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?

Her name jumped in tennis world when she eliminated Serena in Quarterfinals of Australian Open 2013. The victory was so amazing that the number of followers she had on twitter went from 17 thousand to 40 thousand when the match ended. She was still under 20 years of age.

From Fresno, she was 10 when she moved to her grandparent house in Plantation, Florida. With her stepfather’s help, started playing tennis at Sierra Sport and Racquet Club.

Her WTA debut was in 2009. But when she was going to play her first qualifiers at the US Open, she found out about his father passing away in a car accident.

She is daughter of Sybil Smith, an Olympic swimmer and, John Stephens, football player (rooky of the year in 1989). She met her dad when she was 13 years of age, despite that he always pushed her to play tennis.

When the accident happened, her family’s support was the most important force to rocket her career.

In 2017 she won the US Open against Madison Keys, after a surgery on the left foot. She moved 940 spots in the rankings in only 5 weeks to be number 17 in the WTA ranking. Until that year she had been to 35 Grand Slams without passing week 1 (only once in 2013 Semis at Roland Garros)

Sloane was raised with a mix of sports value, social actions and death, in a family that suffered from injustice.

She now says she only plays for fun and that enjoys every match she plays.

In many years it will be remembered by its aliases “The gladiator” or “The Wall”.

He started to play tennis at the age of 8. When he was 15, he moved to Barcelona and, at 17 to Villena in Alicate, where he spent nine months in Equelite at Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Academy.

It is known that he supports Valencia’s soccer team. He not only reads but keeps every book he has read. He is married to Marta and his son Leo was born last year. Agassi was his idol when he was younger, and if he was losing a match he couldn’t serve because of the tears in his eyes.

His statistics are simply amazing: he played 50 consecutive Grand Slams before he retire from Wimbledon in 2015 ( due to an injury in the left elbow), he won 3 Davis Cups, he was Top 20 during eleven seasons (Top 10 during seven, Top 5 during 4) only over came by Rafa Nadal in Spanish tennis history, his best ranking was number 3 in the world.

He is the third Spanish player with more titles (27) just behind Rafa Nadal and Manuel Orantes, and it’s the second one with more victories in the circuit (after Nadal), he is number 12 between the players with more victories in the ATP history.

He played more tan a thousand matches with a record of 727 -372 W -L (145 victories in Grand Slams). He faced 7 170 break points with his service and saved 60% of them.

He is simply Ferrer. Humble by nature. Always looking down without looking for any advantage.

His numbers are amazing and unreachable. He will keep fighting until the end.

• Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, Kevin Anderson and John Isner will be the Top 10 playes in Acapulco. Stan Wawrinka, David Ferrer, Alex de Minaur, Grigor Dimitrov and Nick Kyrgios stand out in the male Draw.
• Sloane Stephens, will be joined by Eugenie Bouchard, Mónica Puig, Daria Gavrilova and Johanna Konta.
• Tennis Run will be the first of this year activities. FoxTenn will substitute the Hawk-Eye.

Mexico City. – The first announcement in October was striking, the official presentation of the list of players competing in Acapulco at the end of February confirms once again Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC not only as the best tournament in Latin America, but also as a important stop in the new season.

With Rafael Nadal (No. 2 in the world), Alexander Zverev (No. 4), Kevin Anderson (No. 6) and John Isner (No. 10), the AMT 2019 will have four Top 10 players.

Nadal, champion of the AMT in 2005 and 2013, will seek for third time the crown in Acapulco, if he succeds, his name will be added along David Ferrer as the only players to have won the tournament on clay and hard court.

Zverev, champion of the ATP Finals, will be playing in Acapulco for the second time and as one of favorites to raise El Guaje . Anderson, champion in Pune and two-time finalist in Acapulco (2014 and 2018), will be another of the big favorites.

Acapulco will have the presence of the Swiss Stan Wawrinka (No. 59 and winner of three Grand Slam titles), the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (No. 21 and champion of the AMT in 2014), the American Sam Querrey (No. 49 and champion of the AMT 2017), as well as the Australians Nick Kyrgios (No. 52) and Alex De Minaur (No. 29).

David Ferrer (No. 139) and four times champion of the tournament, got a wild card and will play for the last time the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC before his retirement as a professional tennis player in Madrid.

“After announcing the first group of players in October, we set the goal to offer the fans the best tennis players in the world”, said Raúl Zurutuza, director of the AMT. “In the last two editions, our location and the date of the tournament, have been decisive for many tennis players to choose the Abierto Mexicano as a mandatory stop before the tour in the United States [Indian Wells and Miami] “.

