• Stefanos Tsitisipas (No. 5) debuts on Mexican soil against the Frenchman Benoit Paire (No. 29).
• Alexander Zverev (No. 7) will face Carlos Alcaraz (No. 132), who received a WC.
• The Mexican Gerardo López was lucky in the draw sinced he will play for his debut against the German Dominik Koepfer (No. 71).

The first twoo seeds of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 5) and the German Alexander Zverev (No.7), will have great test in their initial match.

Tsitisipas, first seed, will not have an easy way in his first incursion in the AMT. The 22-year-old will put his skills to the test in the first round against the Frenchman Benoit Paire (No. 29) and with whom he has a victory (QF Washington 2019) and a defeat (R32 Metz 2017).

If he wins, in the second round he would play against the winner of the match between the American veteran John Isner (No.26) and the Italian Salvatore Caruso (No.79).

In the same part of the draw, a match that surely stands out is the one between the Croatian Marin Cilic (No. 43), winner of the U.S. Open in 2014, and the young American promise that received a WC, Sebastián Korda (No. 92), 20 years old.

Sebastian, who is former tennis player Petr Korda’s son, was a finalist at Delray Beach ATP 250 and was crowned at the Quimper Challenger earlier this year. Among his multidisciplinary team we can find former world number one Andre Agassi who, until last year, worked with the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (No.17).

Dimitrov, champion back in Acapulco 2014, will play against the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino (No. 36) who he defeated last year in the second round.

The Argentine Diego Schwartzman (No. 9) who returns from a magnificent Latin American tour where he managed to conquer the title of the Buenos Aires Open, his hometown, in the first round he will face one of the four players that access the main draw from the qualifying tournament.

Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev (No. 7), second seed, will play against the young Spaniard Carlos Alcaráz (No. 132), 17 years old, in the first round.

After reaching the quarterfinals in the Australian Open, Zverev travelled to the ATP 500 in Rotterdam where he lost in the first round. The German, 23, was one of the first tennis players to arrive to Acapulco and he was accompanied by his brother Mischa and his nephew.

His rival, Alcaráz, received one of the WC and with only 17 years old, he will be the youngest player of the 2021 edition. The Spanish promise had a good swing in Australia where he reached the third round in Melbourne ATP 250, and from the qualification round, he reached the second round of the Australian Open.

The clash between the Italians Fabio Fognini (No. 18), sixth seed, and Stefano Travaglia (No. 65) is another great match. Fognini, who returns to Acapulco for the first time since he reached the semifinals in 2013, has a loosing record 0-2 against the player Travaglia.

The Mexican Gerardo López Villaseñor (No. 561), who plays for the third consecutive year, will try to reach the second round for the first time as soon as he faces the German Dominik Koepfer (No.71). The Mexican, 25, comes from winning his two singles matches in the Davis Cup against the Bulgarian players who had a better ranking.

If he gets to the second round, the Mexican will have a very hard test against the winner of the match between the American Tommy Paul (No. 51) and the Canadian Milos Raonic (No. 15), fourth seeded, who after several attempts, will play for the first time in Acapulco.

• This Saturday, March 13th, the tournament begins in the Princess Mundo Imperial Hotel’s courts with the first round of qualifications.

• The doors will open to the public one hour before the start of the first game. On Saturday the match starts at 16:30 hours, Sunday will be at 18:00 hours.
• According to the AMT Safety protocol, no one will be allowed to take photos or request autographs from the players.

Acapulco, March 12th. – To begin the celebration of its 28th edition, The Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC will offer a weekend full of great matches in the qualifying round, all thanks to the combination of veteran players and young promises from the new generation, who will seek access to the main draw.

Among the list of 32 players looking for one of the four available tickets, we have the German Mischa Zverev (No. 280) and the American Steve Johnson (No. 83).

The Bosnian Damir Dzumhur (No. 185) and the Taipeian Jason Jung (No.148) return to the courts in Acapulco looking to repeat what they achieved back in 2020 when they got their ticket on the qualifying stage and settled among the tournament’s best 32 players.

