Acapulco, Gro., February 23rd .- Rafael Nadal will have his debut at Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Telcel presented by HSBC, against the german Mischa Zverev, like it happened in 2017, Mischa has a 2- 0 record.

Nadal, the greatest favorite, after last year’s withdrawal is looking forward to his first match. The Spaniard is seeking his third title after 2005 and 2013.

Alexander Zverev, second seeded, will face a player from the qualy, as well as Stan Wawrinka, who is back in Acapulco after six years. In 2013 he fell in the first round but a year earlier he got to semifinals.

The Mexican Gerardo López Villaseñor (WC) will face in the first round the American Steve Johnson, and Emilio Nava, Mackenzie McDonald. It is the first tournament in the professional circuit for Nava, who takes it as a great challenge “I feel a little nervous, I know Mackenzie and I know he is a tough opponent,” said Nava.

The Spaniard David Ferrer, will say goodbye to the Mexican fans, will face Tennys Sandgren. Ferrer, the tournament’s four-time champion, will bid farewell this year to tennis, and Acapulco was one of the events he chose to close his brilliant career.

Other face offs in first round, will be; Nick Kyrgios vs. Andreas Seppi, Sam Querrey (2017 champion) vs. Taylor Fritz and Diego Schwartzman vs. Marius Copil.

In the ladies category, the first seeded Sloane Stephens, will face Pauline Parmentier. The second favorite, Danielle Collins will debut against Victoria Azarenka.

The Mexican Renata Zarazúa (WC) will meet the chinese Saisai Zheng, and Monica Puig, will face Maria Sakkari.

Zarazúa, whom in the last edition surprised pleasantly defeating Kristýna Plíšková, is willing to give her best. “I have nothing to lose, I am well prepared, I didn’t play much last year but now I’m better, I know I’m not the favorite because there are many players with a better level, but I feel very proud to represent Mexico, I train to be the best in the country, “said the 21-year-old.

Acapulco, Gro, February 22 nd. – This Saturday, at 4:00 p.m., will start the qualification round at Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC XXVI edition. The one in charge of opening the activity in the Grand Stand Caliente will be the Mexican Guiliana Olmos, number 368 of the world, received one of the wild cards, to face the number one seeded, Irina Khromacheva, number 120 of the WTA ranking. The 23-year-old Russian tennis player arrived to Acapulco as a finalist of the ITF tournament in Launceston, Australia.

The second favorite of the qualis, Ysaline Bonaventure from Belgium, will have her debut against the ukrainian Katarina Zavatska, on court number 4. Meanwhile, the experienced Christina McHale from the United States, will face in the first round the British Katie Swan, on the court 3. It should be remembered that McHale, 26 years of age, was a finalist of the 2014 AMT, when she lost the title match to Dominika Cibulková.

It will be a long day for the Latin American players, led by the Paraguayan Verónica Cepede Royg, fifth seeded, who will face Irina Bara; the Argentine Nadia Podoroska will play against the italian Martina Trevisan (12); the brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia will face the australian Kimberly Birrell (9).

For the rest of the Mexican players, who got wild cards, Victoria Rodriguez, will have as opponent the eighth seeded, Danielle Lao; María Portillo Ramírez will play against the fourth seed, Conny Perrin from Switzerland. Finally, Ana Sofía Sánchez, will face eleventh seed, Kathinka Von Deichmann.

The argentine fell against Mackenzie McDonald in quarter finals at Delray Beach.
– “I’m still not at my 100% and i still need more time to come back at my best shape”, stated Juan Martín.

