• Rafa defeated Tommy Paul in straight sets and passes the quarterfinals 
• Nadal and Medvedev will meet again repeating the final of this year’s Australian Open

Acapulco, February 24^th, 2022. – When the main draw ceremony was held, the public dreamed of a repetition of the same final as in the Australian Open between Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev. The fans’ wishes were fulfilled and now they will have what they wanted: a rematch of the final of the first Grand Slam on the season, in the semifinal of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

Rafa’s obstacle to the semifinal was the American Tommy Paul. Just like in the first 2 rounds, Nadal met a new opponent but did not waste any time, especially in the first set. Nadal would defined this set as “the best set I’ve played in a long time”.

The Spaniard had no sympathy towards the American during the first set. Nadal achieved everything he tried, Paul only saw how he was getting defeated from start to finish during the first six games of the match. After the storm delivered by Nadal, he got the first set 6-0.

Everything improved for Paul in the second set, and Nadal kept steady throughout the set. Emotions arrived at the Arena GNP Seguros, Tommy Paul began to loosen up and Rafa’s mistakes paired up the match. The American saw an opportunity to take the lead.

Rafa had to come from behind several times to not lose the second set. The key moment was when Tommy managed to get a chance to serve for the set, but Nadal’s returns made the difference, the score was 5-5. After holding his serve, the three-time champion in Acapulco had two match points, but Paul fought until he forced a tiebreak.

Nadal lost the first point with a backhand error but managed to recover and even came up 5-3 in the tiebreaker. Paul managed to get two more points and then the tiebreak came to the decisive moment, when he would have one match point on one side and another one on the other side.

Nadal won after by 7-5 in the tiebreak and the public applauded for his victory. Rafa sealed the expected semifinal against Daniil Medvedev.

• The Russian will be the number 1 in the world starting next Monday
• He will face Nadal and play for the ticket to the final, and he said that facing Nadal is a great challenge

Acapulco, February 24th. – The Russian Daniil Medvedev, who will be the number 1 in the ATP ranking next Monday, said after his quarterfinal match of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, that this day has been “a roller coaster of emotions”.

The combination of the Serbian Novak Djokovic’s loss, who lost in Dubai against the Czech Jiri Vesely, and also the victory of Medvedev against the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka in Acapulco, which led him to the semifinals. Medvedev got enough points to reach number 1 in the world.

“I’ve received a lot of messages. I can’t believe this is happening (being number one). Today has been a roller coaster of emotions,” the Russian said in a conference.

The Russian, the first ranked in Acapulco, talked about everything he has lived and also the armed conflict between Russia-Ukraine. He stressed that there are things more important than any sport.

“On days like today, you realize that tennis doesn’t matter much. I woke up with the emotions of war, then with Novak, and then being number 1,” he recalled.

He also said that his arrival at the maximum tennis level is a great achievement, however, he believes that it is still a little early to talk about a new era of tennis.

“If we look at the last Grand Slams, those three players are still dominating. I will try to do my best, but they are still very strong. However, I’m very happy to achieve one of my biggest goals in tennis,” he said.

On Friday’s semifinal, Daniil said he is honored to play against any one of the big three: Nadal, Djokovic or Roger Federer.

“It’s great if it’s against Rafa Nadal. Playing against the Big 3 is always an honor and a great challenge,” he admitted.

The couple integrated by the Mexican Hans Hach Verdugo and the American John Isner sealed their pass to the semifinals in the doubles tournament of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC after they defeated the Spanish Marcel Granollers and the Argentine Horacio Zeballos 5-7, 6-3, 10-5.

This Friday, Hach and Isner, champions at the 2021 Abierto de Tenis Mife in Los Cabos, will seek to get to the final of the tournament in which they will face the duo composed by the Salvadoran Marcelo Arévalo and the Dutch Jean Julien Rojer, who defeated the Mexican Santiago González and the Argentine Andrés Molteni 7-6(4), 6-2.

