican Renata Zarazua are ready to compete in the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Telcel, presentado por HSBC. But this morning they gave themselves time to interact and exchange strokes on the tennis field known as La Concha en las Brisas, to start the symbolic “first serve”.

Raul Zurutuza, director of the event, accompanied by Ernesto Rodriguez Escalona (secretary of Guerrero’s Tourism), welcomed the players and thanked them for their presence.

“It’s a great tournament in an absolutely amazing place, it’s fun to be here, all the players and I enjoy our time here. You can truly enjoy spending time here; this year I came with my family”, Isner commented, who is playing for the sixth time in Acapulco, where last year he made it to the semifinals.

Zverev shared Isner’s opinion, “I’ve always said that the mexican fans are very passionate”, Sascha added while Renata Zarazua spoke of the importance of the mexican players to take advantage of tournaments of this level, “this is an opportunity for all mexicans, it is very important and we have to take advantage of this experience”.

The mexican got a wild card from the organization to compete in both singles and doubles alongside Marcela Zacarias. In singles, she will play in the first round with Sloane Stephens, who right now is the top ranked player in the tournament.

The tennis players hit the balls for a few minutes and receive some presents from the organization, after which they left to continue their training and then to get ready for their debut in the twenty-seventh editions of the tournament, which also celebrates 20 years of the incorporation of the feminine contest.

Acapulco, Gro., February 23, 2020. – As it is already a tradition, the great stars of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, presentado por HSBC, they delighted the children who were present at the Kids Day, the main event of the day was the training session between two  favorite players who which was open to the public : the former champions Rafael Nadal and Gringor Dimitrov.

All of the young fans were able to interact with Nickelodeon’s characters in the Mextenis Stadium, were idols like last year’s champions, the australian Nick Kyrgios and the chinese Yafan Wang, attended.

A wild variety of activities were carried out, among the most attractive was the rotation of strokes with kids against players like Kyrgios himself, the bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the spaniard Feliciano Lopez, the serbian Dusan Lajovic, the slovakian Tamara Zidansek and the american Lauren Davis.

At the mixed doubles game, the mexican Santiago Gonzalez accompanied by the czech Marie Bouzkova, who took victory winning 15 points against the team integrated by the british Ken Skupiski and the chinese Yafan Wang, all of them making fantasy shots.

Later, another group of children formed 3 teams to compete for prizes, this was led by the american Sloane Stephens, who is the number one seed of the women’s tournament, the british Katie Boulter and the german Alexander Zverev. After a round robin, the so-called “Stephens Team” achived the victory and got the applause and recognition of the attendees.

Finally, at the end of the day, the spaniard Rafael Nadal and the bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov were greeted with a standing ovation as they entered the stadium for their last open training session before the start of the event.

The Kids Day represents a great opportunity for the kids to have a meet & greet, and autograph, or even the famous selfie with their favorite tennis players, who are the ones that motivate them so in the future they can become greats champions of the sport.

Acapulco, Gro., February 23, 2020.- Luis David Martinez and Miguel Angel Reyes Varela were willing to grab the ticket that was at stake in the doubles game qualify tournament, at the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Telcel presentado por HSBC, but this time was not possible.

The mexican and the venezuelan were defeated by the US duo: Nicholas Monroe and Jackson Withrow, by the score of 6-3 and 6-4 after just over an hour of play.

Monroe and Withrow will be the Zverev brothers’ rivals (Alexander and Mischa) in the first round of the main draw of the doubles tournament. The germans are the defending champions of the tournament.

Reyes-Varela (accompanied by Martinez) was Mexico’s hope to have more representatives in the event, which in doubles they count with Santiago Gonzalez, who will pair with the british Ken Skupski.

In the singles category, Gerardo Lopez Villasenor entered the event thanks to a wild card.

In the other results of the qualifying round, the bosnian Damir Dzumhur got a place in the main draw after his triumph against the australian Alex Bolt, by 6-7 (5), 6-3, and 6-5.

Tommy Paul, from the United States, also won his place by beating Daniel Elahi Galan, from Colombia, by a 6-4 double.

Jason Jung, from Taipei, beat Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-1 and 6-3, and Marcos Giron, from the United States, beat Taro Daniel, from Japan, 6-4, 5-7, and 6-1.

In the women’s tournaments, young Leylah Fernandez, from Canada, won her ticket to the main draw with a 6-3 and 6-3 victory against Varvara Lepchenko from the United States.

The paraguayan Veronica Cepede Royg will also be in the main draw, after eliminating the slovenian Kaja Juvan by 6-2 and 6-3, while Caroline Dolehide beat Giulia Gatto-Monticone by 6-1 and 7-6 (6).