Acapulco, GRO. – Days after confirming his participation at Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC, the argentine Juan Martín Del Potro, reigning champion, announced his withdraw after falling in quarter finals in Delray Beach against the American Mckenzie McDonald.
McDonald won in 3 ( 6-4, 3-6 and 7-6(5)) in 2 hours 20 minutes match, the american won for the first time against Del Potro, being this his first ATP Tour semifinal.
At the press conference, Del Potro announced his withdraw form the 2019 AMT as a cautious measure.
“It is hard to play like this. I still can’t run, and I’ll have to take a longer break than expected. I really wanted to go to Acapulco and defend my title, but the doctors suggested to be cautious if I want to be back at my previous shape. I appreciate the support from the mexican fans. During the week they made me laugh with Thor video they edited, I was very excited to go back, but my current shape it’s not the best to keep playing. I hope to be back next year, AMT it’s a very important tournament of the Tour”, stated Delpo.

Raul Zurutuza, tournament director, acknowledge the importance of Delpo´s appearance at the main draw of the 2019 AM. “We are truly sorry. He, his team and us were excited to see him play in Acapulco, but the reality is that the injuries are unpredictable, and we have to understand, that in the end, the players are humans. I know that Juan Martín it’s a man that loves the sport and works very hard to regain his shape” affirmed.

The Argentine receives the last wild card and will arrive to Acapulco after his participation in Delray Beach.

It will be the fourth time that Delpo disputes the AMT.

Acapulco, GRO. – The last missing player has confirmed his participation and with him, the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC will have three players of the current Top 4 of the world ranking.

Juan Martin del Potro, 2018 champion of the AMT, has received the last available wild card to join the main draw.

In 2018, Delpo won his first title in Acapulco, after defeating in the way, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson.

After the conquest of the AMT, Del Potro continued his winning streak and defeated Roger Federer to claim the title of Indian Wells, his first Masters 1000.

In the following months, the Argentine played semifinals in Miami Open and Roland Garros, quarterfinals in Wimbledon, as well as the finals of Los Cabos, US Open and Beijing. All these achievements helped him to get in the Top 10 and reach No. 3 on the ATP rankings on August 13^th, the best position of his career.

After the best season of his career, Del Potro suffered a knee injury at the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, which took him away from the courts during the end of the 2018 season and the beginning of the present.

“Juan Martín always had the commitment to return to defend his title in Acapulco. He knows how much he is loved by the public in Mexico and made a great effort in his recovery to play this week in Delray Beach and defend his crown at the AMT”, said Raul Zurutuza.

After confirming that Grigor Dimitrov wasn’t playing, the AMT announced the losses of the South African Kevin Anderson, finalist in 2018; Martin Klizan and Lucas Pouille. All affected by injuries.

“Unfortunately, it is something out of our hands. Anderson, Dimitrov, Pouille and Klizan had great hopes to come, but they must attend their injuries to return to the level. We hope to have them next year”, concluded the director.

Her tears traveled the world when Ilie Nastase, former number one and then captain of his country tennis team, insulted her in a Fed Cup tie between Romania and Great Britain. The violence received left her crying and with a nervous breakdown for almost half an hour before the match ended. She was playing a match against the local Sorana Cirstea. Then he would be expelled.

We are talking about Johanna Konta. Born in Sydney twenty-seven years ago, of Hungarian parents, she became a British citizen in May 2012 and, since then, she represents Great Britain. Alternating her residence in Spain because there lives her coach Esteban Carril.

Among her most important triumphs there are two against Muguruza (one in the US Open), Halep (in Wuhan), Petkovic, Makárova and Wozniacki. But, in 2016, she defeated Venus Williams and Shuai Zhang and reached semifinals of the Australian Open in which until that time was her best performance in Grand Slams (losing to Kerber). The following year she would reach the same instance in the All England.

She is the biggest hope for the British tennis. Because more than four decades have passed since a local won Wimbledon (Virginia Wade lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish in ’77).

She holds three titles in the circuit and three finals. And came to reach the No. 7 in the WTA ranking.

She says that the main reason to play tennis is because she wants to be part of the history, but that she prioritizes her health and her family.

An interesting life wherever you look at it. Another excuse to visit the tournament.

What is it that attracts such a prestigious site as Sports Illustrated to feature as the main character of an edition of the magazine the number 116 in the WTA world ranking?

