To be the very best in the world you need to be surrounded by the best; Rafael Nadal has been since the day he was born. Toni Nadal, his uncle, has been coaching him since Rafa got his first racket.

Toni Nadal was born on February 21, 1956 in Manacor, Spain. He always wanted to be a tennis player, started playing in a small club in his hometown. He tried to study History and Law, but he never finished. His dream was to be a tennis player.

When he became a coach he dreamed that a tennis player he trained would one day become the best in Spain. Years later he got it. Antonio Nadal Homar’s method is simple, he even defines himself as an enthusiast of austerity and minimalism. Less is more. That is the path that led Rafa to be the best in the world.

The road that Toni and Rafa have walked together can hardly be equalled, 27 years and 75 titles. Toni, the coach, takes himself as being more strict than gentle. To Rafa he’s always conveyed a feeling of dissatisfaction, maybe that’s why he has never been satisfied. Even Toni has declared that Federer is the best tennis player in the world.

Without a doubt, this duo made history, and I say “made” because Toni has officially announced his retirement. He wrote on November 20:

“The Masters Cup of this last week has been the finishing touch to my career as coach of my nephew Rafael. I conclude a happy stage of 27 years that began the day when the 3 year old son of my brother Sebastian entered my tennis court. Today I leave your side but my path does not end here. I will continue to be linked to tennis because my enthusiasm and love for this sport, fortunately, remain intact.”

In 2018 we will see another Nadal. No longer will the great Toni Nadal who fulfilled his dream, coach the best tennis player in the world. Toni, the motivator, the one who did not compromise and passed that on to his nephew. The coach who inhibited the pain of the best Spanish athlete: Rafael Nadal has played with chronic pain in his foot since 2005.

The retirement comes about because Toni wants to be with his children and his wife, so much travelling can wear you out and we understand. Being behind the best tennis player in the world must not be easy. Natali, as Rafa calls him, does not leave tennis altogether; he will keep coaching kids from his native Manacor.

To close out the year, the ATP Finals was held, where the top eight tennis players of the world meet, as chosen by their ATP ranking. The 2017 edition was attended by: Federer, Dimitrov, Zverev, Nadal (replaced by Pablo Carreño due to injury), Goffin, Thiem, Sock and Cilic. Tennis players that began to show their talent since last Monday at London’s O2 Arena. Although there were some big absences due to injury, there was indeed a magnificent tournament.

This tournament’s revelation was the champion himself, Grigor Dimitrov, ranked number six in the world, he reached his first ATP Finals. Depleted by the pressures of the game, he did not look like anyone’s favorite but made his way among the best in the world nevertheless.

In the group stage the bulgarian beat his opponents, the number four Dominic Thiem, Goffin and Pablo Carreño. Undefeated, he reached the semifinals, where he faced Jack Sock; the american was no walk in the park, but Dimitrov gave us a preview of his level and surpassed him. He had a bad start, but after he turned it around, the final scores were 4-6, 6-0 and 6-3.

The final was like a dream, he got it, he kept his undefeated streak. In the final he met an old acquaintance, Goffin, a tennis player already defeated in the group stage, but now things promised to be more difficult. Both gave an extraordinary performance this Sunday, the final scores were 7-5, 4-6 and 6-3, enough for Dimitrov to win title. Thus he becomes the first man in 19 years to win the ATP finals in his debut.

That was not the only prize he took home. With this victory, Grigor Dimitrov raised £ 1.9 million in cash prizes for staying undefeated in the tournament: three games in the group stage, in addition to the semifinal and the final. Moreover, he will finish the year with an excellent world record, since he will climb up to the number three spot, thanks to his title victories in Brisbane, Bulgaria, Cincinnati and, of course, the Nitto ATP Finals.

“I think throughout the whole week, I’ve been keeping a good level. Yeah, I knew that David is going to try something new. He had to be aggressive in order so he doesn’t let me play my game,” said Dimitrov after becoming champion.

So a new edition of the ATP Finals comes to an end, this time with a surprise and a new chapter for the champion.

The Mexican Open will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a present in advance. And that’s because yesterday it was announced that, for the second time ever, the Mexican Open was chosen as the Best ATP World Tour 500 Tournament of the year.

In 2007, the ATP World Tour recognized Mexico with the best tournament award in the ATP International Series Gold category. The open celebrated its fourteenth edition and its seventh year in Acapulco; could the number 7 be the charm?

The remarkable thing about this distinction is that the players themselves vote for the prize, those that experience the day to day of the competition. This increases the value of the award and if anything, it brings exposure to the Open. In addition to the participants’ high level quality, it is that feeling of welcome that matters.

