Mexican Open Update

Mexican Open Update

The 2023 Mexican Open (also known as the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC for sponsorship reasons) is a professional tennis tournament to be played on outdoor hard courts.

It will be the 30th edition of the men’s Mexican Open as a part of the ATP Tour.

The tournament will take place in Acapulco, Mexico, between 27 February and 4 March 2023, at the Arena GNP Seguros.

This year, the ATP 500 event in Acapulco will be held without the defending champion, as Rafael Nadal announced already earlier that he won’t be defending his title.

But another talented Spaniard and former world no. 1, that resembles the 22-time Grand Slam champion to many, Carlos Alcaraz, will be competing at the 2023 Mexican Open and he can meet Casper Ruud, who is also one of the players featured on the entry list, in a rematch of their 2022 US Open final.

However, some winners of ATP 1000 events from last year will be present in Mexico too.

Taylor Fritz, who won the Indian Wells, and Holger Rune, who won the Paris Masters are other Top 10 players that signed up for the Mexican Open.

Moreover, the likes of Cameron Norrie, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Matteo Berrettini, Alex de Minaur, Sebastian Korda, and Denis Shapovalov completed the star-studded entry list for this tournament.

Update

We experienced the first round of the 2023 Mexican Open without major surprises on the court, although we did have notable last-minute absences, since the Spanish Carlos Alcaráz announced this Thursday, hours before his game, that he was not going to be able to play due to a strain Grade 1 hamstring in his right leg.

The young Spanish, number 2 in the world and who was the best candidate to keep the title of his compatriot Rafael Nadal, also joins the loss of Cameron Norrie, fatigue, who was another of the great stars who were going to be in Acapulco.

Among those who did play and advanced is Casper Ruud, who is now the main candidate for the title, and who defeated Argentine Guido Andreozzi 6-4, 4-6, and 7-6. Another of the top 10 Holger Rune, had to battle to overcome the American Ben Shelton and beat him 6-7, 6-4, 6-2.

In one of the most attractive matches, Taylor Fritz defeated his compatriot John Isner 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, while Denis Shapovalov did the same against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-7, 6-0, and 7-5.

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One of the surprises was Taro Daniel’s victory over Jeffrey Wolf with a double 6-4 and now he will face Ruud in a great duel. The Swede Elias Ymer also gave one of the blows by beating the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino with 5-7, 6-3, and 6-4.

The Spanish Feliciano López returned to the courts and defeated the American Christopher Eubanks 7-6, 6-4, achieving his first singles victory after almost 1 year: June 11, 2022, in the ATP 500 quality in London. Now it will be his turn against the tough French Tiafoe, who defeated Yoshihito Nishioka 7-6, 6-4.

Among the curiosities is that the Berrettini brothers won their duels, both by the abandonment of their rivals. While Matteo defeated Alex Molcan after a 6-0 first set, Jacopo, #842 in the world and who received a wild card, defeated Oscar Otte (78) after losing the first set 3-6, winning the second 7-6 and was with a 2-1 in the third.