More names of young people are the American Brandon Nakashima (No. 145), the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (No. 119) and the Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild (No. 124), who are among the twenty best players of the Next Gen.

The Mexican players who will be in the qualifying round this year are Luis Patiño (No. 425), Alejandro Hernández (No. 744) and Rodrigo Pacheco. This last player is only 15 years old and already has a very high tennis level in the junior circuit of the ITF, where he currently is number 80 in the ranking. All of them will try to reach the main draw and accompany Gerardo López Villaseñor, key player in last week’s victory of the Mexican Davis Cup team in the match against Bulgaria.

The Spaniard Marcel Granollers (No. 188) and the French Pierre-Hugues Herbert (No. 90), who will be at the main doubles draw, will play this round with the intention to continue to score points in the ATP Tour singles ranking.

The Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis (No. 241), who maintains a special relationship with the Mexican public due to his previous appearances in Acapulco and los Cabos, will be present in this round with the goal of being in the main draw for the third time in his career. Fellow countryman Luke Saville (No. 382) will also be looking for one of the four tickets of the main draw.

Other tennis players, such as the Colombian Daniel Elahi Galán (No. 121), or the Serbian Danilo Petrovic (No. 159), the American Denis Kudla (No. 123) or the German Dominik Koepfer (No.71), also stand out among players who will play in the first qualifying round before the start of the AMT 2021.

The price to enjoy these matches will be $150.00 MXN per person each day.

These are the schedules of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

The qualification round will start on Saturday at 16:30 hrs. and on Sunday the matches will start at 18:00 hrs. The doors will open to the public one hour before the start of the first game.

During the tournament week, the matches will start at 18:00 hrs., however, the final matches on Saturday will start at 19:00 hrs. The doors will also open one hour earlier.

As the tournament’s organization, we encourage fans to plan ahead before their arrival. According to the AMT Safety protocol established together with the State of Guerrero’s health authorities, we remind you that you must bring a negative antigen test with no more than 72 hours old.

AMT Safety, the protocol that protects us all

This edition will be different, so we ask you to please follow all the instructions and recommendations from our staff to take care of each other and be a worldwide example.

In order to reduce the possibility of contagion among those involved in the tournament, including staff, players, and the public, we have worked hard with the Guerrero’s authorities to launch the AMT Safety, a sanitary protocol to take care of each other.

We know that the proximity of the players to the Mexican public is one of our added values, but the world’s situation forces us to avoid these types of interaction therefore It will not be allowed to take photos or request autographs from the players present in this XXVIII edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC. From the tournament’s management, we have made a great effort to bring many of the best players in the world and it is very important that we respect the sanitary protocol created and applied during the tournament, as well as the players who will participate in it.

Acapulco will have 11 of the currently 30 best doubles players

A week before the start of the XXVIII edition of the Abierto Méxicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, there was an announcement withthe list of the couples that will form the main draw doubles in 2021.

In this list one can find 11 of the best 30 doubles players, as well as three pairs in the ATP Top 8.

The duo formed by Argentine Horacio Zeballos (4) and the Spaniard Marcel Granollers (13), will be thetop seeded couple. They come to Acapulco with their goal to continue with their victories just like they did back in 2020, where they won three titles played on clay (Rome, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires), and were semifinalists in the Nitto ATP finals.

Last year they played in the Abierto de Acapulco and were defeated in the round of 16 against the French Adrian Manarino y Fabrice Martin.

Bruno Soares, #6, and the British Jamie Murray, #18, return to Acapulco with the intention of winning their third trophy.

They won 2 titles in the Mexican tournament back in 2017 and 2018, the second of which they defeated the Bryan brothers in a grand finale remembered by many. This couple is 4th in the Nitto Finals race to celebrate in Turin at the end of 2021.

Meanwhile, the duo formed by the British Joe Salisbury and the American Rajeev Ram, third in the Nitto Final’s race, visit Acapulco for the first time. They are seeking to reaffirm the great tennis level that led them to their second Australian Open Final in a row, where this year they were defeated by the Slovakian Polãšek and the Croatian Dodig, therefore, they were unable to revalidate their Champions’ title of 2020.

Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Pierre Hugues Herbert, who were crowned masters in 2019, will also be at this edition of the Mexican ATP 500. Both are making their first appearance as a couple in this tournament and they come to Acapulco with the trophies of the four Grand Slams (US Open 2015, Wimbledon 2016, Roland Garros 2018, and the Australian Open in 2019). The Mexican flag will be in the main draw, with the best player of the moment, Santiago González who will compete next to the Brazilian Marcelo Demoliner. The Spaniards Feliciano López and Marc López will also be part of the main draw.

The Zverev brothers, champions in 2019, will look for a place in the main draw in the qualifications round.

Mischa Zverev, Alejandro Hernández, Thanasi Kokkinakis y Petros Tsitsipas present in the qualifications round

This Saturday, March 13th, begins the qualifications round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, where several players will seek one of the places that gives access to the tournament’s main draw and try to emulate what Cerundolo achieved two weeks ago in Córdoba (Argentina).

Old acquaintance of the Mexican fans, such as the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, returns to the tournament after his last participation in 2018, or like the German Mischa Zverev, who is looking to obtain his pass to the tournament’s main draw in his 5th consecutive participation.

The Mexican public will also be able to see the Greek Petro Tsitsipás, Stefanos’s brother, who, with only 20 years old, will look for the way to play in the main draw of the ATP 500 for the first time in his career.

The Mexicans will not be absent in this round. Young Juan Alejandro Hernández, 21 years old, will play in the qualifications round, just like Luis Patiño.

The Americans Brando Nakashima or Emilio Nava will also be present in the qualifying round.

Gerardo López Villaseñor, who was the hero of the World Group II eliminations round against Bulgaria in the Davis Cup, received a wild card to participate in Acapulco’s main draw for the third year in a row.

Puerto Vallarta’s player, 25 years old, managed to beat the local Dimitar Kuzmanov in a match that lasted more than three hours and drove them to exhaustion in order to place the final 1-3 after overcoming two tie-breaks.

After Mexico’s victory in Bulgaria, the Mexican team will have to continue fighting for a spot in the World Group I for 2022.

Stefanos Tsitsipás climbs to 5th place in the ATP ranking

The Greek Stefanos Tsitipás,first seed of this tournament’s edition, managed to reach 5th place in the ATP, after making it to the semifinals in the ABN AMOR World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam last week.

With this new ranking, the winner of the Next Gen ATP Finals of 2018, manages to equalize his best position on the ranking (August 2019).

Meanwhile the Swiss Roger Federer, who returns to play in Dubai after recovering from an injury, was backed down to #6 in the ranking.

This is the only change registered in the ranking of the Top 20 in the world. The Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, who will be in Acapulco, rose to 38th place, this being his best ranking after falling in semifinals in the Argentine Open, in Buenos Aires, against the local Diego Schwartzman.

The Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo rose 25 places to rank #112 in the world after reaching the tournament’s final in Buenos Aires, where he could not emulate his brother Juan Manuel, losing against his countryman Diego Schwartzman, who won his fourth professional title and will be present at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

AMT Safety, the protocol that takes care of us all

Our goal is to take care of each other and enjoy the XXVIII edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, therefore, we created the AMT Safety program, which is focused on preventing contagion and to protect us.

This program was created alongside the State of Guerrero’s authorities and its compliance is mandatory in order to enjoy the experience of the tournament.

Below, you will find everything you need to know about this program.

1. Before entering the tournament facilities, you must have and present a negative result of an Antigen test valid no longer than 72 hours. This test must be endorsed by COFEPRIS.
2. Temperature check-up and antibacterial gel will be provided before giving access to anyone with their tickets.
3. Mandatory use of face masks at all times.
4. Keep a healthy distance.
5. Throughout the tournament you will find antibacterial gel dispensers so anyone can disinfect their hands frequently.
6. In the food area, remember to avoid crowds without exceeding the number allowed per table and to wash your hands.
7. Respect and follow all indications given by the tournament staff as well as all signs placed on the premises.

