After an entertaining final featuring Top 10 stars Juan Martin del Potro and Kevin Anderson, the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC concluded its 25th edition. But, it was not just Del Potro who was celebrating. ATP Executive Chairman and President Chris Kermode presented Renata Burillo, Chairman of Grupo Pegaso, and Tournament Director Raul Zurutuza with a trophy honouring the Acapulco event’s place as one of the Tournaments of the Year in the 2017 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon.

Read & Watch Highlights: Del Potro Wins 21st Tour-Level Title

Ten years after first receiving this award, the Abierto Mexicano Telcel has once again been named the ATP World Tour 500 Tournament of the Year. The event, held at the Acapulco Princess Mundo Imperial, switched to blue hard courts in 2014 after 20 years on clay. Tickets for all sessions of the 25th edition were sold out months before the start of the event.

“It is an honour for Grupo Pegaso to receive this recognition from the players of the ATP World Tour,” said Renata Burillo, President of Grupo Pegaso. “It is the best way to start our 25th anniversary celebrations. We thank the players, all the fans, the media and sponsors that made this possible. We will work hard to keep improving in the years to come.”

Zurutuza said that the award was a recognition of the tournament’s long list of enhancements. “We moved Court Three and Court Four… to the parking lot. We moved the press room, we have a new television compound, we added 1,500 seats to the main stadium,” he said. “Those improvements are well deserved for a tournament that sold all of the tickets within two months of announcing the player field.”

The Tournament of the Year awards, voted annually by ATP World Tour players, recognise the leading standards set across the three tournament categories on the Tour. The BNP Paribas Open and the Qatar ExxonMobil Open won the remaining two awards, in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and 250 tournament categories respectively.

Visit the official ATP World Tour Awards section on ATPWorldTour.com.

It is one of the most important times of year on the ATP World Tour — the world’s best gather in Indian Wells, California, for the first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the season: the BNP Paribas Open. Roger Federer, the five-time champion and World No. 1, leads the field into the Coachella Valley where he is defending the 1,000 ATP Rankings points he claimed last year. 

1) No. 1 for Now: Five-time champion Roger Federer defends his title and No. 1 ATP Ranking when he returns to the BNP Paribas Open. Federer will remain the World No. 1 if he reaches the semi-finals. Otherwise, Rafael Nadal re-claims No. 1 on 19 March for his fifth stint in the top spot and the 168th week of his career.

2) Fantastic Fed: Federer, 36, is the oldest World No. 1 in ATP Rankings history and owns records for the most weeks at No. 1 (306 as of 12 March), years since No. 1 debut (14) and years between stints at No. 1 (5). The Swiss is 64-5 with nine tour-level titles since returning in 2017 from a left-knee injury.

3) Novak Seeks Title No. 6: Following a “small medical intervention” on his right elbow, Novak Djokovic is scheduled to compete for just the second time since Wimbledon. Djokovic lost to Hyeon Chung in the Australian Open fourth round on 22 January before undergoing surgery. He is a five-time BNP Paribas Open champion, tied with Federer for the most titles in tournament history (since 1976).

4) Three’s The Limit: After reaching finals at two of the past three Grand Slam events, Marin Cilic became the World No. 3. The Croat is the 16th player to be ranked No. 3 since 25 July 2005. Only four players during that span have been in the Top 2 (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray).

5) Breaking Back: Juan Martin del Potro and Kevin Anderson have broken back into the Top 10 this season. Del Potro dropped to No. 1,045 before beginning his comeback from three left-wrist surgeries in 2016. Anderson fell to No. 80 after spending one week inside the Top 10 in 2015.

6) Delpo On The Rise: The Argentine is fresh off of winning the title at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, where he beat three Top 8 players consecutively to clinch his first ATP World Tour 500-level trophy since 2013 Basel. Del Potro is now up to No. 8 in the ATP Rankings. 

7) #NextGenATP Turns 2: Alexander Zverev, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz were 18 when they helped launch #NextGenATP at the 2016 BNP Paribas Open. They are among the hottest players on Tour two years later. Zverev is ranked in the Top 5, Tiafoe captured the Delray Beach Open title on 25 February, and Fritz won the Oracle Challenger Series title in Newport Beach on 28 January.

8) Wild Cards: Four of the five wild cards are Americans: Ernesto Escobedo, Bradley Klahn, Reilly Opelka and Tennys Sandgren. Aussie #NextGenATP star Alex de Minaur, who reached the Sydney final, is the other wild card. De Minaur, Escobedo and Sandgren are making their main draw debut at Indian Wells.