She is beautiful and brazen. Born in Quebec 25 years ago. With 18 years of age, she won Wimbledon by defeating Elina Svitolina, she became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam in singles (female junior). Two years later she would lose the seniors final against Petra Kvitová.

She never goes unnoticed. Above all, in social media. Like last year where a provocative publication went viral, she was posing next to a sculpture of the torso of a man with the quote: “457 days without sex”.

Then she clarified that it was a joke: “It’s a meme, relax.” But that did not matter to her more than 1.5M followers around the world, that generated countless comments.

In 2014 she had her best year on the circuit: semi-finals of Australian Open and Roland Garros and, finals of Wimbledon. She took the 5^th spot of the WTA rankings.

Now she is provoking from covers of magazines, social media and her life as model. She was out of the top 100 for almost a year, although in the last one she managed to play more than ten tournaments of the circuit (her best outcome was semifinals in Gstaad).

Holding only one title (Nürnberg) achieved, too, five years ago.

In the US Open 2015, a slip in the showers caused a fall with concussion that continues in the courts after having denounced the organization. This episode gave her another media ‘boom’ with exponential results.

Another impact was when “Genie” had an appointment with a fan who made a bet during the Super Bowl in 2017 between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. She was one of the millions of people around the world watching the event. When Atlanta crushed his rival, a follower proposed a curious bet: “Would you have a date with me if the Patriots win?” She accepted. Finally, New England ended up winning the Super Bowl, so she had to keep her promise.

Her weak performance on a tennis court cost her the sponsors, such as Colgate, Aviva (insurance) and Usana (nutrition). Nike no longer designs exclusive models and gives her merchandise related only to her results.

After hiring coaches and advisors like Jimmy Connors, Thomas Hogstedt and Nick Saviano required, in 2016, the services of Gil Reyes, the physical trainer who stayed with André Agassi throughout his professional life.

But, only last year, she tried four successive coaches.

His last virtual “madness” was celebrating last Christmas with a family mannequin challenge, directed by Beatrice, her twin sister.

It’s about Eugenie Bouchard. And she will participate in Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Telcel presented by HSBC. Will Acapulco be the place where Genie will shine once again under the spothlights of the tennis elite?

The issue has been debated for the past few years, but if it continues like this, Novak Djokovic will be able to raise his hand alone as the greatest. On Sunday night, the 31-year-old Serbian showed his extraordinary come back by winning the Australian Open for the seventh time after defeating Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2 and 6-3.

Nadal´s 25^th Grand Slam made believe his fans that finally he would have the opportunity to end the negative streak of seven consecutive losses against Djokovic on hard court. However, what happened in episode 53 of the greatest rivalry of the Open Era, favor only one side.

Of the seven finals he has played in the Rod Laver Arena, it can be said that this was the most comfortable victory of his record in Melbourne, only losing eight games. So far, the best outcome in the first Grand Slam of the year, was the 2011 final against Andy Murray, when he lost nine games.

Nadal, on the other side, suffered the biggest loss in a Grand Slam final and his first fall in straight sets. The record of this rivalry is 28- 25 in favor of the Serbian. Nadal has not beaten the Serbian on a hard court since the 2013 final of the US Open.

After sharing for a year the record for most Australian Open titles with Roy Emerson and Roger Federer, Djokovic now takes the lead in solo, while his 15 ‘majors’ place him two from Nadal and five from Federer. This victory also breaks the tie he had with the idol of his childhood, Pete Sampras, whose 14 Grand Slam titles were the record number of men’s tennis, until Federer imposed his marks.

Passing the 30-year-old mark, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have won 9 of the last Grand

Djokovic, the youngest with 31 years of age, looks more driven that ever, which makes us wonder, how long will it take for the Serbian to take Roger’s title of the GOAT?

When Novak won Roland-Garros three years ago, he became the first player in 47 years to get all four Grand Slam titles at once. With the victories in Wimbledon, US Open and now the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic will start as the main favorite in the tournament where Rafael Nadal is absolute king.

