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.

March 1, 2017

Heartbroken and in disbelief, a fully packed Estadio Pegaso said farewell to Acapulco’s big time favorite. Nick Kyrgios left the fans in shock by taking first seed and second world best, Novak Djokovic, out of the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Telcel. The Australian will play American Sam Querrey next. 

With an astounding service (81%) that connected 25 aces, Kyrgios was consistent and played excellent tennis in an intense, 107-minute fight where a break was the decisive point that sent the 21-year-old to semifinals, 7-6(9), 7-5.

The first was an extremely close set that was defined by a tie-break that extended to a 11-9. In the second set Kyrgios increased the pressure over Nole, whom in 5-6 was under love-40 and was not able to recover.

Kyrgios (17 ATP) triumphed over Djokovic for the fist time which mis he has won over 3 out of 4 top ATP players: Nadal in Wimbledon 2014, Federer in Madrid 2015, and Novak Djokovic in Acapulco 2017. Kygios has a 0-5 head-2-head with Andy Murray. This is Nick’s 11^th win over top 10 players.

Novak Djokovic wasn’t left much to do to counteract the Australian’s effective serve, unmistakably making this the best battle in the Australian’s short career and laces him on his second semifinal round in this current season. His first has been Marseille where he was edged by Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The Australian “bad boy” will play Sam Querrey for the second time in this current ATP tour. Kyrgios imposed himself with a double 6-4 in the Masters 1000 in Shanghai 2016.

“My service was very good today, I competed for every point and worked on building up the pressure in every serve. I was very lucky”…”Honestly nothing changes when I play against top 10 players. I play my best when I play them, I’ve got no problem with this matches”, expressed Kyrgios, “I knew the public was going to cheer for him (Nole), he’s a great guy, he has done a lot for this sport and he’s a great player and I’m a controverted player and I’m not going to change who I am and will not stop playing”. Nick will try to be as aggressive as he can against Querrey that has a strong serve as well. 

March 2, 2017

An unconquered Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (1) took French Pauline Parmentier out of the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis tournament with final scores 6-2, 6-3. Lucic-Baroni is looking forward to make it past semifinals unlike her two previous participations in Acapulco.

Lucic-Baroni holds a 4-0 head-2-head with Parmentier including the match battled tonight at the Grand Stand Caliente.mx. Previous encounters took place in Palermo 2010 (clay), Indian Wells 2013 (hard-court) and Strasburg 2016 (clay). Mirjana played well in spite of her short absence, maybe that is what helped her play Parmentier that came from playing in Dubai where she fell during the first round. 

66 minutes were more than enough to seal her ticket to the next phase to play against Ukranian Lesia Tsurenko (7) that edged Jelena Ostapenko (3) 6-2, 7-6(5).

March 2, 2017

Former Acapulco Champion, Dominic Thiem, got overthrown by American Sam Querrey during quarterfinals; sweet revenge for Querrey who lost to Thiem during semifinals last year. Surprising fans at the Pegaso Stadium, Sam overthrew Thiem in a short 66-minute duel with partials 6-1, 7-5.

With 7 aces, 25 out of 28 gained points and 4 breaks Querrey displayed an impeccable game. Thiem (9 ATP) sums 4 quarterfinal rounds in this season: Brisbane, Sydney, Rotterdam and Acapulco where he lost his former title and what could have been his 9^th tittle in his career. 

Querrey had lost to Juan Martín del Potro just a week before in Delray Beach. This no. 40 ATP player’s second victory over a seed during the Acapulco contest, first was David Goffin (5). The San Francisco Giant is may win his first 2017 title and 9^th in his sporting career.  

“I feel good! I’ve played well this week, I played well last year… I like coming back here. I think the court suits my game and hopefully I can keep it up and play well again tomorrow”, spoke Querrey. 

