• The top seeds were in action on the second day of the AMT 2024. 
• Rune, Tsitsipas, Ruud and Tiafoe are already in the second round after opening with victories, but the big surprise of the tournament came with the elimination of Alexander Zverev

Acapulco, February 27, 2024.- The opening day had already thrown up a couple of surprises, but nothing like the elimination of the tournament’s top seed, Alexander Zverev on the second day of main draw activity. The rest of the favorites, Rune, Ruud, Tsitsipas and Tiafoe, confirmed the predictions of the XXXI edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC.

Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) got the first win of the day on the main court by defeating Roman Safiullin in one hour and 20 minutes 6-3, 6-4, extending his 11-0 record against players outside the Top 20 and will now face Italian Flavio Cobolli in the second round, who came from qualifying and defeated Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime on Monday.

The world No. 12 converted 83% of points on his first serve and scored his first five aces of the tournament, for which he pledged to donate $1,000 for the reconstruction of Acapulco “It’s a great feeling, I hope I can do more and contribute to the community”.

Later he had a doubles duel scheduled with his brother Petros Tsitsipas on court 1 and maybe that was motivation for not starring in any singles surprise, although from his defeat he did not come out with a smile, he assured “It was great, fantastic, I enjoyed it a lot”. He also pointed out that it doesn’t matter the elimination of some seeds, because he focuses on each match “I just need to play my tennis and focus on each opponent”.

Later Holger Rune (2) did the same 6-2, 6-3 against Michael Mmoh, coming from qualification. The Dane is looking to go further than his semi-final in 2023 and the spotlight is on him after announcing a few days ago that Patrick Mouratoglou was returning as his coach for the third time in his short career, so they add a new victory together and he said “It feels good and right for me, we had a good new start. We’ve known each other for a long time, when I was young and went to his academy.”

The No. 7 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings was superior in almost every aspect to the American, who committed five double faults in the first set alone, while Rune saved three breaks. After 47 minutes, the second set began in an increasingly crowded Mextenis Stadium in support of one of the big favorites. The 20-year-old defined the match in 1 hour 32 minutes by leading the match with 86% effectiveness in points won with his first serve.

“Great start, I felt very strong at the beginning of the match, I managed to handle the pressure and felt mentally strong in the key moments. In the rallies I feel good, I try to do my best to play well. At the moment I’m not thinking about the depth of the tournament, only about the next round and keeping the good spirit and focus” he added in conference. Now, he will face in the second round Alexander Kovacevic, who knocked out the champion in Los Cabos, Jordan Thompson.

Finally, Alexander Zverev closed the day against his German compatriot Daniel Altmaier, who was looking for the biggest victory of his career and got it by surprising the No. 6 and top seed of the ATP 500 in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. The match lasted 2.5 hours, with the top seed unable to maintain his perfect 5-0 record in his first round matches in Acapulco, where he lifted the title in 2021. Altmaier, world No. 57, only lost serve once during the second set and broke Sacha twice and will now face Miomir Kecmanovic looking to keep the dream alive.

• The Mexican lost in his doubles opener and the Greek brothers were also out.

Acapulco, February 27, 2024.- Mexican tennis lost another representative in the doubles tournament of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC, after the defeat of Miguel Reyes-Varela in the first round, while the sentimental favorites of the public, the Tsitsipas brothers, also said goodbye.

In the first round on court 2 of the Arena GNP Seguros complex, Reyes-Varela and the Argentine Guido Andreozzi put up a good fight, but it was not enough for them in their first round match against the Monegasque Hugo Nys and the Polish Jan Zielenski, second in the seeding, who ended up winning 7-5, 2-6 and 10-6, in one hour and 38 minutes of play.

“I am left with a bitter taste. We came very well in the second set to turn the match around. However, we had some opportunities that we didn’t know how to take advantage of”, admitted the Mexican, who reached the main draw with a wild card.

The first set was very disputed, with both pairs holding their serve until the twelfth game, when Miguel could not hold his serve with a controversial call from the chair umpire, to fall by 5-7 in the set.

“It was the only foot fault that was called in the whole match, when I was serving 5-6 with the same score, so it was the set point, the decisive point. We scored it; it had been a good first serve and the opponent missed the return. Theoretically it was 6-6 and we were going to the tie-break, and the call came very late. It was not the line judge’s call, but the chair umpire’s. It was a difficult moment and they took advantage of it. It was a difficult moment and they took advantage of my second serve to win the set”, explained Reyes-Varela.