9) Frenchman Rising: No. 1 Frenchman Lucas Pouille has reached three finals in the past four weeks, highlighted by his fifth ATP World Tour title at Marseille on 11 February. Pouille is at a career-high No. 12 in the ATP Rankings. 

10) Double Your Fun: Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic enter the BNP Paribas Open with an 18-2 record on the season, sweeping doubles titles in January at Doha, Auckland and the Australian Open. Also in the draw are Californians Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who will make their 20th consecutive appearance at the BNP Paribas Open. The Bryans won the Indian Wells title in 2013 and 2014.

No. 16 Roberto Bautista Agut, +7
The Spaniard clinched his second ATP World Tour title of the season (Auckland), and eighth tour-level crown, at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, beating France’s Lucas Pouille in the final. Bautista Agut became the first player outside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings to win the tournament since Fabrice Santoro in 2002, after overcoming Borna Coric, Malek Jaziri and Pouille in straight sets. The 29-year-old jumps seven positions to No. 16. Read and Watch Highlights

No. 8 Juan Martin del Potro, +1
The 29-year-old won his biggest title since 2013 (Basel) at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, overcoming US Open finalist Kevin Anderson in Saturday’s final. Del Potro navigated a tough draw in Acapulco, beating Mischa Zverev, four-time champion David Ferrer, and Top 10 stars Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Anderson to lift the trophy. The title was Del Potro’s 21st crown on the ATP World Tour and his earliest triumph in a season since his 2014 success at the Sydney International (d. Tomic). The Argentine rises one spot to No. 8 in the ATP Rankings, his highest position since 3 August 2014. Read and Watch Highlights

No. 12 (Career High) Lucas Pouille, +3
Pouille climbs three places after reaching his third final in four weeks at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (l. to Bautista Agut). The Frenchman avenged his Marseille final loss to Karen Khachanov before defeating seeds Yuichi Sugita and Filip Krajinovic to reach the championship match. The 24-year-old moves to a career-high No. 12 in the ATP Rankings. He could have broken into the Top 10 for the first time (at No. 10) with the Dubai title.

No. 48 (Career High) Jared Donaldson, +11
Donaldson reached his first ATP World Tour semi-final at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC. The American scored convincing back-to-back wins over Matthew Ebden and Feliciano Lopez to reach the last four, where he fell to New York Open champion Kevin Anderson. The 21-year-old soars 11 places to career-high No. 48 in the ATP Rankings.

No. 61 (Career High) Nicolas Jarry, +12
The 22-year-old ended his breakthrough Golden Swing with a runner-up finish at the Brasil Open (l. to Fognini). Jarry fought his way through to his first ATP World Tour final after hard-fought three-set wins over Dusan Lajovic, Guido Pella, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Horacio Zeballos. The Chilean notched nine wins from 12 matches in Quito, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, with each of the three losses coming against the eventual champion. Jarry climbs 12 spots to a career-high No. 61 in the ATP Rankings.  Read and Watch Highlights

No. 84 Malek Jaziri, +33
The Tunisian scored a huge upset win over top seed Grigor Dimitrov en route to his first ATP World Tour semi-final since 2015 (Winston Salem) at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Jaziri backed up his stunning win over the World No. 4 with wins over Robin Haase and #NextGenATP star Stefanos Tsitsipas, before falling to soon-to-be champion Bautista Agut in the last four. The 34-year-old flies 33 places up the ATP Rankings, re-entering the Top 100 at No. 84.

View ATP Rankings

Other Notable Top 100 Movers This Week
No. 26 Hyeon Chung, +3
No. 28 Filip Krajinovic, +6
No. 32 Feliciano Lopez, +6
No. 33 David Ferrer, +6
No. 54 Ryan Harrison, +6
No. 71 Stefanos Tsitsipas, +11
No. 75 Vasek Pospisil, +8
No. 93 Pierre-Hugues Herbert, +6

A LOOK BACK
Oracle Challenger Series Indian Wells (Indian Wells, U.S.A.): Martin Klizan capped a sun-drenched week of tennis in paradise, taking the title at the inaugural Challenger in Indian Wells on Sunday. The Slovakian defeated Darian King 6-3, 6-3 to lift his first trophy in two years, since prevailing at the ATP World Tour 500 event in Hamburg in 2016. Klizan, a former World No. 24, is on the comeback trail after struggling with a left calf injury last year. He registered impressive wins over Sergiy Stakhovsky, Henri Laaksonen, Peter Polansky, Vasek Pospisil and King to take the $150,000 title.