By following the AMT Safety protocol: you take care of yourself, we all take care of ourselves. For more information, please visit: https://abiertomexicanodetenis.com/amt-safety/

• Guerrero’s local authorities confirm the public presence in the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.
• All tournament attendees must present a negative COVID-19 antigen test
• The ticket sales for the Tournament continues

Mexico, March 2^nd, 2021.- After the announcement that Acapulco changed to a code yellow for COVID, Guerrero’s State Governor, Héctor Astudillo Flores, held a meeting yesterday with the Director of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, Raúl Zurutuza, where he confirmed the presence of public in the Tournament and allowed to continue with ticket sales to offer the Mexican public the possibility of enjoying the most important tennis event in Latin America.

Following the guidelines established by the local authorities to respect and maintain the current code achieved by the State and the people of Guerrero, all fans attending the Tournament must have a negative COVID-19 antigen test done in a laboratory, hospital or pharmacy. This test should not be more than 72 hours old. If this requirement is not met, the fans will not be allowed to enter the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.      

“It is everyone’s responsibility, organizers, players, sponsors, and fans, to take care of each other and be an example of respect to all health standards established by the authorities,” said the Tournament director.

Due to the sanitary contingency caused by COVID-19, the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC created a security program which will make sure all planning, procedures and execution of all safety measures and protocol are followed in order to guarantee and safeguard the health for all fans, staff, and players within the tournament.

Tickets for the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC are still on sale and can be purchased directly at the Mextenis box office, located in Arcos Bosques, or through the ticketmaster.com.mx platform.

BOX OFFICE PHONE NUMBERS

From Mexico: 55 2167 3232, 55 2167 3055 ó 800 890 8906

From outside the country: + 52 55 2167 3232 ó + 52 55 2167 3055

For more information, please visit our website at www.abiertomexicanodetenis.com

World’s number one, Novak Djokovic, retained his crown as the Australian Open champion after defeating Danil Medvedev 7-5, 6-2 and 6-2.

The Serbian needed just one hour and fifty-three minutes to achieve his ninth title in Melbourne Park, this reaffirms his dominance in this tournament by being the greatest winner in history.

With this triumph, he achieved his eighteenth Grand Slam and he is just one step behind Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, whom, with 20, are the top major winners of all time.

In order to reach the final and beat Medvedev (ATP #3), Djokovic had to defeat three players who will be present in the XXVIII Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

In the second round, he needed four sets to get rid of the American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(2) and 6-3. He won against the Canadian Milos Raonic in the round of 16, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1 and 6-4. In the quarterfinal he played against the German Alexander Zverev, second seed of the Abierto Mexicano. This was a match in which there was moments of real tension, where Nole closed the match by winning the fourth set tie-breaker against ATP #3, 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-4, and 7-6(6).

Medvedev, who is going through a great moment and reached the final with 20 consecutive victories, defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas by 6-4, 6-2, 7-5.

The Greek and first seed of this edition of the Acapulco’s Port tournament, starred in perhaps the best match of the tournament with a two-set comeback disadvantage against Rafael Nadal, number 2 in the world and current champion of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

In the women’s side, the Japanese Naomi Osaka won for the second time the Australian Grand Slam by defeating the American Jennifer Brady in the final by 6-4, 6-3. The 23-year-old player, WTA #3, maintains her perfect pace in Grand Slams, winning all four that she has competed throughout her career.

The Mexican Guiliana Olmos reached the quarterfinals in the doubles category with the Canadian Sharon Fichman, where they lost against the two finalists: the Czech Krejcikova and Siniakova.

Cordoba, Singapur and Montpellier, this week’s events

This week there will be three ATP 250 tournaments around the world, 9 of the players that will be present in Acapulco will play some of them.