In turn, the Greeks Stefanos and Petros Tsitsipas fell in straight sets 4-6 and 3-6 to the British Julian Cash and American Robert Galloway, despite the support of the fans in Acapulco, leaving the tournament prematurely.

To complete Tuesday’s match, French fourth seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul came from behind to beat Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic and Russian Roman Safiulin 4-6, 6-4, 10-6.

• Ruud’s next opponent will be Serbian Dusan Lajovic, while Tiafoe will face German Dominik Koepfer.
• Mexican Rodrigo Pacheco said goodbye to the AMT 2024 but leaves with a very good learning experience from this tournament.

Acapulco, October 27, 2024.- Mexican tennis player Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez (No. 700) said goodbye to the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC after falling to the regret of the local public against Serbian Dusan Lajovic (No. 55) by 2-6, 2-6. 

“In the end I didn’t play as I expected. The other player (Dusan Lajovic) has a lot of experience, the truth is I never felt comfortable to play and well, that was the difference. I tried to take advantage of every moment, but in the end it was not as I expected. It’s a bad day and a bad match, but I tried until the end and thanks to the people for supporting me. Unfortunately I couldn’t get (the victory) in an ATP match, but I learned a lot from the players and I have good lessons for the future,” Pacheco assured. 

Dusan Lajovic’s next opponent will be Norwegian Casper Ruud (No. 11), seeded sixth in the tournament, who struggled in his first match of the tournament, but in the end was able to get his ticket to the round of 16 of the AMT by beating American Christopher Eubanks (No. 34) 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3. 

“It was a good start (at the Acapulco tournament). The conditions are different (from the Los Cabos tournament), but I feel really very good and happy for this victory. I have trained very well and very hard, now I want to rest and sleep well to continue with tomorrow’s match,” said Casper Ruud after his victory. 

The Norwegian tennis player’s best performance in Acapulco so far has been in 2021 when he reached the semifinals, where he lost to Germany’s Alexander Zverev. In 2023, Casper only reached the second round, as he was eliminated by Japan’s Taro Daniel. 

In the first match of the day at the Grandstand, American Frances Tiafoe (No. 16) did not have an easy match either, but he had a great comeback after going a set down, and sweeping the third set to take the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 against Australian Max Purcell (No. 62) and thus advance to the second round of the tournament in Acapulco where he will face German Dominik Koepfer (No. 58). 

Tiafoe is one of the favorite players of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC and already has a long history in this tournament. The 26-year-old from Maryland’s best performance was last year when he reached the quarterfinals against Taylor Fritz.

• A new edition of Tennis Talks! was held and fans were able to learn more about Americans Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz, as well as Acapulco champion Alex de Miñaur.

Acapulco, February 27, 2024.- In in-depth talks with some of the protagonists of the XXXI edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC, some lucky fans were able to learn details about the personal life, anecdotes and way of thinking of tennis players such as Taylor Fritz, Alex de Miñaur, Mexican Santiago González and the young American sensation Ben Shelton.

The 21-year-old player was in charge of opening the talk with the theme ‘Dealing with attention’. Hosted by journalist Carolina Guillén and in front of dozens of children, young people and even parents of teenagers who practice the sport, Shelton confessed how he has felt after his great performance at the US Open 2023, when he reached the semifinals in his first year as a professional. Springboard to success or more pressure?

“There have been big changes in my life since New York, but I had to deal with a lot of attention since Australia where I got to the quarterfinals. I don’t know if I feel like another player, just a little different. But the basics of my game are the same, I have evolved, I feel better as a player. As a person I feel different but I am the same at heart. It was a step forward. Tennis is a mental game and the more confidence you have the better. I don’t see tennis as having a great result and then having pressure. You have to use those great results as opportunities.”

He also gave details about what it’s like to be coached by his father, former tennis player Bryan Shelton, who is in Acapulco with him. 

“We have a great relationship, but the dynamic is difficult because sometimes it’s complicated for kids to listen to their parents, but he does a very good job, I don’t even notice when he speaks as a coach or a parent.”

However, the most profound answer the No. 17 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings gave was about his ultimate dream. 

