Acapulco, Gro., February 22, 2020. – Rafael Nadal is the idol everyone wants to see. His presence captivates everyone, even when it comes to training.

Tonight the Mallorcan trained in the stadium Mextenis with Stan Wawrinka as his rival and summoned hundreds of followers, who remained faithful for more than two hours watching the players.

Rafa is getting ready for his debut at the Abierto Mexicano de Mextenis Telcel, presentado por HSBC and thrills with his strokes.

Wawrinka showed several shots with that exquisite one handed backhand that has earned him so much praise by Nadal, still a little bit imprecise on his ground strokes, exchanges thoughts with Carlos Moya, his coach.

The spaniard, ranked #1 at the tournament, he looked serious; the swiss on the other hand looked more loosen, who even asked to be recognized after a winning-shot that raised exclamations.

On the stands you could hear the voices encouraging each other when they failed, or the applause when they disputed a good point.

In the end, both gave themselves time to please the fans, thirsty for an autograph, who swirled in the boxes to be one of the lucky ones to capture the precious memory.

Acapulco, Gro., February 22, 2020. – Grupo Mextenis explores new horizons for its commitment to tennis. It is not enough to organize the best tournament in Latin America, now seeks to venture into the development of this sport; and the first step is to offer a seminar called the “Tennis Talks”, which will be held within the framework of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, presentado por HSBC, on Friday 28th and with the participation of players and former players such as Carlos Moya, David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez.

“We wanted to start getting involved with parents, although we are not a company dedicated to the development of tennis, we believe we can contribute important things, as a tournament we have the tools, and the good relationships we have with the players allow us to “steal” these minutes, dedicated to a project that has already started and hopefully the answer will be good and the public will come, because there are few opportunities to ask Carlos Moya or David Ferrer”, explained Raul Zurutuza, director of the tournament.
One of the reasons for this new challenge is that next year the tournament will open a new house, whose larger dimensions will allow for more full-time work on tennis and its development.
As for the new complex, called Arena Mia, Zurutuza admitted that there is a mixture of nostalgia and emotion for moving. “There are 20 years here, the first great anecdote of the tournaments was that it began to pour rain one Friday in 2001, it was the first big challenge for Mextenis as a company, because we had to keep going; at that time they were clay courts and it was more difficult to dry them. In that sense it causes a bit of nostalgia, but very motivated because it is always exciting moving to a brand new home, it will be worthwhile”.

Another challenge that goes hand in hand with the premiere of the new building is to spread in the new generations the seed of love for tennis, “this sport has this very important challenge worldwide, there is a clear decrease of people playing tennis in countries where tennis is not top three or four; but in nations like ours, where this sport is suffering, we need to get more involved, we no longer need to have two major tournaments (Acapulco and Los Cabos), now we have to deal with the “bull” that is development and contribute our bit of sand to it”, he concluded.

The mexican Renata Zarazua will face the number one seed

Acapulco, Gro., February 22, 2020.- The spaniard Rafael Nadal, the man to beat in the 27th edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, presentado por HSBC, and the main attraction of the event, will begin the search of his third title in Acapulco before his countryman Pablo Andujar, 52 ATP, according to the main draw presentation celebrated this Saturday in the Atlantes Hall of the Princess Imperial World.

Nadal who comes to the tournament as the number 2 player in the world’s ranking, has three victories in equal number of matches with Andujar, who was last faced six seasons ago in the tournament in Rio de Janeiro.

Meanwhile, the reigning champion of the Abierto Mexicano, Nick Kyrgios of Australia, who arrives at the event in 21st place in the standings, will begin the defense of the crown, against the young Frenchman Ugo Humbert (44), with whom he will face for the first time.

Among the most attractive matches of the first round, will be staged by the Swiss veteran Stanislas Wawrinka, third seed, against the American Frances Tiafoe, while the German Alexander Zverev, second seed, will have as rival the Australian Jordan Thompson.

The mexican player Gerardo Lopez Villasenor, who is one of the beneficiaries of the three wild cards awarded by the organizing committee, will have to wait for the qualifying phase to meet his rival against whom he will debut in the main draw.

On the other hand, Alex De Minaur, who was present in the draw as representative of the ATP players, will have as rival one of the young promises of the circuit, the 20 year old Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, who defeated in the Next Gen ATP Finals in Italy at the end of 2019.