If he repeats what happened in Paris, he will do everything in his power to avoid what happened in 2016: it took seven Grand Slam for him to raise a trophy again (Wimbledon, 2018).

However, with the level that he has demonstrate, it is difficult that this will happen again.

When it was his turn to speak at the ceremony and after receiving his trophy from the Ivan Lendl, Emilio Nava gave a big smile and started his speech with a simple “Wow!”. If not for the still projected score of the final of the junior category of the Australian Open, one would have thought that Nava had just won the title.

Despite the defeat against the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (4-6, 6-3, 7-6 [12]), the American with Mexican origins was happy for what just happened.

A day earlier, Nava also lost the doubles final, but that did not diminish his good mood. “It means the whole world to come to this stadium, Rod Laver, and play. Thank you very much”, he said. “I hope I can come back. Thank you!”.

To understand the reason of his good mood in the face of defeat, we must know its origin, which began in Mexico. His grandfather, Ernesto Escobedo, fell in love with tennis after attending a Davis Cup match in Los Angeles. After moving all his family to Jerez, Zacatecas, Don Ernesto built a tennis court in the patio of his house.

Xóchitl Nava, mother of Emilio, recognizes that the court, built by his father, had its own limitations, but at the same time offered his son an opportunity.

“It was so tight, that on one side of the court we could not hit the neither forehand nor backhand. It was a tennis court, but for many it was a playground where you could hit the tennis balls just for fun”, Xochitl told the journalist Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times.

Completely in love whit the white sport, Mr. Ernesto Escobedo transmitted his passion to his 10 children. “As we grew, each one took different paths, but we always played tennis,” Xóchitl Nava stated.

Thanks to her training started in the court built by her father, Xóchitl Escobedo became the best national women player, No. 284 in the world ranking and Mexican representative in the Olympic Games in Seoul 1988. Her husband, Eduardo Nava, was a track athlete and competed in the 1988 and Barcelona 1992 Olympics.

This has already been passed to the new generation of the Escobedo family: Ernesto Escobedo, nephew of Xóchitl, reached No. 68 in 2017; Eduardo, his eldest son, plays in Wake Forest and is a national champion in the United States; Diego, his second son, plays in Los Angeles, and Emilio, the youngest, has played two Grand Slam finals in the junior category.

Emilio Nava took his big first step when he reached the final of the prestigious Eddie Herr tournament in 2018. “It’s all, seriously, tennis is everything,” says Emilio, 17. “Especially when you train every day, tennis becomes a lifestyle, you know? Every time you think about it, it becomes something: you try to relax a bit, but it’s still there”.

With his family and home in California Emilio divides his time between California and Alicante, where he trains in Juan Carlos Ferrero’s academy.  When he is in California, he trains across the Street at his cousin Jaime’s back yard.

“In Alicante Ferrero gives me advise. I still haven’t trained with him directly”, Emilio said.

Para encontrar el espíritu competitivo que sus padres y hermanos mayores le implantaron, Emilio no tiene que ir muy lejos. “Crecí en una familia competitiva y atlética”, admite. “Mis dos hermanos crecieron jugando al tenis, siendo los más jóvenes los admiraba. Quería ser como ellos y quería que me prestaran atención. Me encanta el tenis y la adrenalina y los desafíos que vienen con él”.

To find the competitive spirit that runs in his family Emilio does not have to go far. “I grew up in a competitive and athletic family,” he admits. “My two brothers grew up playing tennis, being the youngest I admired them. I wanted to be like them, and I wanted them to pay attention to me. I love tennis and adrenaline and the challenges that come with it. “

The French, semifinalist of the Australian Open, will be playing in Acapulco for the first time.

Mexico City. – A few days after announcing the list of players that will be part of Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC, the name of a new guest that will play in Acapulco, was released.