Regarding the WTA draw, the AMT 2019 ensured the presence of Sloane Stephens, champion of the AMT in 2016 and No. 5 in the world; the Croatian Donna Vekic (No. 29), the British Johanna Konta (No. 38), the Chinese Saisai Zheng (No. 40), the Australian Daria Gavrilova (No. 41), the Greek Maria Sakkari (No. 43), the Puerto Rican Mónica Puig (No. 54) and the Canadian Eugenie Bouchard (No. 79), among other players.

“The WTA players of this year will be one of the most interesting in the last few years. Stephens knows how it is to win in Acapulco, but she will have big competitors on this edition. The Feminine tournament has always surprised us, and I am sure this year won’t be the exception”, said Zurutuza.

Among the novelties this year’s edition, Tennis Run will take place for the first time, an event organized by the AMT in collaboration with Emoción Deportiva, and which will mark the start of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC on February 24th. Tennis Run will have 3 distances (10K, 5K and 3K) in adult and child categories.

Finally, the inclusion of FoxTenn technology for the next edition of the AMT, which will replace the Hawk-Eye. “FoxTenn is a technology capable of go over more than 150 thousand images per second with 40 high-speed cameras installed around the court. This system will allow to observe the pique of the ball with much more certainty and precision. The ‘Hawk-Eye’, which we installed in 2014 together with the surface change, was based on the possible trajectory of the ball after the hit”, explained Zurutuza.

Alexander Zverev finished the 2018 season in the best possible way, defeating Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to claim his first title in the ATP Nitto Finals, so far, the biggest victory of his career. The German added three ATP Masters 1000, and took the No. 3 in the ATP Ranking, his performance in London will hardly be forgotten.

Zverev hopes that such a victory will take him in the right road to a great success. According to the FedEx ATP Performance Zone, Zverev was one of the best ATP players Grand Slams during 2018. Last year, Zverev was in the 11th place of the ATP, with a record of 10-4 in Grand Slams, translated to a 71.4 winning percentage.

At Roland Garros 2018, the German became the eighth player in the Open Era to battle through three matches to five consecutive sets, and the first to do so since Tommy Robredo in 2013. He lost to the eventual finalist Dominic Thiem in quarterfinals. But after his victory in the O2, he is ready to take another step forward.

“I don’t think I didn’t do well during the Slams. I think there have been some unfortunate moments for me … I’ve done very well in Paris, then I got injured”, Zverev said after his victory in London. “The other Grand Slams, I played against a very good [Hyeon] Chung at the Australian Open, in which I lost a five-set match. Wimbledon I wasn’t ready to play because of the injury that happened at Roland Garros. US Open I had a bad game. These things happen. It’s okay.”

Another reason to keep the optimism is that 14 of the losses during Grand Slams, has lost after winning two of the first three sets, with those losses being against Rafael Nadal (finalist at Australian Open 2017), Milos Raonic (finalist at Wimbledon 2017) and Hyeong Chung (semifinals in Melbourne last year).

To make increase his game, Zverev hired former World No. 1 Ivan Lendl before the US Open. Lendl knows what Zverev is going through, as he reached four Slam finals before finally winning the first of eight Grand Slam trophies at Roland Garros in 1984. While his association did not give immediate results at Flushing Meadows -Zverev lost in third round against Philipp Kohlschreiber – the German believes he could help him take the next step.

“He said it’s a process to get there. It’s a process playing well in Grand Slams” said Zverev. “He told me before the US Open that hoped I do well, but we are more oriented towards next year.”

A legend who is not concerned about Zverev’s results in the past Slams is the former World No. 1, Boris Becker, who met the 21-year-old when he was only 10 years old.

“He played the last two years at a high level. You wait as a young player to take the next step in the biggest tournaments and in the Grand Slams, unfortunately, he hasn’t made to a semifinal. But I think the way he played all week against the best players seemed to be very promising for 2019”, Becker told ATPTour.com after Zverev’s career at the Nitto Finals. “It starts with yourself. If you gain some confidence, if you start defeating the best tennis players in the world day after day, you start to believe that you really belong there. That’s why I think it was a breakthrough. “

There are players, champions and legends. Rafa Nadal is as unbelievable, as unstoppable. At the age of 32, after 17 brilliant years of career, he keeps fighting and working hard on the court of any given tournament.