In this coming round with the four best couples, there’s one that came to the main draw as Lucky Losers: the British Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara. They defeated the British Jamie Murray and the Brazilian Bruno Soares 4-6, 6-3 10-6.

In the semifinals, Glasspool and Heliovaara will play against the Spaniard Feliciano López and the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who eliminated the Colombians Juan Cabal and Robert Farah, second ranked, by sets of 4-6, 6-4, 12-10.

• The Greek defeated the American Marcos Giron and got to his second semifinal in Acapulco
• The Briton is now part of the four semifinalists since he defeated the German Peter Gojowczyk

Acapulco February 24^th, 2022. – The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, number 4 in the world, continues to meet all expectations of the Mexican fans, he also reached the semifinals by defeating the American Marcos Giron (No. 59) 6-3, 6-4, in the quarterfinal match at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

The Greek, No. 3, has showed a solid game throughout the week and he is in the semifinals of the XXIX edition of the Acapulco’s Tournament.

Tsitsipas won with five aces and without any double faults in an hour 18 minutes of game.

After this victory, Tsitsipas will play, for the second consecutive time, in the semifinal of the Mexican tournament. His rival will be the British Cameron Norrie, who has only played on one occasion and on clay.

“I’m focused on the next match. He’s a great player and we’ve already met. Let’s see what he has to offer,” Tsitsipas told the media.

Norrie, No. 12 of the world, entered the semifinals for the second time in Acapulco, he was on the semifinals back in 2019. 

The British was the champion at the 2021 Abierto de Tenis Mifel in Los Cabos after he defeated the German Peter Gojowczyk.

• The Russian received the news that he will be number one in the world due to Djokovic’s loss in Dubai.
• He is the first player outside of the Big 4 (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray) to reach the top of the ranking since 2004.

Acapulco, February 24rd, 2022. – Daniil Medvedev will never forget his first week in Acapulco. A few hours after getting to the quarterfinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, the Serbian Novak Djokovic lost in Dubai against the Czech Jiri Vesely; that moment led to a historic event: the day Medvedev is the number 1 in the ATP ranking.

Medvedev will be the world’s new number one in the ATP ranking starting Monday, February 28^th. After Djokovic lost 2,000 points that the Australian Open gives to the champion, and this paired things with the Russian, who did not lose points in the first Grand Slam of the season.

Back in 2004, the Big Four domination (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray) started at the top of the ATP ranking. In the last 18 years, Medvedev was the first player to break that hegemony.

Daniil Medvedev became the third Russian in history to reach the world’s number one ranking, after Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin. The last to reach No. 1 was Safin, that was the last time he was at the top of the ranking, back in April 2001. 

If Medvedev manages to maintain his number 1 status until May 9^th, he would have a new record added to the history of his country as the number one in the world and surpassing Safin’s 9 weeks and Kafelnikov’s 6 weeks.
Daniil knew he would reach the top of the ranking with a title from the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC. Although he already managed to establish himself as number one, the title in Acapulco means staying ahead of the rest of the players and begin his legacy.

• The sixth edition of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel will take place from August 1st – 6th in Los Cabos, BCS.
• Norrie, currently number 12 in the world, the reigning champion; Auger-Aliassime is the number 9 in the world.
• Tickets will go on sale on April 4th.

The Abierto de Tenis Mifel confirmed that the 6th edition of the Tournament, which will be held from August 1st – 6th, will feature two star players, the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, current number 9 in the world, and the British Cameron Norrie, champion in 2021 and will seek to defend his title.

“Today, we are very proud to announce the presence of Felix, who, with only 21 years old, is the number 9 in the world. For the first time, we will have a Top 10 in Los Cabos. We are extremely excited to return with an audience and media”, said José Antonio Fernández, Director of the tournament.

Auger-Aliassime (No. 9), who won his first title in the ATP 500 in Rotterdam against Stefanos Tsitsipas, is one of the younger players that has grown in recent years. Since April 2021, he has Toni Nadal as support and as part of his technical team.