Six players that will be present in the next edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC will be playing in the Cordoba Open in Argentina. The locals, Diego Schwartzman and Guido Pella together with the French Benoit Paire and the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, will be the four top ranked players.

The four of them will play in the second round of this tournament. Schwartzman will face the winner of the clash between Hugo Dellien vs. Marco Cecchinato. Pella will face the winner of Elahi Galan and Kovalik. Miomir Kecmanovic expects a rival that will come from the match between a qualifier and the Brazilian Seyboth Wild. Paire will have to play against the local Nico Jarry or the Spaniard Jaume Munar.

The Serbian Laslo Djere and the Spaniard Pablo Andujar will be competing in this tournament as well.

In the Singapore Tennis Open, the French Adrian Mannarino and the Croatian Marin Cilic (both are the top ranked players of this tournament) will playand will also make their debut in the second round.

The Frenchman will start his participation against the winner between the Latvian Ernests Gulbis and the italian Roberto Marco. Cilic will wait for his rival between the Japanese Taro Daniel and the Hindu Ramkumar Ramanathan. Mannarino and Cilic would only face each other in a hypothetical final.

In the last ATP 250 which will be played this week in Montpellier (France), the American Sebastian Korda, who received one of the wildcards from the tournament, will be playing and looking for his second-round pass against local Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, who was ATP number 5 in 2012.

The other wildcard awarded by the organization, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, was defeated in the qualification round against the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.

Danil Medvedev became ATP Top 3 after his final in the Australian Open

The Russian Danil Medvedev became ATP Top 3 tennis player thanks to the 1020 points obtained by reaching the Australian Open’s final, replacing the Austrian Dominic Thiem. This being his best professional ranking.

The Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and the Norwegian Casper Rudd respectivelymoved up four places to 17^th and 24^th. This new ranking is the best in Rudd’s career.

Russia’s Aslan Karatev registered the highest increase in this week’s ranking in the ATP, who after losing against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open’s semifinals, moved up 72 places in order to rank as number 42, surpassing his best professional ranking in which he was 111. Other top climbers this week in the ATP ranking were starred by old acquaintances of the Mexican fans. Feliciano López, who moved up eight places to be 57^th in the world, the Romanian Radu Albot who went from 85 to now 76 after reaching the third round in the Australian Open where he defeated the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round. South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon moved up 16 places in the ranking and he is now ATP 81.

• The Greek Stefanos Tsisipas, number 6 in the world, will make his debut.
• Germany’s Alexander Zverev (ranked number 7) and Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman (number 9) will playfor the fourth time in Acapulco.
• American tennis’s great promise, Sebatian Korda, will get a wildcard for the main singles draw.

Mexico City.- The Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC announces the list of all players that will participate in the Tournament’s XXVIII edition, in which 3 ATP’s Top Ten players stand out.

The 22-year-old Greek, Stefanos Tsitsipas, current number 6 in the ATP ranking and ATP Finals champion in 2019; together with the 23-year-old German Alexander Zverev, number 7 in the world and thirteen-time ATP Tour champion, will be the AMT 2021 top ranked player.

“For us, as a tournament, we are proud to announce the presence of two of the last three ATP masters, we thank Alexander and Stefanos for their decision to come play in Mexico in this edition and we are sure the Mexican public will enjoy their presence”, said Raúl Zurutuza, Director of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

This will be the fourth time that Zverev participates in Acapulco’s ATP 500, looking to repeat 2019’s final where he lost against the Australian Nick Kyrgios. On another note, Tsitsipas, semifinalist at Roland Garros, will appear in front of the Mexican fans for the first time.

The best ranked of Latin tennis today, Diego Schwartzman (9), is the third Top Ten player present in this edition. The 28-year-old Argentine climbed to the tennis elite thanks to his performances in Rome and Roland Garros, where he respectively made the final and semifinal. The “Peque” who already knows what winning in Mexican lands means (Los Cabos 2019), will pursue the championship in this, his fourth participation in the AMT.

Dear fans, sponsors and the media:

I address you with great enthusiasm on the same day that the ATP Tour makes its long-awaited return and the players meet again on court.