He is now working on something thought as unmodifiable, his service. Knowing he is not as tall as Del Potro, Raonic, Anderson, and others. Height it’s is consider as an advantage for the service. He used the last 4 months, since his last match (semifinals at the US Open vs. Del Potro) to improve his shot.

The official ATP Tour website interviewed Carlos Moya, Rafa’s coach, he explained what they have been working and the reason to change the service, the approach is to do more damage while serving to shorten the matches and prolong his career

“The change is based in three key points. First when he starts the swing his hand goes lower, rather than being lifted laterally, second when he throws the ball he doesn’t flex as much as he should, he holds his body straight losing drive. Lastly, when he lands his right leg is inside the court”, described Moya.

On the causes of not having it changed before, the former number one said that “there are things we saw for a while now, but because of the knee and foot we could not get down to work. During the winter he has been well, he tried, he found continuity and he felt comfortable”.

Francisco Roig, the first coach who accompanied Uncle Toni, added: “With the second serve the parabola it is now a little different. It does not have as much effect, it is more direct. It may have a little more risk, but it is also an advantage: the opponent has a hard time understanding the movement of the ball because it hits harder”.

Finally, on the expectation of seeing what has been worked on the courts, he announced: “We seek to do more damage and a faster ball. We always had the feeling that Rafa’s ball was fast in the service, but when it bounced slowed a bit. Now, with a more fluid movement, we want the ball to bounce and maintain the speed “.

It happened in the Rod Laver Arena, the center court of the Australian Open. Carlos Moya approaches Rafael Nadal to correct the position of his left arm. The number two in the world is rushing the last minutes of his second training of the day rehearsing the serve, a blow renewed by small technical adjustments that the tennis player has implemented during the preseason.

With great desire to return to the competition and exhibiting a new serve, Rafa is back in the office. The beast keeps on working.

The Australian cities have been announced as the first ones to hold the ATP Cup on 2020.

According to the ATP, a third city will be picked to play matches simultaneously during the first edition of the tournament.

“With more than 100 players from 24 countries competing for $ 15 million in prizes and 750 ATP points, the tournament will help us launch the tennis season every January in Australia,” said Craig Tiley Tennis Australia CEO.

Due to the busy schedule at the start of each year in the weeks prior to the Australian Open, ATP Tour knows that the ATP Cup project will compete with some of its other tournaments. However, they remain confident that the inclusion of a big competition will be welcome among the players and the public.

The ATP Cup will divide 24 nations into six groups, with eight new groups emerging to compete in a eliminatory phase.

Sydney will host the final. On January 4^th, it was announced that a $ 36 million dollar was to be investmed to the Olympic Park Tennis Center, which will include the placement of a roof to the Ken Rosewall Arena.

Perth, which has hosted the Hopman Cup for the past 30 years, and Adelaide are the other cities that will likely join the already mentioned to host the group phase of the ATP Cup.

“It’s amazing, I think this is the event that tennis needed. Besides showing a competitive level, it’s going to be entertaining. We have to y try to make people who have not seen tennis, fall in love with the sport,” said the Australian Nick Kyrgios.

The 24-team tournament will begin weeks after the Davis Cup, that will be played under its new format.

“The ATP Cup will not compete with the Davis Cup, but we have to look forward”, said Chris Kermode, president of the ATP. “I think they can run side by side. Other sports have shown that multiple team events can coexist, I think having them too close is a problem, but we will surely solve the calendar at some point”.

The new ATP event also has important implications for the other male and mixed events in Australia and elsewhere, including the Qatar Exxon Mobile held in Doha. Those events have traditionally been used by the players as practice for the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne.

The WTA has announced the winners of the annual year-end tournament and player awards, voted for by the players themselves.

In addition, members of the WTA Coach Program voted for the first ever WTA Coach of the Year.

The tournament awards are divided into four categories (WTA Premier Mandatory, WTA Premier 5, WTA Premier, WTA International), winners receive recognition from the players due to the excellence of their staff and organization, passionate fans, and dedication to the sport and its athletes.

The 2018 tournament awards winners:

• WTA Premier Mandatory: BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells)
•  WTA Premier 5: Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Rome)
• WTA Premier:St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy
• WTA International: Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open

Since it was introduced in 2014 for Tournaments of the Year, 2018 marks the fifth year in a row (10th overall) that Indian Wells has been voted as winner in the Premier Mandatory category, as well as Rome’s third consecutive triumph in the Premier 5 category.

In the Premier classification, St. Petersburg obtains the award for the first time since the tournament’s come back, while Hong Kong also receives the award for the first time as the best International tournament of 2018.