Also, Sara Errani, former champion in Acapulco in 2012 and 2013, achieved her place to the main draw with a victory against the american Nicole Gibbs by 6-3 and 6-0; Usue Maitane Arconada defeated Francesca di Lorenzo by 6-3 and 6-3, and the Chinese Xiju Wang won the duel against the ukranian Anhelina Kalinina by 7-6 (0) and 7-5.

Acapulco, Gro., February 23, 2020. – To speak of Stan Wawrinka is to refer to a man with a huge talent, possessor of an excellent backhand and one of the few privileged players that has managed to conquer three Grand Slam titles at the era of the “Big Four”.

The swiss crowned his effort and perseverance when in 2014 he raised his first trophy, at the Australian Open. With this achievement Wawrinka broke the hegemony that Roger Federer (2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017, 2018), Novak Djokovic (2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020) and Rafael Nadal (2009) maintained in the Australian contest since 2004. The other was Marat Safin in 2005.
In 2015 he conquered Rafael Nadal’s kingdom when he became the champion in Roland Garros, and the following year owned the title at the US Open.
Altogether he accumulated 16 trophies from the ATP circuit, the most recent in Genoa, in 2017, the year in which he had to undergo a knee surgery, after which his results were not the same, that led him to drop to 263 of the world ranking in 2018.
But after 2 years, he’s back in the top 20, ready to play like he did at his heyday.
“I feel good, I came to this tournament ahead of time and I think this might be a good year. I was already in Doha and Australia, this is going to be a long year and I have to be in a lot of tournaments, but overall, I feel good about this”, Stan commented, prior to his participation in the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Telcel, presentado por HSBC.
From his point of view, one of the reasons why he gradually returns to his level is because he still enjoys a lot what he does. “To maintain yourself you need the right team, focus on the right things, on what you are doing. It’s been several years now on this, the tour trips, but I’m happy to keep playing at this level and keep pushing it forward”.
From afar, Stan The Man values what he has achieved so far, “I have achieved more than I would have thought when I was young; I already have some achievements, but I want to do so much more”, he says.
As of right now, his greatest desire is to win a tournament again, at any level, “because the feeling of raising a trophy is something special”.
It is fundamental do not loose motivation, so if today’s Stan could say something to kid Stan it would be “always love what you do, keep dreaming”.
Wawrinka describes himself as a nice guy; his favorite social network is Instagram and his favorite song is Where the Streets Have No Name, from U2.
As for his debut in the tournament in Acapulco, against Frances Tiafoe, he expects a complicated match “he is a player with great potential, I played against him in Basel (2019) and it was difficult. Now the conditions are different, but it’ll be important to know how I’m doing”.
Until that time comes, he is preparing himself and enjoys what might be a perfect day for him: sun, sea, sand and one of his favorite tournaments.

Acapulco, Gro., 22th of february 2020.- Luis David Martínez and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela
took the first step in the search for a ticket for the main draw of the doubles tournament at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, presentado por HSBC. The mexican duo stood their ground and in three sets surpassed Radu Albot and Austin Krajicek. Micky and Luis David gave hope to the national cause, which did not run with luck in the singles classification contest. The mexicans seized the first set 6-4, but Albot and Krajicek matched them by taking the second 6-2 and in the super tie break the mexicans had to come from behind to win the super tie break by 15-13.
It was an hour and a half of hard-fought encounter. Reyes-Varela and Martínez never lost faith. Because although in the super tie break they were down 5-1, they managed to match the score and turn the adversity around. The locals won 76 percent of the points played with the first service.
Regardless that it was already early Sunday morning, fans remained on the stands of court 2 to support their players. That energy help them to stay alive and now they will have to fight for the pass to the main draw before the couple composed of the american Nicholas Monroe and Jackson Withrow, who in the other duel left out the mexican Hans Hach Verdugo and his partner Robert Galloway , with partials of 3-6, 6-4 and 10-7.
Monroe and Withrow secure their pass when they achieved a 7-2 lead in the super tie break, which proved unattainable for Hach and Galloway.