In the women’s tournament, where the WTA celebrates its 20th anniversary in Guerrero, without a doubt the most expectant encounter will be the one faced by the number one seed, Sloane Stephens of the United States, against the mexican Renata Zarazua, who entered the event by invitation.

Stephens, 26 years old, ranked 34th WTA, she will fight to raise her second crown at the Mexican Open as she did in 2016. The 2017 US Open champion has a total of six WTA professional titles on her list.

Her rival, Renata Zarazua, already knows what it’s like to win a match in the Abierto Mexicano, a couple of years ago she beat Czech Krystina Pliskova in the first round, so she will seek to be one of the favorites for local fans.

Meanwhile, the legendary Venus Williams, who returns to decorate the event for the two decades of women at the Abierto Mexicano, where she was crowned a couple of times in 2009 and 2010, expects rival who will come out of the qualification phase.

While Christina McHale, also from the United States, and the player representing the WTA during the drawing ceremony, will debut against her countrywoman Lauren Davis in the first round of the main draw.

The first round matches in both main draws will begin next Monday at 16:00 in the different courts of the Princess Imperial World Tennis Complex.

With more than 40 children from DIF Acapulco and local audience, Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, started the activities in Acapulco with a waterski show in
Paseo del Pescador.

Representing ocean figures and symbols, the New Generation Academy caught the attention of the families gathered at the pier during Friday afternoon, before the start of the tournament activities.

After the water acrobatics, the AMT continued with a small practice with the kids of the audience that had the opportunity to play with the Mexican players Renata Zarazúa, Fernanda Contreras, Lucas Gómez and Alejandro Hernández.

“We are happy because we turn 20 years since we took the right choice and we moved the tournament to the beautiful Acapulco, for us it’s a pleasure to share these moments with families from Acapulco”, said Raúl Zurutuza. “Every year we find new activities to involve the audience not only with the tournament but also with the tennis players”.

On her behalf, Renata Burillo, said: “We are very happy and thankful because we are always welcome and support, we hope to maintain the tournament here for many years in the future”

The Mayor of Acapulco, Adela Roman Ocampo said to the public “ Today Mextenis moved from Diamante to the traditional Acapulco so the people could feel close to the event and interact with young Mexican athletes, they ar4e the role models we want the new generations to follow”, she also thanked the CEO of the tournament, the Mextenis administration president and the players that shared the afternoon with the public.

It was also present in the event the tourism secretary of Acapulco, Jose Luis Castillo, who also shares the importance to promote the sports.

• At the age of 22 he has shown that holds what is necessary to become one of the greatest tennis figures worldwide.

In the last decade, the greatest dilemma of the ATP circuit is what will happen with the next generation of professional tennis players, once the inevitable end of the “Big 4” finally comes.

Alexander Zverev, at the age of 22, has stablished as one of the best players in the world, and with this he holds now the responsibility to follow the steps of the so called “Big 4”.

Since Alexander was born, the sport has been a big part of his life. Both his parents are former professional tennis players, that represented the Soviet Union. He shares the Tennis gen with his older brother Mischa.

“I always say that tennis is my passion since I was a boy, it was my first love”, he said. “I have never played for the money, the sponsorships or the contracts… I play because I want and because i enjoy it very much”.

“Sascha” always tells the same story: he graved a racquet to push a ball around the house, being this the first time, he connected with the sport.

“When I was around a year and a half, I grabbed a racquet and started to move the ball around the entire apartment”, tells Zverev. “later they took me to a tennis court and since then, they can’t keep me away of the courts. I enjoyed it back then and I still do. That’s how everything started”.

With his family being deep into the sport, Zverev was immediately involved with tennis. While his father worked with Mischa, his mother was his first coach. He was really competitive, something common between brothers who play the same sport.

“I believe I have a good technique and my mother helped me developed it, so I give all the credit to her”, said Alexander. “My backhand particularly, it is 100% because of my mother’s coaching skills”.

The introduction to the sport at a young age with the competitiveness, took Alexander to rise in the junior category, taking him to Top 1 and at the age of 13 he participated at his first event of the ITF junior circuit.

Just a couple of years after, he debuted in the ATP tour in the Hamburg tournament. But he prioritized his participation in the Junior circuit until he won the Junior title of Australian Open in 2014.

That win was the trigger to convince Alexander to jump to the professional circuit, but he spent the next two years playing between challengers and the ATP tour, his first win was until 2016.