In this category, Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC and the extinct Bell Challenge,

lead the list of winners with eight awards each.

Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova receives the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award for the sixth successive year and seventh time overall. This honor is granted to a player who conducts herself in a manner fitting of a professional sports figure and observes the rules of fair play, shows respect for others and is gracious on and off the court.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States earns the Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award for the first time in her career, recognizing the work she has done to support her fellow players as well as other initiatives on behalf of the general player population.

Sascha Bajin, coach of Naomi Osaka, becomes the first winners of the WTA Coach of the Year Award, which is given to the coach with not only success on the court, but also one who serves as an ambassador of the sport and brings coaching to the forefront of the game.

In their first year together, Bajin helped bring Osaka’s game to new heights, as she won her first WTA title at the BNP Paribas Open and claimed her first Grand Slam title at the US Open after defeating Serena Williams.

Rafael Nadal showed early potential, but it was until the spring of 2005 when he made clear he was destined to write his name with capital letters in tennis history.

The young Spaniard, only 18 years of age, got to the Monte Carlo finals for the first time. Prior to his first appointment with history, Nadal became the youngest player to win a Davis Cup, defeating Andy Roddick in four sets during the second match of the 2004 finals. At the end, Spain prevail 3-2 against the United States to take home the victory.

After the victory in Sao Paulo, Nadal appeared in Acapulco, defeating his fellow countrymen Alex Calatrava and Santiago Ventura, and then, the Argentines Guillermo Cañas and Mariano Puerta. The final was played against another Spainard, Albert Montañés, Rafa Nadal finished with a victorious match for the win of Abierto de Tenis, his first major title and the third of his rising list of victories.

Weeks later, in Miami, Nadal and Roger Federer, then unbeatable, played to the fifth set, allowing   Rafa to show that his attitude, delivery and game would eventually become the Swiss antagonist par excellence. “We will see much more of him in the future,” said Federer, who had won three of the last four Grand Slam titles. “It was a very important game for me because I know that Rafa will be a great tennis player one day”.

That “some day” came much sooner than expected. Nadal defeated players with much more experience in Monte Carlo that year, including Guillermo Coria in four sets during the final. “Yes, it’s a title in a big tournament. The first, right? “Nadal said. “Everyone will remember this title and everything that has happened, but my goal is to improve my tennis and improve my shots. I need to improve my service, volley and slice. And if I do, I think I can win more matches, right? ”

As the weeks went by, Nadal conquered Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and – debuting in the main draw – Roland Garros, his first Grand Slam.

In that season, Nadal would eventually win a total of 11 titles, setting two records at once: his personal best in a year and the best campaign of any teenager, beating the nine titles of Mats Wilander in 1983. He also became the first teenager to finish as No. 2 in the world since Boris Becker in 1986, also achieving the best position for a Spanish tennis player in history.

Thirteen years later, the script has undergone few changes. The splendid Monte Carlo marked, again, the beginning of something special for Nadal.

After a start marked by the injuries that stopped him from playing Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami, Nadal stablished the goal of returning to the courts during the clay season. Without much more expectations than returning to his rhythm of play, Nadal shone again as anyone on the clay courts. He started by winning the eleventh title in Monte Carlo, continued with the eleventh in Barcelona, ​​the eighth in Rome and as top of the ice cream, he won the eleventh at Roland Garros.

The final played in France this year did not tell us anything new about Nadal, it just improved his reputation as the best player who has played on clay in all history. 11 titles in the last 14 years. Unreal from all perspectives.

However, something extraordinary happened in Paris during those days.

As the dominant champions age, there is a nostalgic feeling with each victory. At the same time, there is a need for a worthy rival, a surprise winner who can begin to write his own success story. There were some injuries, some annoying defeats, and slowly a narrative was constructed, that Nadal was about to dethroned.

Nadal’s opponent in the Parisian final, Dominic Thiem, gave example of what a worthy heir might be. Thiem is a clay court specialist who has reached the semifinals in Paris in the last two years and the final in 2018; is someone who knows what it is to defeat Nadal in clay on three occasions, although never in a match of five sets. The final of Roland Garros could have served to pass the crown. But Nadal, at 32 years of age, continues in full force and only he will decide when he will give opportunity to someone else to succeed in his kingdom.

Nadal burst onto the scene in 2005 as the supervillain of tennis fighting the superhero Roger Federer. 14 years have passed and since then neither of them has yielded. And if Federer reached 20 Grand Slam titles, Nadal is approaching with 17. In the process of becoming the biggest and longest rivalry, the villain has become a hero.