The final Masters 1000 of the season is here. The “city of love” will host the last event of the season before the ATP Finals and, just like every year, it looks spectacular.

Although it seemed that the battle for the World No. 1 would reignite in Paris, Roger Federer’s dropping out has left the spot wide open for Rafael Nadal, who will finish in that place of honor at the end of 2017. While the balearic player’s motivation will remain intact, Paris-Bercy is one of the tournaments that he has not been able to conquer. In 2007, David Nalbandian, from Argentina, stole that opportunity away from him.

The spaniard, who missed the Swiss Indoors due to knee issues, will debut in the second round in Paris against the winner of the match between Mischa Zverev and Hyeon Chung.

Meanwhile, Lucas Pouille will take Federer’s spot and will see action for the first time in the second round, when he plays against the winner between Feliciano López and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Besides Nadal as the top favorite, one of the most probable contenders to come out victorious in the French capital is Alexander Zverev. The young german player has already conquered two Masters 1000 so far in 2017 (Rome and Montreal) and a third one does not look impossible, now that his skills have been proven.

Of course, Paris will welcome other great tennis players that can also be serious candidates for the title: Grigor Dimitrov, Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic, David Goffin and a recent finalist in Basel, Juan Martín del Potro, who has declared that he will go to France to “give everything”, since he still has a chance to get into the Masters Cup in London.

In order to secure a spot in the english capital, Del Potro needs at the very least to get into the semifinals at Paris. But if Pablo Carreño Busta makes his way into the quarterfinals (or Sam Querrey or Kevin Anderson going to the semifinals), they will force the player from Tandil to reach the final, that’s if he wants to continue in the fight.

Nevertheless, even a hypothetical final does not guarantee Del Potro a ticket to London. Whatever happens in the other side of the bracket could drive him away from the last round of the year (for example, Goffin as semifinalist and Pouille as champion).

The only scenario where Del Potro secures a ticket to London is by crowning himself champion next Sunday.

The Paris Masters is ready and will not go unnoticed. There are a thousand points at stake, tennis players looking for glory and two places still available in the ATP Finals. Do you need anything else?

March 4, 2017

Sam Querrey stunned the unbeaten second seed Rafael Nadal and closed the tournament by snatching the trophy from the Spaniard and becoming the first American to become champion in the tournament’s 24-year history 6-3, 7-6(3).

Up to this match Nadal had a record of won vs lost sets of 28-0 in the Acapulco Tournament, now the record changes to 28-2. Ouerrey fought in a draw that hosted 6 of the  top-10 using his blasting service as his most powerful weapon. In his last duel the San Francisco Giant scored 19 aces against 1 from the Spaniard.

“It was an incredible week for me, I got to win over Top players” spoke Querrey about edging over fifth seed David Goffin (11 ATP) in the second-round, fourth seed Dominic Thiem (9 ATP) in the quarter-finals and sixth seed Nick Kyrgios (17 ATP) in the semi-finals.

One break was enough for Querrey to own the first set and remember Nadal he’s human and that he makes mistakes. Bewilderment was evident in Nadal’s face, he had a hard time with his service and missed the opportunities in the breaks he made.

“Its simple, his game was better than mine. I didn’t play as well during the first set. His game was nearly perfect, his backcourt game was great. During the tie-break I faulted three times with the 1-0, I searched for what I thought would work but I wasn’t able to achieve it. I’m still happy about this week”, spoke Nadal in a press conference right after the match.

Querrey is projected to jump to No. 26 on Monday, his highest standing since August 2013.

March 4, 2017

Croatian Darija Jurak and Australian Anastasia Rodionova have snatched the title in women’s doubles during the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis de Telcel after playing the first match of the evening.

The third seeded duple overcame their rivals, Colombian Mariana Duque Mariño and Paraguayan Veronica Cepede Royg, with 6-3, 6-2 in a 74-minute duel where they made display of their domain of their game with six breaks and 60 out of 107 points scored.

This is Jurak-Rodionova’s second title as a team, the first being their coronation in Estarbourne 2016. For the 32-year-old Croatian this is her fourth doubles title: Monterrey 2014, Dubai 2016, Eastbourne 2016, and Acapulco. Rodionova (45 ATP) sums 11 doubles title.

Second-place players Mariana Duque-Mariño holds the Panamerican Games 2015 (Toronto) gold medal and lost her second doubles final in Acapulco, in 2013 she fell along with her compatriot Catalina Castaño. Paraguayan Cepede Royg was cut short and only holds the Olympic gold medal from Rio 2017 with Argentinian María Irigoyen as her partner.