Norrie, player No. 1 of the United Kingdom, and No. 12 in the world, has been climbing in the ATP ranking thanks to his great tennis. He won his first title in Los Cabos in 2021, and later lifted the Indian Wells Masters 1000 trophy, this being his most important accomplishment so far. This season, he has already won a title in the Delray Beach tournament

The ATP 250 Los Cabos will have a singles main draw with only 28 players and 16 players in the doubles draw. The prize money is $ 873,000.

The tournament, one of the most important in its category, was inaugurated in 2016, and had the Croatian Ivo Karlovic as the first champion. Sam Querrey (2017), Fabio Fognini (2018) and Diego Schwartzman (2019) have also been crowned in the singles category, while Mexican stars, such as Miguel Angel Reyes Varela in 2018 and Hans Hach Verdugo in 2021, won the doubles category.

This year, the Abierto de Tenis Mifel will celebrate its second edition at the Cabo Sports Complex, a multifunctional venue to host sporting and entertainment events in an open space just 250 metres from the host hotel, Solaz Los Cabos.

The site has an area of about 10,000 m2 where we will enjoy entertainment, cultural events and concerts.

The CSC, premiered in 2021, is located on an area of more than 4 hectares, and has a stadium with a capacity for 3,500 fans, a Grandstand for more than 1,000 people and five courts that can be adapted to receive up to 800 spectators. There’s also a special zone for players.

For the second consecutive edition, and due to the health contingency, the Abierto de Tenis Mifel will be held under the ATC Safety Program protocols, a plan created by the Tournament, with the ATP, and local authorities.

“The tournament will be held with the same security protocols that are being met in Acapulco, our goal is to ensure the safety of players, attendees and organizers,” added Fernández. Tickets for the 6th edition will go on sale starting April 4^th

• The No. 12 in the world is the British with the best ATP ranking
• Norrie confessed his love to Acapulco and promises to return

Acapulco, 24 February 2022. – Seven months ago, Norrie made the decision to attend the Abierto Los Cabos back in 2021 instead of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. As a result, he lifted his first ATP trophy in Mexico and immediately became emotionally linked to our country “It was worth it because I won my first title and won another two after that, it was a great moment. Since the first time I came to Acapulco, I have accumulated great memories. I have a good connection with the fans, there are always people who support me and shout’ Come on Norrie! ‘.

The British, who is a faithful to the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, and current No. 12 of the world, confesses the reasons why he loves the Tournament

“I always feel special and love the beach in general, I grew up in New Zealand and it reminds me of when I used to swim in the ocean, so I always come. You will see me here many years. It is definitely one of my favorite tournaments, I always play well here.”

Regarding his impressions on the new Arena GNP Seguros, Norrie highlighted the overall atmosphere “It’s cool to walk by the golf course and see the stadium. Even the players lounge, on the fourth floor above the court, looks amazing, it’s a great view, they have done a great job in building this stadium.” He even makes the recommendation to his countrymen to visit the Tournament “It is obviously very special to be leading the British and to be first place, especially with such good talent, as Daniel Evans and Andy Murray. In my opinion British tennis is in a great place, we have incredible young talent, hopefully they can come to Acapulco and experience playing here and love the tournament as much as I do.”
A few people know that Cameron Norrie was born in South Africa, grew up in New Zealand, represents the UK and, like the vast majority of players, he rarely spends more than two weeks in a single venue “I’ve moved around a lot and I’m always traveling, so I feel like my home is my suitcase. But I feel good in London, I have a good place and people remind me of New Zealand. While I enjoy coming to places like this and getting a little tan, one could say that London is my home”.

• The Mexican advanced easily alongside the Argentine Molteni
• The original rivals retired from the doubles draw

Acapulco, February  23rd, 2022. – The Mexican Santiago González and the Argentine Andrés Molteni advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, after defeating his compatriot Manuel Sánchez and the British Elbert Barr 6-1, 6-0.

It was a simple match for the winners of the Cordoba Open and the Argentine Open of this year, and today, they achieved victory in just 43 minutes. Their original rivals would be the American Tommy Paul and the British Cameron Norrie, but they withdrew themselves from the doubles category since they advanced to the quarterfinals in the singles draw. After the match, the Mexican highlighted positive comments from his fellow players and about the new Arena GNP Seguros.

