February 28, 2017

Rafael Nadal had a strong debut in the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis. The second seed swept German Mischa Zverev with a double match point that resulted in a final score of 6-4 and 6-3.

The Spaniard celebrated with his Acapulco fans in the venue that saw him crown himself in 2005 and 2013 without losing a single set. The player eased through the match with the support of his followers that would scream and applaud every time he scored points. With an ear-to-ear smile, Nadal lifted his arms in celebration while he received a grand ovation.

“The truth is I had a good game, I’ve been training. After Australia I needed to gather myself. I arrived to Acapulco with anticipation; I spent the previous week in Cozumel to get myself used to the tropical weather. This was a great game against a difficult rival”, shared Nadal with the press.

An eager to win Nadal left fellow left-hander Zverev (30 ATP) without a chance during the German’s tournament debut. 76 minutes were more than enough to secure Rafa’s pass to the next round. During the evening’s duel Nadal gave a demonstration of an effective drive as well as his first serve. Zverev was not able to generate breaks during the first set and didn’t seize the break on the second.

The confrontation was a display of Nadal’s good physical shape although he had not played since the final round in the Australian Open. Nadal now leads the head-to-head with Zverev 2-0

Nadal’s next rival is Italian Paolo Lorenzi that edged Yoshihito Nishioka and now has a record of 3 consecutive wins.

February 28, 2017

No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic had an astounding debut in the tropical grounds of the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis by triumphing over Slovakian veteran Martin Klizan in a demanding match. This was Djokovic’s first tournament match after being defeated by Dennis Istomin in the Australian Open.

Nole, ranked 2 ATP, imposed himself by 6-3 and 7-6(4) over the left-hander Slovakian in a 1:34 hr battle. The first seed had to save four break points during his first three service games. During the second set the Serbian player lowered his guard and five-time ATP World Champion Klizan seized the opportunity and scored spectacular effective points but it wasn’t enough. 

The Slovakian’s frustration during the tie-break was very evident, it was so that the player threw his racquet against the floor several times that got him a warning from the judge. 

More than seven thousand fans witnessed Djokovic’s victory in the Grand Stand in Acapulco and celebrated with a standing ovation. “I wasn’t expecting this, I haven’t played since Australia so I was out of shape. There are great players it is not an easy draw. Klizan is very agresive, he’s not afraid of anyone so I had to do my absolute best”, shared a happily surprised Nole, which is a constant feeling since the player arrived to Acapulco, “I’m very greatful to the people of Acapulco, the tournament’s organizing team… they have been great to me and my team. The energy is amazing, very lively. I understand Acapulco is very close to Mexico City, so I hope a lot of people come to watch the final duels”, shared the stellar player.

Novak will face next Argentinian player Del Potro in a extremely anticipated clash.

February 28, 2017

Alexandr Dolgopolov is the second wild card to be left out of the tournament that is taking place in Acapulco after being defeated by Marin Cilic (8 ATP) 6-3, 4-6 y 6-0, Cilic is moving on to the second round.

In a stadium filled with witnesses Cilic battled through the second round with some complications and then seared during the third set. Both players broke during the first two sets and had a very tied game; it was the third set where Cilic tilted the balance to his side. Today’s score unties Cilic and Dolgo’s head-to-head.    

The Ukranian player arrived to Acapulco high spirited after reigning Buenos Aires’ ATP tournament. And looking for a different outcome ward to change his recent bad streak but was cut out early just like it happened previously in Rio when he played against Pablo Carreño Busta.

Cilic is up next against his Davis cup teammate Borna Coric (3-0 H2H in favor of Cilic). Their most recent 3-set face-off took place in Rotterdam. This is the first time the Bosnia and Herzegovina-born player moves to the second round in Acapulco, last year Cilic was edged by Ryan Harrison during his debut round. 

41 ATP Bernard Tomic dropped out after the first set against Donald Young due to an injury. Chicago-native, Young moves on to the next round.

Meanwhile Italian Paolo Lorenzi was taken aback during the first set, nevertheless he bounced back and edged Yen-Hsun 4-6, 6-3 y 6-4.

February 28, 2017

No. 4 seed Monica Puig will take on wild card Daniela Hantuchova after defeating Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the Acapulco Open. 

 “I’m very happy about my win. It was a demanding match, we both played very good tennis so the greater reason for me to feel happy about my victory”, expressed Monica. Going up an early break during the second set, Puig felt some pressure building up and faltered trying to serve out the match. Schiavone (156 WTA) played her best and worked a strong backhand that kept Monica on edge but wasn’t enough to take the win. 

The deciding tiebreak was just as close as the first two sets, with Puig grabbing the lone mini-break to take the match in straight sets after an hour and forty-seven minutes. 

This is Puig’s second victory over Schiavone, the first took place in Estoril 2013. 

Slovak player Daniela Hantuchova defeated Belgium player Yanina Wickmayer with sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Exploiting the her position as wild card, Hantuchova will fight the second round against Puig.

Madison Brengle edged German player Annika Beck 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a duel that lasted 2:11 hrs. 

February 28, 2017

Just one day after conquering the Rio Open Title and exactly one year after proclaimed the throne in Acapulco, Thiem answered some questions in the press conference of the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Telcel sponsored by HSBC before his opening duel against Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Thiem currently holds eight titles, two of them ATP 500 –Acapulco and Rio. The player set a day aside to rest after winning in Rio de Janeiro “I was in the ceremony and the next moment I was eating dinner while waiting for my flight to Mexico. I haven’t had much rest but I feel in shape to play tomorrow”, said Thiem.

The press questioned Dominic wondering if he felt confident with Novak Djokovic and Nadal in the contest this time around and ready to win the Acapulco title again. Thiem acknowledged that it will be a harder fight to maintain the title and points with Nadal Goffin, Novak and Del Potro in a challenging main draw.