“One of my big dreams is to be able to talk to other people about my experience of being a professional and to be able to help many. It’s not easy and there are a lot of things to do. Everyone has their path and their skills and you don’t have to be like others. Give advice on how valuable it is to be unique.”

The fun part came at the end when in quick questions he revealed that his guilty pleasure is Netflix “I love watching movies and not thinking about anything, not being active”, his favorite food is tacos, he loves watching basketball, he prefers the snow, and his friends on the tour are Christopher Eubanks and Emilio Nava.

Then it was time to welcome one of the best Mexican tennis players in history. Santigo Gonzalez talked about his career, how he decided to focus on doubles, the workings of finding a steady partner, but above all we got to know him better as a result of the breakdown he gave about the importance of his family to support his career at the age of 41.

“My thing is to be with my family. I don’t need to be alone as much as they need their dad’s presence,” he confessed about traveling with his two children and his partner throughout the tour, a decision they made last year to raise their children this way. At the end, like every guest, he answered questions from the audience.

The third visitor was Alex de Miñaur, who is looking to defend his AMT title he won in 2023, now that he has had time to acclimate to the conditions on Mexican soil. 

“I told myself that I shouldn’t worry about a match this year and face Acapulco,” he shared about his first-round loss at the Los Cabos Open after arriving from Rotterdam where he contested the final. 

“The biggest motivation I have is that I want to get the most out of myself. To finish my career, to be able to sit on a couch and know that I gave the maximum, nothing I could have done better, every day I get up is what I try to do, give it my all, no excuses,” he added about his mental work. 

“I’m at my best but I’ll keep going,” added the Australian.

“My thing is to be with my family. I don’t need to be alone as much as they need their dad’s presence,” he confessed about traveling with his two children and his partner throughout the tour, a decision they made last year to raise their children this way. At the end, like every guest, he answered questions from the audience.

The third visitor was Alex de Miñaur, who is looking to defend his AMT title he won in 2023, now that he has had time to acclimate to the conditions on Mexican soil. 

“I told myself that I shouldn’t worry about a match this year and face Acapulco,” he shared about his first-round loss at the Los Cabos Open after arriving from Rotterdam where he contested the final. 

“The biggest motivation I have is that I want to get the most out of myself. To finish my career, to be able to sit on a couch and know that I gave the maximum, nothing I could have done better, every day I get up is what I try to do, give it my all, no excuses,” he added about his mental work. 

“I’m at my best but I will continue,” added the Australian.

He also revealed whether he loves or hates tennis taking as a reference the confessions of a legend like Andre Agassi. 

“My relationship with tennis is complicated, I play because I love it and since I was a kid I knew I wanted to do it but what calls me most is the competition. Victory is the best feeling in the world, I love to see the work, the sacrifice and the hours that are put in.” 

Finally, Taylor Fritz gave details about his training routine, hobbies and reflects on the ingredients needed to have a career that has led him to be America’s No. 1. 

“It’s 30% hard work and another 40% talent, 10% luck in the draw and 10% having that time to relax and being sure you’re mentally ready for each tournament,” he assures.  

“It’s a long season and if you want to be among the best you have to be at your best every week, it’s a lot physically and mentally, it’s hard to be consistent.” 

Surprisingly eliminated in the first round in Acapulco, the talk was focused on his best moments, where he recalled all about his triumph in Indian Wells and how his father once told him he was going to win it when he used to go as a

• This Monday 14 matches will be played, 8 in singles and 6 in doubles, with Mexicans Rodrigo Pacheco and Miguel Angel Reyes Varela looking for their pass to the second round. 

Acapulco, February 26, 2024.- Germany’s Alexander Zverev, Denmark’s Holger Rune, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, Norway’s Casper Ruud and the United States’ Frances Tiafoe are in action on the second day of the XXXI edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC, being played this week in Acapulco.

The players are five of the top eight seeds Zverev (1), Rune (2), Tsitsipas (5), Ruud (6) and Tiafoe (8).

In addition, the recent champion of the Los Cabos Open, Australian Jordan Thompson; German Dominik Koepfer and Mexican junior Rodrigo Pacheco will also be playing.

Zverev opens against his compatriot Daniel Altmaier; Rune against American Michale Mmoh; Tsitsipas against Roman Safiulin; Ruud against American Christopher Eubanks and Tiafoe against Australian Max Purcell.