A few months ago the world was paralyzed by a same threat. We all went through complex times, full of anxiety and uncertainty. However, the situation seems to have gradually begin to improve due to the great efforts and security measures that governments, companies and individuals have been taken.

Our goal in Mextenis is to carry out safely the XXVIII edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC.
The adversity we experienced in this past few months delayed several of our undergoing projects: it caused the suspension of the new Stadium construction and affected the negotiations with our partner Octagon, owner of the WTA franchise. We weren’t able to reach an agreement that would allow us to organize this year’s WTA event.

Despite all, we are excited to announce that we are working hard on getting tennis up and running again so that in February, we can all go back to Acapulco and enjoy the Tournament once again surrounded by friends and family, in what has been our home for the last 20 years.

Our commitment is to rise to the occasion by taking care of the safety of all attendees, players, and organizers.

We are closely working with the local Government and the ATP in order to act responsibly and comply with all health and safety protocols. We are aware that the current situation represents a big challenge due to all the uncertainty and the constant evolution of circumstances, for this reason, we will begin selling only 50% of the capacity of the Stadium. We will release the rest of the tickets depending on the progress of the pandemic and the authorities’ consent.

Tickets for the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presented by HSBC will be available on Monday, September 21st at 10:00 am. We will be offering payment plans and ticket delivery options such as Will Call and courier. To guarantee the safety of our clients and maintain proper distance, customers may purchase their tickets through our Call Center.
Our main box office will be open from 10:00am to 6:00pm and will comply with all hygiene protocols established by the authorities.

We appreciate your trust and loyalty. Be sure that we will work to guarantee that next year’s tournament is both unforgettable and safe for everyone.

Sincerely,
Raul Zurutuza
Director of the Mexican Open Telcel Presented by HSBC

Acapulco, Gro., February 29, 2020.- The title at the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Telcel, presentado por HSBC, was for Nadal. The spaniard defeated Taylor Fritz 6-3 and 6-2 in just 1 hour and 13 minutes.

Nadal left his record in the tournament at 20-2. On his other 4 participations he either won the title (2005 and 2013) or lost against the player who became the eventual champion, first against Sam Querrey, 2017, and in the second round against Nick Kyrgios. The spaniard’s name will be remembered as the last champion at the Mextenis stadium. Rafa has the records of being the youngest champion in Acapulco (2005), and now the oldest, at 33 years old.

This is the first title of the season for the Spaniard and 85 in his career, he leaves his record in ATP finals at 85-37. With today’s match, he’s been winning at least one title a year for 17 consecutive years.

“Winning in Acapulco is always special because of the closeness to the tournament and the people. It’s an important title in an important moment, I didn’t start the year as good as I wanted, but I got better, I came into the tournament a little bit saturated because I didn’t get a lot of rest and this was a week to build my confidence. I leave with my objective cleared, I’m very happy, I want to enjoy this and get ready for Indian Wells”, said Nadal.

“This doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good year; it only gives me confidence and lets me be in a privileged position”, he added.

Three breaks in the match were enough to lead the victory of the number two in the world, who was facing Fritz (second american to reach a final in Acapulco; first one was Sam Querrey, in 2017) for the first time. Now, Taylor has 0-3 in the matches against top ten players. This was just the fifth final in his career (first in ATP 500); he has raised a trophy before (Eastbourne 2019).

Fifteen years after his first participation in Acapulco, Nadal comes back as the winner of 19 Grand Slams. With this confidence, his ruthlessness imposed himself on Fritz, based on a solid serve and good returns.

Nadal and Fritz reached the final with the same percentage of points won in the second serve (50%), but tonight was different. Rafael had 76% in this category, while Fritz went down to 35%, just winning 6 out of 17 points when playing with his second serve.

Fritz did better when it came to aces, with 10 and without double faults, by one ace from Nadal and two double faults. In the first set the american held his serve until the 8th game, when Nadal didn’t miss the opportunity to break and the lead.