“I think I’ve played every year since the tournament started in Acapulco and this new venue is amazing, and I’ not the only one saying this. All the players come into the stadium and say, ‘Wow, this is a first world stadium’. I think Acapulco deserves to keep growing. Hopefully in the future it can be a Masters 1000 because it has everything for that.

” I am very happy to get to the next round. It was a last minute change, we had to play against Cameron Norrie and well, that was better for us, but the first round is never easy. Now we are in the quarterfinals and we’re happy,  we’re dreaming of making progress here in Acapulco.”

In other doubles results, the British Jamie Murray alongside the Brazilian Bruno Soares, and the Spanish Marcel Granollers alongside the Argentine Horacio Zeballos advanced to the quarterfinals.

• Rafa defeated Stefan Kozlov in straight sets in an hour and 16 minutes of match
• The Spaniard also has the best start of a season in his career, 12-0

Acapulco, February 23rd, 2022. – Rafael Nadal is already in the quarterfinals of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, a round in which he has not lost in the Mexican tournament. After a solid opening in the first round, the Spaniard returned with his best version to win the second round against the American Stefan Kozlov.

Acapulco’s three-time champion faced a physically diminished version of Stefan Kozlov, who did not seem to be giving his 100%, despite having a day to rest. The American had starred in the longest match in the history of the tournament, 3 hours and 21 minutes, he defeated Grigor Dimitrov in the first round.

Nadal was precise with his serve and aggressive with his returns. He got 6-0 in just over half an hour and got the lead in the second set. Kozlov broke Rafa when the Spaniard was 4-2, and immediately lost the serve again afterwards. After confirming the break, the Manacor closed the match with a 6-3 in the second set.

The former number one in the world got to the quarterfinals of the tournament, this has been the best start of the season in his career, after a 12-0 record. “I have this feeling that, beyond victories, the most important thing is to play. It is true that things have started better than ever, so far,” shared Rafa after his match.

“At the end I’m playing and I’m competing. I’m competing well, and that’s the most important thing for me. After many complicated months, one gradually starts feeling better, somehow liberated,” Nadal added in a press conference.
In the quarterfinal match, Rafa will face Tommy Paul, who defeated Dusan Lajovic. It will be the first confrontation between the Spaniard and the American, a similarity that they share with Stefan Kozlov and Denis Kudla, two tennis players who had not faced Nadal before this Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

• The Russian, No. 2 in the world, defeated the Spaniard Pablo Andújar
• Medvedev got use  to Mexico’s weather

Daniil Medvedev is know for his calm and tranquility personality. For the second time, the Russian was in the main court in the new Arena Stadium GNP Seguros and opened day three of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

Medvedev only needed 1 hour 4 minutes, the second fastest match of this XXIX edition, to defeat the Spaniard Pablo Andújar 6-1, 6-2, in front of a Mexican audience that continues to show interest in seeing him become the 1 in the world.

Currently number 2 in the ATP ranking, Medvedev has many possibilities to climb to the first place in the coming weeks. In his second match in Acapulco, he excelled with seven aces, which was key to defeat Andújar (No. 68), who entered with a protected ranking to the Tournament.

While his stay in Mexico keeps extending, Daniil is enjoying the opportunity to star in the first scheduled match of each day.

“After seeing that Alexander Zverev finished almost at 5 am, I think I’m lucky to play at 6 and not in the last game. At the same time, what I have seen in each game is great, if it starts at 6 pm and there is no sun, even if it is hot and humid, the night will remain the same. And even if there are matches until after 12:00 at night, people are still here. I feel every game is great,” Medvedev said in a conference.

Although the Iberian had a better effectiveness percentage (71%) than Medvedev (54%) in his first serve, he never managed to break the serve against the Russian. In the first match of the GrandStand Caliente.mx, the britain Cameron Norrie defeated John Isner in three sets 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.