While Thompson will play against American Aleksandar Kovacevic, Koepfer against Frenchman Terence Atmane and Mexican Pacheco against Serbian Dusan Lajovic.

In doubles, Mexico’s Reyes Varela and Argentina’s Guido Andreozzi face Hugo Nys of Monaco and Jan Zielinsky of Poland; Austria’s Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler take on Portugal’s Francisco Cabral and Nuno Borges. 

Brothers Stefanos and Petros Tistsipas against American Robert Galloway and Australian Julian Cash and Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic and Roman Safiulin against France’s Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.

In a repeat of the doubles final in Los Cabos, Australians Purcell and Thompson against Gonzalo Escobar of Ecuador and Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan; Britons Henry Patte and Daniel Evans against Romain Arneodo of Monaco and Sam Weissborn of Austria.

The singles champions in the last five years of the tournament are Juan Martin del Potro (2018), Nick Kyrgios (2019), Rafael Nadal (2020 and 2022), Alexander Zverev (2021) and Alex de Miñaur (2023).

• Two of the four favorites in the Top 15 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings claimed a win on the first day of main draw action
• Shelton and de Miñaur won at the Stadium, while World No. 13 Tommy Paul, a 2023 finalist, was eliminated by Jack Draper

Acapulco, February 26, 2024.- It was a dream start to the tournament for two of the favorites on the opening day and, on the other hand, a surprise for 2023 finalist Tommy Paul. Defending champion Alex de Miñaur and Ben Shelton advanced to the second round after securing victories two of the matches at the Mextenis Stadium.

The young American sensation, Ben Shelton, opened the match at 18:00 hrs against British Daniel Evans, who managed to take advantage in a surprising first set with more first serve winners (91%) and despite the fact that the world No. 16 had a better percentage of effectiveness.

Evans took advantage of a double fault, the few points converted on Shelton’s second serve and his almost no return to surprise the favorite; However, in the second set the 21 year old relied on his best weapon, his serve, to get into the match and finally beat Evans 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) in two hours 44 minutes of duel and where although the statistics did not favor him, he finished with 12 aces 

key to his victory, one that also comes 30 years after his father and coach, Bryan Shelton, also got a victory in the Mexican tournament.

“I really like the courts here, it’s great conditions for tennis, it’s humid but not that humid, there’s a great atmosphere in the central stadium. I had to change some things in my game to improve my consistency until I felt comfortable in the match, I was making a lot of mistakes,” he assured in press conference after his victory, and detailed what he hopes to work on this year “I don’t have so many specific goals and the ones I have I try to keep with my team, I want to play more at the net, improve my serve and be a better player in general.”

Regarding Acapulco he added “I feel like the whole point of us being here is to bring something positive to Acapulco and we are all focusing on that.”

At the end of his match, it was the turn of defending champion Alex de Miñaur, who defeated Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-2, 6-1 in just one hour and 19 minutes. “I am very happy to get my first win in Mexico, last week was not the way I wanted so I needed this victory to regain my confidence and it is a good base to keep pushing. Nothing changed, I just got used to the conditions better, in Los Cabos everything was very fast. I’m not going to say that I’m at my best level, but I feel better on the track”.

Finally, it was the turn of Taylor Fritz, the fourth seeded American, who suffered a close match against another young revelation in recent months on the tour, the Italian Matteo Arnaldi.

The world No. 42 took the lead after the first set on the main court after being solid with his first serve, scoring five aces and 80% of converted points. For the second set, Fritz returned the five aces and broke him in two occasions and evened a duel that already in the early morning definition at the Arena GNP Seguros complex, ended up being the second great surprise of the day with the elimination of the world No. 10. Five Americans out of seven remain at the start of the competition.

• Escobedo said goodbye to the tournament after a game that lasted more than three hours and was defined in a tie break against Austrian Sebastien Ofner. 
• One of the surprises of the first round was the elimination of American Tommy Paul, finalist in the 2023 edition. 

Acapulco February 27, 2024.- Mexican tennis player Ernesto Escobedo (No. 493) was eliminated in the first round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC in an intense match that was defined in tie break after three hours and three minutes of play where Austrian Sebastien Ofner (No. 37) beat him 7-6, 4-6, 7-6.

Escobedo, 27 years old and who arrived as a wild card to Acapulco, started winning the first set avoiding unforced errors; however, the Austrian player evened the game and in the third set sealed his pass to the second round supported by his service hitting 14 aces. Now, Ofner will face Australian Alex de Miñaur, current Acapulco champion. 