In the semi finals of the Halle Open in Germany, Zverev got his first win against Roger Federer, until that moment he had been finalist of the tournament for 10 years in a row.

That victory was the first big step in Alexander’s career, he didn’t won the title in the tournament but he got his first win after only a couple of months in Saint Petersburg , were he won against Stan Wawrinka, champion of the US Open.

“It was very special”, said Alexander. “I am very happy for the victory but, most of all because it was against a great player like Wawrinka”.

Fast forwarding the history 2 years, Zverev is found in the Top 10 with multiple Masters titles. Every success reached has and exceed the expectations everybody had on him.

In 2019 his rise got complicated.

After winning the London ATP Finals at the end of 2018, Zverev had a lot of highs and lows. Mid-April he only won 12 of 18 disputed matches. The bad luck strike began with a defeat against Milos Raonic in 3 sets at the Australian Open.

In that match, Zverev smashed the racquet after Raonic won 8 consecutive games. No one knew but it was a premonition of what was going to happen during the next months, that were a little complicate for the German.

“It made me feel better”, he explained. “I was really upset, and I let my anger out. After London I didn’t have time to rest properly, but that is how the life of a tennis player goes. I’m happy of how the season end and I wouldn’t change anything”.

One month after Sacha’s fall in Australia, he showed signs of the quality of game we were used to see him play, he advanced in Abierto Mexicano, but he was defeated by Nick Kyrgios. Weeks later in the Barcelona Open he lost against Nico Jarry in three sets.

“It’s not a secret my game is not at its best “, he said to the press. “I’m losing shots with my backhand, which I consider is my biggest strength. I’m not doing anything well. I’m failing my service and committing a lot of double faults. My game is low, and I don’t know what to do to get out of this situation”.

“Yes, I won Masters titles and the ATP finals in 2018, but now what? I’ve realized it is not healthy to think this way. Tennis doesn’t follow a straight line.”, he said. You don’t win first a challenge, then an ATP250, 500, Masters. Things doesn’t work this way. As a junior I never won a Future. Maybe I need to win more Masters before I win a Grand Slam. I’m not worried about it, I know my moment will come”.

“Many young players have had better outcomes in the Grand Slams, but I’m not worried. I know who I am and why I’m doing this for. I work every single day to become the best version of myself”, said Alexander Zverev, the principal heir to the tennis throne.

In 2005, Venus Williams dominated the courts. She won Wimbledon after defeating Lindsey Davenport, in the longest female final in the history of Wimbledon. The prior day to the match, Williams assisted a reunion organized by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the organization that direct the tournament, and she asked the attendants to close their eyes and imagine they were a Little girl that has been training during years only to “ you are not worth the same as a boy”.

During that year, Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick in straight sets, winning $1.13 million dollars, contrasting that, Williams, won $1.08 million.

When she was asked in 2006, why the wage gap persisted despite de critics, Tim Phillips the president of the club, excused the discrepancy of the prizes arguing that the physical demands for the men in matches of 5 sets where higher in contrast of the matches of 3 sets the women played. Phillips added that the club didn’t saw the difference in the prize money as a “matter of equal rights”, and pointed that the Top 10 players of WTA won more than the Top 10 players of ATP the prior year by playing also the doubles tournament.

Later that year, Larry Scott, president of WTA, asked Venus if she was willing to play a major role in the search of wage equality, mission that she accepted.

Williams and other players involved needed a better argument over the format of the matches was why the men deserved a higher wage. The London Times published an article that got to the British parliament, Williams said that the structure of Wimbledon prize money.”

“It devalues the principle of meritocracy and diminishes the years of hard work that women on the tour have dedicated to become professional tennis players. The message I like to send to women and girls around the world is that the sky is not the limit. My fear is that Wimbledon is sending the opposite message out loud and clear”.

In 2007, all effort made by Williams paid off. Phillips, the All England Club president, announced:” this year, considering the general progression and the social factors, the committee decided that it is time to conclude this matter and eliminate the wage gap”.

After Venus knew about the decision made, she gave her own statement: “The biggest tennis tournament in the world has now reached a higher level. I am glad about the decision of Wimbledon, that today recognizes the value of female tennis”.

Williams, 39 years of age and near to the end of her career as a professional tennis player, will be remembered not only for her success in the courts or being Serena’s older sister, possibly the greatest player of all times, but for the victory in behalf of all the female players by achieving equality and inspiring many female athletes to raise their voices and demand evolution.