Lucas Gomez, Alejandro Hernandez, Fernanda Contreras and Maria Portillo say
good bye to the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

Acapulco, Gro., 22th of february 2020.-
Despite coming from behind to win the first set, the Mexican Lucas Gomez was eliminated from the qualifying phase of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, after falling in three sets against the Colombian Daniel Elahi Galán, eighth seed, in the match played in the Grand Stand Caliente.
A very even match in the first set that was defined with three games won consecutively by the Mexican who was down 4-5, including a break in the service of the South American. During the break, Lucas requested medical assistance for some physical problems. Despite the discomforts, Gomez began breaking the second set, but could not keep up and the rest of the game and was overcome; the second went to Galan 6-1.
With considerable problems, Lucas Gomez remained on the court to play the third set, but the Colombian took advantage of the circumstances and was clearly better to prevail 6-2 in the final.
The second mexican who went into action was Alejandro Hernandez, who fought well in the first set, but in the end he was defeated by Marcos Giron of the United States, 113 of the ATP, who imposed his greatest hierarchy with partials of 7-5 and 6- 1, in two hours of play, leaving the men’s qualification draw without national presence.
In the women’s draw there was also no luck for the two mexican representatives who participated via wild card. Experienced american Nicole Gibbs, had no trouble defeating Fernanda Contreras, player of the mexican team in the Federation Cup, which she defeated by a categorical 6-2 and 6-3.
Meanwhile, Maria Portillo Ramirez, could not offer much resistance against the Italian Francesca Di Lorenzo, who took the victory and the pass to the second round of the tournament, with a 6-3 and 6-1 victory.
RESULTS
Men, Round 1 Singles Qualy
Damir Dzumhur (BIH) 6-1, 6-4 Joao Menezes (BRA)
Alex Bolt (AUS) 7-6 (2), 4-6, 7-6 (7) Sebastian Ofner (AUT)
Daniel Haltmaier (ALE) 6-3, 6-2 Ryan Harrison (USA)
Tommy Paul (USA) 7-6 (7), 1-0, Ret. Danilo Petrovic (SRB)
Jason Jung (TPE) 6-2, 6-2 Steven Diez (CAN)
Taro Daniel (JAP) 6-3, 4-3, ret. Max Purcell (AUS)

Women, Round 1 Singles Qualy
Kaja Juvan (SLO) 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) Nadia Podoroska (ARG)
Giulia Gatto-Monticone (ITA) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 Astra Sharma (AUS)
Caroline Dolehide (USA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 Martina Trevisan (ITA)
Leylah Fernández (CAN) 6-3, 6-1 Lizette Cabrera (AUS)
Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 7-5, 6-4 Allie Kiick (USA)
Verónica Cepede Royg (PAR) 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-1 Laura Arruabarrena (ESP)
Sara Errani (ITA) 6-1, 6-2 Stefanie Voegele (SUI)
Anhelina Kalinina (UCR) 6-3, 6-1 Kristina Kucova (SVK)
Xiyu Wang (CHIN) 6-3, 6-4 Mayo Hibi (JAP)

Acapulco, Gro., February 22, 2020. – Rafael Nadal is the idol everyone wants to see. His presence captivates everyone, even when it comes to training.

Tonight the Mallorcan trained in the stadium Mextenis with Stan Wawrinka as his rival and summoned hundreds of followers, who remained faithful for more than two hours watching the players.

Rafa is getting ready for his debut at the Abierto Mexicano de Mextenis Telcel, presentado por HSBC and thrills with his strokes.

Wawrinka showed several shots with that exquisite one handed backhand that has earned him so much praise by Nadal, still a little bit imprecise on his ground strokes, exchanges thoughts with Carlos Moya, his coach.

The spaniard, ranked #1 at the tournament, he looked serious; the swiss on the other hand looked more loosen, who even asked to be recognized after a winning-shot that raised exclamations.

On the stands you could hear the voices encouraging each other when they failed, or the applause when they disputed a good point.

In the end, both gave themselves time to please the fans, thirsty for an autograph, who swirled in the boxes to be one of the lucky ones to capture the precious memory.

Acapulco, Gro., February 22, 2020. – Grupo Mextenis explores new horizons for its commitment to tennis. It is not enough to organize the best tournament in Latin America, now seeks to venture into the development of this sport; and the first step is to offer a seminar called the “Tennis Talks”, which will be held within the framework of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, presentado por HSBC, on Friday 28th and with the participation of players and former players such as Carlos Moya, David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez.

“We wanted to start getting involved with parents, although we are not a company dedicated to the development of tennis, we believe we can contribute important things, as a tournament we have the tools, and the good relationships we have with the players allow us to “steal” these minutes, dedicated to a project that has already started and hopefully the answer will be good and the public will come, because there are few opportunities to ask Carlos Moya or David Ferrer”, explained Raul Zurutuza, director of the tournament.
One of the reasons for this new challenge is that next year the tournament will open a new house, whose larger dimensions will allow for more full-time work on tennis and its development.
As for the new complex, called Arena Mia, Zurutuza admitted that there is a mixture of nostalgia and emotion for moving. “There are 20 years here, the first great anecdote of the tournaments was that it began to pour rain one Friday in 2001, it was the first big challenge for Mextenis as a company, because we had to keep going; at that time they were clay courts and it was more difficult to dry them. In that sense it causes a bit of nostalgia, but very motivated because it is always exciting moving to a brand new home, it will be worthwhile”.