Fritz tried to hold his serve but the break in the fifth game, and one more in the seventh, gave Nadal the championship.

Nadal wins the title without giving up a set and losing only 25 game on his way to the throne.

Acapulco, Gro., February 29, 2020.- The colombians were unable to take the trophy at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, presentado por HSBC, against the polish Lukasz Kubot and the brazilian Marcelo Melo. They defeated Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal (#1 couple on the tournament) at the men’s doubles final match at the Grand Stand Caliente.

Kubot and Melo, eighth seed and #8 in the world’s doubles ranking, won 7-6, 6-7 (4), and 11-9 in one of the toughest finals in the last few years at the tournament.

The first set ended with a tiebreak in the polish Kubot and Melo’s favor, but the colombians (#1 in the world’s doubling ranking) leveled up by winning the second tiebreak.

The title was decided on a super tiebreak, in which Farah and Cabal had a match point with the score 9-8, but Marcelo Melo made his two serves effective to place himself 10-9; the next point, Juan Sebastian Cabal was unable to hold his serve, letting the match escape, provoking sadness and frustration of their fans who supported them throughout the week.

It was Kubot and Melo’s revenge to defeat the colombians in their last match last year at the Masters 1000 in Rome. In eight encounters between these two couples, Farah and Cabal had succeeded in five occasions and lost 3 of them, but they still cannot win the title at Acapulco, where they dispute their first final.

It’s Melo and Kubot’s title number 14 as a team. For the polish, this was his fourth final at the AMT and his third title, since he won in 2010 with Oliver Marach, in 2013 with David Marrero, and in 2020 with Marcelo Melo; he lost a final with Marach in 2009. This was the brazilian’s third final in Acapulco, with titles in 2015 with Ivan Dodig and in 2020 with Kubot, also he lost a final back in 2011 with Bruno Soares.

The new Doubles champions at the Abierto Mexicano will add 500 points to their ranking ATP, and also share a prize of 119,750 dollars.

Acapulco, Gro., February 29, 2020.- Heather Watson will go down in history as the last singles champion in the Mextenis stadium at the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis Telcel, presentado por HSBC, who will have a new home next year. It was not an easy match, she had to defeat a very tough rival who played like an experienced player. This was the 17-year-old canadian’s first final at WTA, Leylah Fernandez complicated things for Watson, but Watson’s experience kept her afloat and won 6-4, 6-7 (8), and 6-1, after 2 hours and 46 minutes.

This is Heather’s fourth title (2016, Monterrey; 2015, Hobart; 2012, Osaka), it is her first singles title in Acapulco, since she is a former doubles champion alongside the german Tatjana Maria (2018).

Watson, seventh seed and 69-WTA, defeated the canadian for the third time (semifinals in Vancouver, 2019; second round in Quebec, 2018).

Heather, 10 years older than Leylah, assured her victory until her 10^th match point, because in front of her, there was a rival that ran for every ball and forced her to play 3 sets, so she could hang on to the title.

This is Fernandez’s first time in Acapulco, she got in through the qualy, she is the youngest player that has reached a final here, she is also the third teenager who reaches a WTA final in the season. The other ones are Dayana Yastremska (19), in Adelaida, and Leonie Kung, in Hua Hin.

The Canadian showed signs of nervousness, it was her first final, and she was unable to keep her first two serves (0-4). Then, she was able to recover one in the eighth, but Watson didn’t miss her chance to close the set in 43 minutes.

The second set foreshadowed something similar when Heather broke again during Fernandez’s serve, and then confirmed to gain a lead of 3-0.

In the second set, even though Watson broke Fernandez’s break, the canadian started to find her rhythm and leveled the match. After that, both players kept their serve until they reached the tiebreak.

Watson didn’t take advantage of five match points when the tiebreak was 6-2, Leylah won five straight points in order to win the set, in a great demonstration of grit. She never gave up, her determination made her win the set when Watson sent a returned of serve passed the baseline.

In the third set, Leylah was only able to win a game and Watson, finally, was able to raise her arms in triumph.