• Arena Mia, the tennis complex Will be ready by the end of the year

Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Telcel, presentado por HSBC, will have a new house next year, a brand-new stadium with all the comfort and technologies to give the espectators an amazing experience.

José Moyao, the responsible architect of the tennis complex Arena Mia, anticipated that, “the player will feel secure in the courts and the spectators will feel very close to them”, he explained that in this sports precinct the last fan will be as far as 50 meters of the court, which makes it something extraordinary. “As a reference, in Auditorio Nacional the last spectator is 100 meters away from the stage, this will make the experience very intimate for the fans”.

The tennis complex, as the architectural canons dictate, will be placed from north to south, which will avoid the glare by sunlight, “During the morning you can play without any problem, and by night we have the lighting of three thousand luxes (lighting unit), which allows it to be uniform throughout the court, Moyao said,  he was also responsible of the construction of Foro Mundo Imperial.

A very important point is the commitment to build the complex with top technology innovations to create a better experience and being conscious about the care of our planet. The stadium will have the capacity to host 10 thousand 195 spectators, and the seats will be fabricated with UV resistant polymers, while the roof will be a membrane that casts shadow and only LED lighting will be used, in case of a power outage the recovery will be immediate.

The stadium will use rainwater collected in a water tank; we will count with a water treatment plant to provide the service to the bathrooms. For the air conditioning matter, this will only be in closed areas, and energy savings are given using LEDs with the quality required; being fully standardized with sports lighting requirements, which avoids any glare for tennis players”.

The tennis complex structure it’s a combination between concrete and iron, in addition the complex will have two GrandStands, one with the capacity to host 3 thousand fans and the other will be able to host 1500 spectators.

The stadium will count with private boxes, and suites with 18 seats each. There will be a food court, 4 elevators and the Payers Lounge.

All the areas will be easy access for everyone.

“Obviously it will meet all the safety regulations, it is a type A building, everything has been done as it is supposed and we are 30 percent above of what the regulation for damage indicates”, said the architect.

The foundation of the building has a considerable progress, 153 of the 160 required piles have been placed and the structure is already built; one part is being fabricated in Mexico City and the other in San Luis Potosí. “The plan is to conclude the construction of the complex in December 2020, test it during January and have it ready for the 2021 tournament”.

The dimensions of the court surface will be 46 meters long (including the back of the court) by 26 meters wide, the space will be multipurpose due to the fact that can be used for concerts and other sport events, this will allow the complex to be open for more than once a year, regardless of the fact that it is built 100 percent to develop tennis.

José Moyao says that overseeing such a big Project holds an enormous responsibility and he believes this complex has everything to escalate and grow exponentially. “Diamante zone has turn really attractive because of the closeness to Mexico City, because of multiple attractions has turned in to an important destination, the beach, hotels, restaurants, golf courses, Foro Imperial among others, and this complex will reinforce that attractive as a tourism destination”

He is now focused on the construction of the complex that without any doubt it will be the best stadium for the best tournament in Latin America.

• The former champion returns to Acapulco to play for the first time in the hard courts of AMT. Joining the celebration of the 20-year anniversary of WTA being part of the tournament.
• The Canadian Raonic will be playing for the first time in this ATP 500 tournament, by including him the draw is complete and it will include thirteen players within the Top 40.

Mexico City. – The beginning of February marks the count down for the celebration of the 27th edition of Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

The draw is headed by Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios, Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens, amongst others. The AMT has revealed the wild card players that will join the tournament at the end of the month in Acapulco: Venus Williams and Milos Raonic.

Venus Williams, former champion of 2009 and 2010, returns to the tournament to play for the first time in the hard courts of Acapulco. Also joining the celebration of the 20-year anniversary of WTA being part of the tournament.
The American veteran is currently ranked 66 in the world, also being the second active player with more titles under her name (49).

“We can now revel the secret: For the 20 year anniversary celebration we always wanted Venus Williams to come back to play in Acapulco, she is part of the history of the tournament , and after many years she still is a role model in the world of tennis”, appointed Raul Zurutuza, CEO of the tournament.

Also, in the announcement, was confirmed that Milos Raonic hold the first Wild card of the male Draw, with him there are now thirteen players within the Top 40 playing the tournament this year. Raonic is currently 32 in the world rankings, and he will be playing in Acapulco for the first time, after he was forced to withdraw due to an injure in 2017
In the beginning of the new season, the former no. 3 in the world advanced to quarter finals in the Australian Open, losing to the current champion Novak Djokovic.