A five-time ATP World Tour champion, Sunday’s victory was Klizan’s seventh ATP Challenger Tour crown. The left-hander rose 52 spots in the ATP Rankings to No. 129.

Keio Challenger International Tennis Tournament (Yokohama, Japan): Yokohama celebrated its 13th edition with an all-Japanese final, as Yasutaka Uchiyama rallied past Tatsuma Ito 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday. The 25-year-old lifted his second ATP Challenger Tour trophy and first in one year, since triumphing in Kyoto in 2017. He soars 77 spots to No. 213 in the ATP Rankings.

?? Yasutaka Uchiyama claims the title on home soil in Yokohama, battling past Tatsuma Ito 26 63 64. Second #ATPChallenger ?. Congrats @yasutaka0805! pic.twitter.com/XEclZQ9GuW

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 4, 2018

Punta Open (Punta del Este, Uruguay): Argentina’s Guido Andreozzi stormed back to upset sixth seed Simone Bolelli 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the inaugural event in Punta del Este. Andreozzi claimed his fifth Challenger crown and first since 2016. He leaps 52 spots in the ATP Rankings to No. 193. The Buenos Aires native scored a trio of three-set wins during the week in the Uruguayan resort town.

?? @guidoandreozzi is the champion at the inaugural @puntaopen in Punta del Este, rallying past Simone Bolelli 36 64 63 for his fifth #ATPChallenger ? pic.twitter.com/8KSom8EeMq

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) March 4, 2018

A LOOK AHEAD
In Zhuhai, China, top seed Jordan Thompson opens with a blockbuster clash against Serbian teen Miomir Kecmanovic. Malek Jaziri is seeded second, with Di Wu and Zhe Li leading the home charge.

Defending champion Rogerio Dutra Silva returns to Santiago, Chile, as the third seed, while three-time former titlist Facundo Bagnis is unseeded. Gastao Elias leads the field at the $50,000 event.

The beginning of the 2018 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 season is just a few days away, as players begin to descend on Indian Wells for the BNP Paribas Open.

But the Coachella Valley has already been buzzing with world-class tennis over the past week. With seven seeds inside the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings, the inaugural Oracle Challenger Series Indian Wells has given prime exposure for players on the ATP Challenger Tour. The opportunity to compete at a Masters 1000 venue does not come often for many in the draw, and the competitors relished the opportunity to play in one of the biggest tennis settings in the world.

With #NextGenATP stars Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Stefan Kozlov and Sebastian Korda joined by established veterans Vasek Pospisil, Martin Klizan and Marius Copil, the field offered plenty of star power in the California desert.

“Overall I think it went great,” said BNP Paribas Open tournament director and former World No. 2 Tommy Haas. “First, it’s great for the fans who live locally and love the sport of tennis. The game has gotten so tough, especially at the Challenger level. A $150,000 event can help the players in so many ways. You gain [ATP Rankings] points and make some prize money and if you’re in the [Masters 1000] swing of Indian Wells and Miami, you might as well get here early and get used to the facility and the courts.

“Guys like Taylor Fritz are here early, played on the main courts and are now used to the conditions. Many other players can say the same thing. There are players who have heard about this facility in the past, but now have a reason to play here at an amazing Challenger.”

Klizan claimed the title on Sunday, defeating Darian King 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and nine minutes. The resurgent former World No. 24 capped an impressive week in his comeback from a calf injury. What does the Slovakian credit for his success in Southern California?

“This week was great. It’s perfect preparation for the Masters 1000 event. Sometimes I lose my concentration but I was very focused here in Indian Wells. Maybe it was the mountains,” Klizan joked, pointing to the adjacent peaks that surround the region.

“It’s awesome to have a Challenger here,” added Fritz, a Southern California native. “My family has come out to see all my matches. And there are lots of opportunities to play on the courts and get experience. It’s also great for the American players of course, to have an extra tournament at home.”

The tournament was particularly special for third seed and semi-finalist Vasek Pospisil, who extended his dominant start to the season. The Canadian bumped his 2018 ATP Challenger Tour record to 13-1, rising to No. 75 in the ATP Rankings. One year removed from registering a stunning win over top-ranked Andy Murray in the BNP Paribas Open, Pospisil has fond memories of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. 

“I’ve had some good results here in the past and every time I come back I reminisce on those,” said Pospisil. “There are tons of Canadian fans that come out as well and I have great support. Always a good feeling to be back here in Indian Wells.”

The 2018 BNP Paribas Open begins on Tuesday with qualifying, with main draw action getting underway on Thursday.