Another challenge that goes hand in hand with the premiere of the new building is to spread in the new generations the seed of love for tennis, “this sport has this very important challenge worldwide, there is a clear decrease of people playing tennis in countries where tennis is not top three or four; but in nations like ours, where this sport is suffering, we need to get more involved, we no longer need to have two major tournaments (Acapulco and Los Cabos), now we have to deal with the “bull” that is development and contribute our bit of sand to it”, he concluded.

The mexican Renata Zarazua will face the number one seed

Acapulco, Gro., February 22, 2020.- The spaniard Rafael Nadal, the man to beat in the 27th edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, presentado por HSBC, and the main attraction of the event, will begin the search of his third title in Acapulco before his countryman Pablo Andujar, 52 ATP, according to the main draw presentation celebrated this Saturday in the Atlantes Hall of the Princess Imperial World.

Nadal who comes to the tournament as the number 2 player in the world’s ranking, has three victories in equal number of matches with Andujar, who was last faced six seasons ago in the tournament in Rio de Janeiro.

Meanwhile, the reigning champion of the Abierto Mexicano, Nick Kyrgios of Australia, who arrives at the event in 21st place in the standings, will begin the defense of the crown, against the young Frenchman Ugo Humbert (44), with whom he will face for the first time.

Among the most attractive matches of the first round, will be staged by the Swiss veteran Stanislas Wawrinka, third seed, against the American Frances Tiafoe, while the German Alexander Zverev, second seed, will have as rival the Australian Jordan Thompson.

The mexican player Gerardo Lopez Villasenor, who is one of the beneficiaries of the three wild cards awarded by the organizing committee, will have to wait for the qualifying phase to meet his rival against whom he will debut in the main draw.

On the other hand, Alex De Minaur, who was present in the draw as representative of the ATP players, will have as rival one of the young promises of the circuit, the 20 year old Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, who defeated in the Next Gen ATP Finals in Italy at the end of 2019.

In the women’s tournament, where the WTA celebrates its 20th anniversary in Guerrero, without a doubt the most expectant encounter will be the one faced by the number one seed, Sloane Stephens of the United States, against the mexican Renata Zarazua, who entered the event by invitation.

Stephens, 26 years old, ranked 34th WTA, she will fight to raise her second crown at the Mexican Open as she did in 2016. The 2017 US Open champion has a total of six WTA professional titles on her list.

Her rival, Renata Zarazua, already knows what it’s like to win a match in the Abierto Mexicano, a couple of years ago she beat Czech Krystina Pliskova in the first round, so she will seek to be one of the favorites for local fans.

Meanwhile, the legendary Venus Williams, who returns to decorate the event for the two decades of women at the Abierto Mexicano, where she was crowned a couple of times in 2009 and 2010, expects rival who will come out of the qualification phase.

While Christina McHale, also from the United States, and the player representing the WTA during the drawing ceremony, will debut against her countrywoman Lauren Davis in the first round of the main draw.

The first round matches in both main draws will begin next Monday at 16:00 in the different courts of the Princess Imperial World Tennis Complex.

With more than 40 children from DIF Acapulco and local audience, Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, started the activities in Acapulco with a waterski show in
Paseo del Pescador.

Representing ocean figures and symbols, the New Generation Academy caught the attention of the families gathered at the pier during Friday afternoon, before the start of the tournament activities.

After the water acrobatics, the AMT continued with a small practice with the kids of the audience that had the opportunity to play with the Mexican players Renata Zarazúa, Fernanda Contreras, Lucas Gómez and Alejandro Hernández.

“We are happy because we turn 20 years since we took the right choice and we moved the tournament to the beautiful Acapulco, for us it’s a pleasure to share these moments with families from Acapulco”, said Raúl Zurutuza. “Every year we find new activities to involve the audience not only with the tournament but also with the tennis players”.

On her behalf, Renata Burillo, said: “We are very happy and thankful because we are always welcome and support, we hope to maintain the tournament here for many years in the future”

The Mayor of Acapulco, Adela Roman Ocampo said to the public “ Today Mextenis moved from Diamante to the traditional Acapulco so the people could feel close to the event and interact with young Mexican athletes, they ar4e the role models we want the new generations to follow”, she also thanked the CEO of the tournament, the Mextenis administration president and the players that shared the afternoon with the public.

It was also present in the event the tourism secretary of Acapulco, Jose Luis Castillo, who also shares the importance to promote the sports.