“Milos has always wanted to play in Acapulco, but for many different reasons he hasn’t been able to. After a rough couple of years with many injuries, he seems back on his feet and in great shape. That will always be great for the show and the game quality that we will see” Zurutuza added.

Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC will take place from february 24th to 29th in Hotel Princess Mundo Imperial.

* For the third  time AMT has been acknowledge, by the players, as the best ATP 500 of the tour.

* It is also the second year that Acapulco is the best ATP 500 and WTA International, during the same season.

Ciudad de México.- Just a few days after receiving the recognition as the best WTA International tournament, thanks to the players vote, Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, also celebrated being chose as the best ATP 500 tournament of 2019.

The ATP players of the tour voted to pick their favorite tournament of the season, giving the recognition to AMT, for the third time in history after also winning during 2007 and 2017.

It is worth mentioning that this is the second time that the Tournament in Acapulco won both recognitions in the WTA and ATP tour categories, after 2017 when it was accomplished. It can be compared with Indian Wells, winning best ATP 1000 and Premier Mandatory for six occasions since 2014.

“It gives me great satisfaction and huge pride to be able to share this news with the press, the public and all those involved in the AMT organization”, stated Raul Zurutuza, CEO of AMT.

“To compete against 12 tournaments of great quality and prestige amongst the ATP 500 category, and being choose as the best tournament of the season,  is a recognition to all those involved in the organization that makes our tournament one of the most important sports event of our country”, assured.

Celebrated from February 25 ^th to March 2nd, AMT 2019 had the presence of great players such as Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, John Isner, Stan Wawrinka, Cameron Norrie, Alex De Minaur and Nick Kyrgios, champion of this edition.  Also, this year was the last appearance of David Ferrer, four times winner of the “Guaje de Plata”.

“Since the first edition in 1993 we committed to give the all players the best treatment possible. Its been 26 years since then, and the treatment we give to the players has turned into one of the main reasons for the players to enjoy Acapulco that much”, explained Zurutuza.

“Details such as the fans reactions and support during the main matches and activities outside the courts, the farewell we organized to our friend David Ferrer, were some of the factors that helped us win the distinction of the best tournament. We will make all within our possibilities to repeat the accomplishment next year”, he added.

Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC Will be celebrated from February 24 ^th to 29^th in Princess Mundo Imperial hotel.

• Thanks to the players vote, Acapulco won for the twelve time the recognition as the best tournament of its category.
• The award Will be shared with Auckland’s tournament.
• the organization Will receive the recognition from WTA during the celebration of AMT 2020.

Ciudad de México.-  Once the tennis season is over, and prior to the star of the new one, the awards of the best tournaments of the year had been appointed, amongst them, Acapulco shines again.

Through the vote of the WTA players, Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, was appointed as the best tournament of the WTA International category.

After the 2019 tournament, that crowned champion the chinese Wang Yafan in the singles category, and the doubles champions Zheng Saisai and Victoria Azarenka, the 2019 Amt secured his place in history after winning the award of best WTA international for twelve times.

“This award is an amazing accomplishment, it recognizes the dedication, investment and welcome that the organization and the team offer to guaranty the special experience that our WTA players enjoy in Acapulco”, stated Steve Simon, president and CEO of WTA.

After winning the award seven time between 2001 and 2013. In 2014 the WTA changed the awards format, dividing the awards in regions, with this format AMT won as the best WTA international tournament of America during 3 years in a row (2014, 2015 y 2016). In 2017 after new changes, AMT won the 11^th award.

In this occasion, the new award will be shared for the first time with another tournament, the ASB Classic of Auckland.

“In the name of Mextenis, I’m really proud to announce that Abierto Mexicano has been chose as one of the best WTA tournaments in the world”, said Raul Zurutuza, CEO of the tournament. “The fact that it has been awarded 12 times in 19 editions, speaks loudly of the great work and dedication to every detail, that is something that the players appreciate along all these years”.

The next edition of Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, will represent the first 20 years of the female tournament. The WTA organization will reward with a special recognition to the organization of the tournament.

“The next year the WTA turns 20 years since the first appearance in Abierto Mexicano, and I’m sure that the fans will very much enjoy the celebration we are preparing to recognize the importance of female tennis in our tournament”, finished Zurutuza.