Lucas Pouille, 24 years of age and currently number 31 in the ATP Tour ranking, has been confirmed by the organization as the second guest by wildcard to the most important tennis tournament in Latin America.

Currently competing in the Australian Open and a few hours before the semifinals against the Serbian Novak Djokovic, the name of Pouille was included to the list of players that will be in Acapulco, the tournament will have the presence of seven Top 20 players. Subject to his result in Melbourne, Pouille has a spot on the Top 20 guaranteed starting next Monday.

Winner of five ATP titles (Montpellier, Vienna, Stuttgart this year, Budapest in 2017, and Metz in 2016), the Grande-Synthe native, in 2017, became in the only player to obtain a title in three different surfaces and the fifth French to be Top 10.

Among his outstanding performances, including the current one in Australia, Pouille includes a victory over Rafael Nadal in five sets at the 2016 US Open (only victory against a Top 5), a semifinals at the Masters 1000 in Rome starting as “Lucky loser” (second tennis player to achieve it since Thomas Johansson in 2004), and a victory over Steve Darcis in the decisive match of the 2017 Davis Cup final to give the victory to France after 16 years.

“The presence of Lucas Pouille, a player with a lot of talent that earned him, a few years ago the award as the player with the most improvement in the circuit [2016], will strengthen the picture we will present this year,” said Raúl Zurutuza, director of the AMT. “Throughout this week in Australia, Lucas has shown that his tennis is at the height of the largest and it will be a luxury to have it for the first time in Acapulco.”

Pouille is currently been trained by Amelie Mauresemo, former no.1 in the world.

This way, Pouille joins the Spanish David Ferrer as the wild cards that will play in Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC.

Another attraction of Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC will be Nick Kyrgios. The Australian, born in Canberra, like all high performance athletes, has biographical aspects to review.

The obvious: he uses a cool hair style, he has earrings and wears jewelry. The accessories on his outfits are tribal due to his origins (his mother is from Malaysia and his father from Greece). He always uses a necklace with a crucifix and a lucky charm his mother gave him. He sometimes listens to his music during the side changes.

What he can’t keep to himself is that, as a kid, he wanted to play any sports but tennis, where he started as a ball boy to his brother Christos, whom is a lawyer.

When he was 14 years of age he alternated between tennis and basketball. But he had to choose, due to the pressure from his parents. Therefore, he admits, he prefers to play basketball over tennis. Such is the suffering, that when he finishes his training, he asked himself why he plays.

Any mortal would have already quit, either getting sick of it or because everyone else was better. But he wasn’t that lucky. At the age of 18, he ended the year as no. 1 in Juniors. The next year he left Rafa out of Wimbledon when he led the world rankings, he was the first player out of the top 100 who defeated the number 1 in more than two decades.

His first extravaganza was in 2015 against Gasquet, when nick returns the ball right to the net, the French public wasn’t happy with the act and they started “booing” the Australian. In the next service, he moved to the opposite side of the ball direction, and “gave” him an ace. Later he said that his goal was to end the match as soon as possible.

After this game the commotion was overwhelming. The press launched countless headlines expressing any type of hypothesis: “cavalier”, “lazy”, “rebel”, “heartless player”, etc.

After repeating these events, Nick accepted the conditions of the ATP that included attending the sports psychologist and publicly apologize.

Within the next few weeks he reached the final of the ATP Master of Cincinnati, which he would lose against Dimitrov. Despite the defeat, the young promise received ovations and compliments for his game.

A couple of seasons ago he donated ten dollars, for each ace, to the victims of Hurricane Irma. He also created the NK Foundation, where he built sports facilities for young people at risk of exclusion and without resources. He found then, the drive to play tennis: “Now I play for them. I love children. In fact I enjoy more helping them and seeing them fulfill their dreams than what I do on the courts”, he told the media.

He tries to humanize an ultra-competitive sport. He shows himself as he is. His karma: the talent in a sport that is not his favorite. With athlete skills and rapper look, he will always provide spectacle. Are you going to miss it?