“Spanish is a beautiful language but I haven’t being able to learn it, I don’t have much free time to learn languages, maybe in a few years I will be able to” replied Thiem after being questioned about his proficiency of the language.

The Austrian player started this current week ranked 9 and recalled that this time last year he was the leader of the Race to London tournament and was what catapulted him to the ATP World Tour Finals for the first time, “it was great to be next to the world top ten, I am very proud about it but it is also very demanding and I have to work very hard to stay in that position during the next years”.

When being interrogated about his favorite soccer team, Thieminho wished Chelsea makes it and wins the Premier League title.

February 27, 2017

Thompson surprised everyone after eliminating Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, a big favorite amongst Mexican followers in the Acapulco contest. The Australian player entered the main draw as a lucky loser but worked hard to compensate and loose the second adjective after coming stepping up his game during the second and third sets. Jordan (79 ATP) took advantage of Feliciano’s (31 ATP) evident poor physical condition.

The Spaniard made the impression that he was going to win the match after wining the first set with 6-2 scores, and it was during the second and third sets that his rival turned around the outcome. Thompson scored a break in the sixth game (4-2) and Feli wasn’t able to fight back after this, unable to control his drive, Lopez’ hits fell far from the side-line and his desperation became evident play after play. Still, Feliciano fell victim to his drive and he was not able to endure throughout the game and was beaten by Thompson in a 2hr15min game. Feli obtained a mere 53% first serve effectiveness and won 43 out of 74 points and only connected 4 ace serves. Thompson scored the same amount of direct serves, two doubles and saves 17 out of 21 breakpoints.

February 27, 2017

The first unexpected outcome took place during the first rounds of the Acapulco Open where Steve Johnson took out fellow American and eighth seed John Isner. Isner (22 ATP) allowed two decisive breaks that traced the outcome of the match.

26-year-old Johnson (26 ATP) recently played during Memphis quarterfinals and Delray Beach and will dispute the next round against compatriot Ernesto Escobedo who came out victorious of a difficult 3-set battle against Stefan Kozlov from Macedonia that just recently turned 19 years old.

Neto Escobedo, son to Mexican parents from the state of Zacatecas, came out victorious of a three set match with a final partials that swung back and forth 6-1, 2-6 and 6-0 with a filled-up Grand Stand to witness his win. Fans look forward to seeing more victories from Neto who holds last year’s Lexington and Monterrey’s titles.

This is the second time Escobedo has reached the second round in an ATP tournament this season. His previous round took place in the Australian Open, where he lost against the Spanish tennis player David Ferrer.

Acapulco, Gro., 27 de febrero.-

February 27, 2017

A large crowd gathered at the Caliente.mx Grand Stand in the Princess Mundo Imperial facilities to root for Mexican player Renata Zarazua (WC). Zarazua stepped on the court and started strong against her Belgian opponent, Kirsten Flipkens but after nearly three hours of struggle she fell with a final score of 7-5, 6-7 and 6-1.

Young Zarazua admitted that the cheering public was what made her fight as hard as she could, “during the third (set) I lacked energy, but I’m walking away happy knowing that I did my best” and she surely gave her best to counteract the big gap between both players ranking position, where Flipkens stands in position 76 and Zarazua in 295. Chants from the expectant attendees broke out during the Mexican’s first small break and after 143 minutes of battle Flipkens cuts Zarazua’s dream short and snatches her first victory. Flipkens will face either Ajla Tomljanovic or Eugenie Bouchard next.

Lesia Tsurenko (7 WTA) won over Cloe Paquet 6-2 and 6-1.

February 27, 2017

David Goffin, ranked 10 ATP, had a sensational opening debut in the Mextenis facilities against Stephane Robert (FRA) and came out triumphant with partials 6-1 and 6-2 in a 54-minute match.

The 26-year-old player will face the winner of the duel between Kyle Edmund and Sam Querrey during the second rounds. Goffin took advantage of Robert’s (80 ATP) 35%-effective first serve. This is not Goffin’s first time participating in the Mexican tournament, in 2014 David contended and lost during the second phase of the qualification rounds against Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis. This time around Goffin, not only made it to the main draw, he has moved on to 2R and has a big chance to keep on advancing. 

Simultaneously 28-year-old Adrian Mannarino (65 ATP) took out American Taylor Fritz with a three set victory 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 and is moving on to the second rounds. Fritz fought as hard as he could but at the end he was not able to raise his points gifting Mannarino with an opportunity to raise his overall tournament scores since he hasn’t been able to surpass the first instance in either the Australian Open, Sofia, Memphis or Delray Beach. Goffin will face either Kyle Edmund or Sam Querrey for his first Acapulco quarter-final match.

February 27, 2017

Andrea Petkovic from Germany is fulfilling her role as favorite by winning the duel against Jaime Loeb although her opponent didn’t go down without a fight against the 8^th seed. Petkovic took over after three sets in 99 minutes with partials 2-6, 6-1 and 6-3.

The German player had a few problems with her service during the first set which explains why Loep was ahead during the first partial. Andrea barely attained 45% effectiveness in her first serve but raised her percentages to 71% forcing the set by leveling the partials. At the end Loeb was not able to keep up and scored four aces, three double faults and 50% effectiveness in her first serve while Petkovic had two direct serves, 9 double faults and 57% first serve effectiveness.

Andrea will come face to face against Pauline Parmentier from france during the second rounds. Parmentier overcame Nicole Gibbs (USA) in a heart-racing dispute that took place in the first Court of the Princess Mundo Imperial Hotel facilities where both players gave the best of each other in an encounter that lasted more than three hours and resulted in partials 7-5, 6-7(6) and 6-2. The duel was a great display of Pauline’s excellent physical condition.