This is the third time that Escobedo has lost in the first round of the Acapulco tournament, after losing to Brandon Holt in 2023 and to Daniel Altmaier in 2022. 

In another of Monday’s matches, British tennis player Jack Draper (No. 50) beat American Tommy Paul (No. 14) 6-0, 6-4 in a match that only lasted 86 minutes, being one of the surprises of the first round of the XXXI edition of the ATP 500.

Paul, seeded seventh in the tournament, was a finalist last year in Acapulco and was considered one of the favorite players to reach the final rounds.

In the last match played at the Grandstand, Italian tennis player Flavio Cobolli (No. 69) surprised by advancing to the second round by beating Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (No. 30) in three sets. Cobolli is coming from the qualifying round and his opponent in the second round will be the winner of the match between Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 12) and Russian Roman Safiullin (No.39).

• Mexican tennis draws in the opening day of doubles at the Arena GNP Seguros complex.

Acapulco, February 26, 2024.- Santiago Gonzalez had a triumphant debut in the XXXI edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC, while Hans Hach Verdugo was eliminated at the beginning of the doubles tournament this Monday.

What could have been a perfect day for Mexican tennis representatives, ended with a win and a loss in the doubles draw in Acapulco.

Santiago Gonzalez and Briton Neal Skupski, top seeds, made the prediction valid by beating American William Blumberg and Norwegian Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and three minutes of play.

It was a hard-fought first set, which was decided with a break in the eighth game, and from there Santi and Skupski imposed their hierarchy to score the victory.

“It was not an easy match, especially in the first set. I’m happy to advance to the second round. We took advantage of the opportunities we had. The key was that we always looked for more”, explained the player from Veracruz, who thanked the warm support of the public on court 1 of the Arena GNP Seguros tennis complex.

Gonzalez and Skupski will face the winner of Tuesday’s match between Evans and Patten and Arneodo and Weissborn in the quarterfinals.

On court 2, the Latin American duo formed by Mexican Hans Hach Verdugo and Venezuelan Luis David Martinez lost a dramatic 4-6, 6-3, 7-10 defeat to Finnish Harri Heliovaara and Australian John Peers, in just over an hour and a half of play.

After getting the ticket via lucky loser to the main draw of the doubles tournament, Hach and Verdugo came from behind in front of the support in the stands to overcome a one-set deficit and extend the outcome to the third and final set, where they had a 6-3 advantage, but lost six unanswered points and sealed their fate.

Already in the first set, the crowd favorites had paid dearly for their mistakes, when the Mexican left-hander smashed a volley in the fourth game to give up the break and allow his rivals to take the set.

However, in the second game, they broke from the first game and from there they held their serve with category to tie the hostilities, however, they fell apart when they had a 6-3 advantage over Heliovaara and Peers, who knew how to grow to take the match in a heroic way.

• The Australian arrives in Acapulco as No. 38 after defeating Casper Ruud in the Los Cabos final and moving up eight spots in the world rankings
• Jordan was last in the Acapulco main draw in 2019, where he lost to American Frances Tiafoe in the first round

Acapulco, February 26, 2024.- Australian tennis player Jordan Thompson (No. 38) assured to be already focused on the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC after lifting his first titles in the ATP circuit, twice, by being crowned in singles and doubles at the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo in Los Cabos. 

Thompson arrives in Acapulco ranked 38th in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after moving up eight places in the world rankings after winning the championship last Saturday against Norwegian Casper Ruud. 

“I’m happy to be in this tournament (Acapulco). I’m going to play point for point, I think that’s the most important thing, I’m concentrating and focused on this tournament. I have to keep my mentality in tennis matches,” he assured. 

The last time Thompson was in the main draw of Acapulco was in 2019, where he lost to the American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 4-6, 3-6 to say goodbye in the first round. 

The final in Los Cabos against Ruud lasted just over two hours, so the Australian tennis player seeks to recover as soon as possible from the physical issue, “physically they have been complicated days because of the number and duration of the matches, but I’m happy to be in Acapulco now,” he said. 

Jordan, 29, makes his debut in the second day of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC against American Aleksandar Kovacevic (No. 93), 25, who was one of the four players who got his ticket in the qualifying round of the weekend.