Men’s Doubles-Quarter Finals

Jamie Murray (GB) / Bruno Soares (BRA) 6-1, 6-3  Scott lipsky (USA) / Sam Querrey (USA)

Oliver Marach (AUT) / Fabrice Martin (FRA) 7-5, 6-7 (1), 11-9  Radu Albot (MOL) / Mischa Zverev (ALE)

Philipp Petzschner (ALE) / Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 6-4, 6-2  Santiago González (MEX) / David Marrero (ESP)

John Isner (USA) / Feliciano López (ESP)  6-2, 7-5  Raven Klaasen (SUD) / Rajeev Ram (USA)

Women’s doubles-Quarterfinals

Madison Brengle (USA) / Nicole Gibbs (USA) 6-3, 6-2, 10-6 Darija Jurak (CRO) / Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)

Asia Muhammad (USA) / Taylor Townsend (USA) 6-2, 6-3  Danka Kovinic (MONTENEGRO) / Allcja Rosolska (POL)

Verónica Cepede Royg (PAR) / Mariana Duque Mariño (COL) 4-6, 6-4, 10-5  Chia-Jung Chuang (TAI) / Christina McHale (USA)

March 2, 2017

Monica Puig fell victim to Christina McHale (5). McHale became the first player to move on to the next round. The American player finished up with a killer 6-2, 6-2 in the stellar Grand Stand Caliente.mx.

The Olympic Champion from Rio 2017 was attempting to make it to semifinals for the first time en this tournament but made many mistakes that took a toll and made her lose her service four times in each set.

McHale (45 WTA) was much stronger; she had a powerful service and had more speed with her legs. Christina feels confortable in Acapulco, last year she made it to semifinals and made it to the final round in 2014, both times she lost against Dominika Cibulkova.

During the first set Puig gained some points with a low 48% effectiveness and had more problems with the backhand, specially when McHale served (21%).

Mónica tried to adjust her game after losing the first set, she tried to be more aggressive but McHale endured the attack leaving an evidently frustrated Puig.

The fifth game of the second set was fatal for Monica when she broke what seamed a simple game and McHale took advantage of this mistake.

McHale will now face French Kristina Mldenovic -who is evidently in optimal physical shape considering she had played a duel that lasted over three hours the previous night and still managed to edge Kirsten Flipkens in 1:22 hrs 6-4, 6-3. Both Flipkens and Mladenovic achieved less than 60% effective service but it was Kristina that scored points by connecting them.

FYI: This is the second time Mladenovic plays in Acapulco. In 2014 Mladenovic lost to McHale.

March 2, 2017

Day 4 in Acapulco and the top 4 seeds Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Marin Cilic and Dominic Thiem, will battle for a spot to the semifinals in four different quarter-final duels without playing each other. Same is happening with WTA players Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Kristina Mladenovic, Jelena Ostapenko and Mónica Puig, 

First to battle in the Pegaso stadium is Croatian Marin Cilic against Steve Johnson. The American player is up to his biggest challenge for he has a 2-0 head-2-head in favor of the 8^th ATP player.

Nadal (6 ATP), who remains undefeated in Acapulco will come face to face with Japanese player Yoshihito Nishioka (Q). 

Former champion Dominic Thiem will play Sam Querrey as he did last year and left behind during semifinals. 

Novak Djokovic (2 ATP) and Nick Kyrgios will star in today’s most anticipated match

WTA players order of play

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni vs Pauline Parmentier

Christina Mchale (5) vs Monica Puig

Kristina Mladenovic (2) vs Lesia Tusrenko (7)

March 1, 2017

The Mexico-Spain dupla Santiago González and David Marrero made it to second rounds in doubles at the Acapulco Open, Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Telcel, after coming out victorious third seeded Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo by 7-6 (3), 6-3 in a match that lasted 78 minutes. Gonzalez-Marrero will be measured against Philipp Petzschner and Aisam-Ul-Hag Qureshi in quarterfinals round who defeated Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-5, 7-6(3).

Mexican players Cesar Ramirez and Hans Hach Verdugo failed against American dupla Scott Lipsky and Sam Querrey in a match that lasted a bit longer than an hour (65 minutes) by 6-3, 6-4.

Mexican Luis Patiño and Salvadorian Luis Arevalo that made it to the main draw as lucky losers were surpassed by Rady Albot from Moldavia and Mischa Zverev from Germany 4-6, 6-2, 10-3.