Top seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares are one match away from their first ATP World Tour doubles title of 2017 after defeating Philipp Petzschner and Aisam Qureshi 6-4, 7-6(1). They will play John Isner and Feliciano Lopez, who prevailed in a marathon 6-3, 4-6, 16-14 match over Oliver Marach and Fabrice Martin. Isner/Lopez erased match points at 8/9, 10/11 and 12/13 before converting on their fourth match point.

Querry is the first American finalist to battle for the Acapulco Title

Querry stunt Australian player Nick Kyrgios (sixth seeded) with a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory. Last year Querrey didn’t make it past semifinals after being defeated by Dominic Thiem.

“I was able to keep up, after he won some games, my back-hand was very good and that was the key” said Querry after the game.

The last match of the day did not disappoint in terms of emotions and the Mexican audience demonstrated that it doesn’t hold grudges  (Kyrgios kicked Novak Djokovic out of the tournament the previous night) and had the audience cheering for his “cheeky” style and ease to play.

The outcome was a surprise when, after a very tight tie-break in the third set and a double batch against him, inexplicably the Australian was unable to respond on of Querrey’s shots leaving Kyrgios out of the final duel.

 Querrey holds a negative score against Nadal of 0-4 with the Madrid 2016 tournament as their most recent confrontation.

“When I play my best, I’m capable of beating a lot of these top guys and I’ve been able to put it all together these past three matches,” said Querrey. “It just gets tougher from here because Rafa has been playing great all year, so I’m going to talk with my coach and leave it all out on the court.”

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Nadal seems invincible in the Acapulco contest. With more than seven thousand spectators gathered in the Pegaso Stadium that almost entirely cheered for him, Rafael edged Croatian Marin Cilic (3) 6-1 and 6-2 in a 83-minute duel. If Nadal wins, this would be his third title, his first in 205 and the second in 2013.

“I started off very intense, he made some mistakes during the first set and during the second his play was much better, but the end I saved certain games with my serve. I would say this match was very thorough”-Nadal

The Mallorcan delivered such a spectacle that made him receive thundering ovations in several occasions. During the opening set Cilic hit 15 errors in the first five games enabling Nadal to take the lead 5-0. A pair of aces tilted the scores to Cilic’s side but it wasn’t enough.

The second set was started of just as the first: with Nadal in the lead after taking an early break. A backhand passing shot on the run gave Nadal an insurance break to lead 5-2 and he struck a forehand winner on his first match point to advance in one hour and 23 minutes.   

This is Nadal’s second final round during this current season, the first  he played Roger Federer for the Australian Open title. Only Ferrer and Thomas Muster have won the Acapulco title more than once.

March 3, 2017

Due to it’s success during its first edition, Grupo Pegaso announced the second edition of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presented by Cinemex that will take place in Los Cabos July 31-August 5.

Jose Antonio Fernandez, the tournament director, shared how Grupo Pegaso worked very hard during four years in order to obtain a second tour ATP franchise which highly succeeded expectations during it’s first edition, despite it took place during the same days as the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro the tournament had top 60 ATP contestants. 

“The first and biggest inquiry was how many fans would show up? People have this perception that Los Cabos is an expensive destination, the location of the destination itself… but the turnout was marvelous 12,300 spectators!  There are tournaments that take years to reach such number!” shared Fernandez

For the tournament’s second edition the challenge is even bigger so the company will launch a strong national circuit tour titled “Vamos a Los Cabos” (let’s go to Los Cabos) that is expecting around 2,500 contestants. The contest winners will receive tickets to Los Cabos so they can enjoy a week of great tennis. The tour will start in Los Cabos and the cities of Los Mochis, Obregon, Tijuana, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Culiacan, Chihuahua and La Paz will follow.

The press conference was joined by Jose Antonio Fernandez, Patricia Ortega (General Manager of Cinemex), Rodrigo Esponda (Tourism director Los Cabos), Genaro Ruiz (Baja California Sur’s Secretary of tourism),  Daniel Becker (Grupo Financiero Mifel Director), and Spanish player Feliciano Lopez finalist of Los Cabos’ first edition. 

Rodrigo Esponda spoke about how Los Cabos is a city that likes to promote sporting events and hosting the Abierto de los Cabos complemented the city’s repertoire. Having an event of this sort adds to the tourist activities offer. 

Last year’s finalist, Feliciano Lopez shared his experience as being “brutal”. The Spaniard believes Grupo Pegaso organizes great tournaments in spectacular locations, “thanks to the tournament I discovered Los Cabos (…) Hopefully this year I’ll be able to win the title”.

Daily-pass ticket prices start at 390 Mexican pesos are available.