Rafael Nadal’s first two titles at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC (2005, 2013) were clinched on red clay. On Saturday, the top-seeded Spaniard completed his Acapulco hat trick on a hard court with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory against American Taylor Fritz.

”I couldn’t be happier. I played a great event from the beginning to the end,” Nadal said. “Acapulco was the first big title that I won in my career, so to be able to stay here after 15 years is amazing. I can’t thank enough the people who make me feel at home every single time.”

Nadal secured his 85th ATP Tour singles title and his first of the season. He stormed through the draw without dropping a set and lost an average of five games per match. Nadal moved to 20-2 in Acapulco, joining David Ferrer and Thomas Muster as the only players to win at least three singles titles at this event.

The 33-year-old proved to be particularly dangerous this week in return games. He led the tournament in return games won (54%, 22 of 41) and converted 22 of 35 break points (63%).

”After not competing since Australia, it’s an important week for me and an important moment,” Nadal said. “I played solid, with the right intensity and the right passion, and my forehand worked well.”  

Despite the loss, Fritz can be pleased with reaching his fifth ATP Tour final (1-4) and his first at an ATP 500 event. He and 2017 champion Sam Querrey are the only Americans to reach the singles final in tournament history. The 22-year-old will move to a new career-high FedEx ATP Ranking of No. 24 on Monday.

”He’s one of the best players to ever play the game and he showed me why that is tonight,” Fritz said. “This is one of my favourite tournaments to come to every year. I’m just glad that I could have a good week at one of my favourite events. I felt a lot of love all week.”

Both players exchanged service holds throughout most of the first set. But while Nadal exhibited flawless serving and only dropped three points on serve during the set (20/23), Fritz found himself battling in nearly all of his service games.

With Fritz serving at 3-4, the American finally caved to Nadal’s relentless pressure. As the Spaniard scampered around the baseline and tracked down balls that would be winners against most players, Fritz began to overcook his shots. He hit a pair of forehand errors to hand Nadal a break and the top seed clinched the early advantage in the next game with a forehand winner.

Nadal continued to pour it on the second set, breaking Fritz at 2-2 as the American’s frustrations began to boil over. The 22-year-old earned his lone opportunity on Nadal’s serve with a break point in the next game, but it was promptly removed by the Spaniard with a forehand winner.

Another aggressive forehand from Nadal at 4-2 gave him an insurance break and a big serve on his first championship point ended play after 75 minutes. The top seed finished the night with 14 winners to just eight unforced errors.

Nadal earned 500 FedEx ATP Rankings points and $372,785. Fritz picked up 300 points and $187,110.

After finishing 2019 with a disappointing 1-5 record in championship matches, Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo emphatically reversed the trend on Saturday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC. The second seeds saved two championship points to defeat top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 11-9 and take the title in Acapulco.

”Me and Kubot are happy to win this title in Acapulco. This title means a lot to us,” Melo said. “We were able to put our best tennis together. The match was very tough and it was decided by one or two points.”

Kubot/Melo picked up their 13th ATP Tour team doubles title and the first of this season. Both men had previously prevailed in Acapulco with different partners. Kubot won this event in 2010 (w/Marach) and 2013 (w/Marrero), while Melo took the title in 2015 (w/Dodig). Kubot/Melo improved to 3-4 in their ATP Head2Head series with Cabal/Farah.

Cabal/Farah were seeking their 17th ATP Tour team doubles title and the first since prevailing last September at the US Open (d. Granollers/Zeballos). The top seeds surpassed their best result in Acapulco after recording semi-final finishes in 2015 and 2016.

The early stages of the opening set were highlighted by four service breaks in the first five games. Kubot/Melo were down for much of the set, but fought back from 1-3 and saved a set point on their serve at 4-5 to force a tie-break. The second seeds let slip a set point at 6/5, but converted their second chance for a commanding advantage.

Both teams traded comfortable service holds throughout the second set. But this time, it was Cabal/Farah who raised their level in the tie-break. With the score tied at 4/4, the top seeds went on a three-point run to set up a Match Tie-break.

Cabal/Farah moved to 9/7 in the Match Tie-break and held two championship points, but the second seeds shocked the crowd by going on a four-point run to prevail after two hours and 32 minutes.

Kubot/Melo picked up 500 FedEx ATP Doubles Rankings points and split $119,750. Cabal/Farah earned 300 points and split $58,620.

Twelve days ago, Thiago Seyboth Wild stared down three match points on his serve during the second set of his first-round match at the Rio Open presented by Claro against 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. On the first of those points, he ripped an inside-in forehand that clipped the tape and bounced up in the air before trickling over. If that ball fell in the other direction, Seyboth Wild would have departed the ATP 500 after a straight-sets defeat and with just one tour-level win to his name.

But the #NextGenATP Brazilian went on to win in three hours and 50 minutes, topping the length of any best-of-three set match in 2019. When Davidovich Fokina made a final error to end the clash, Seyboth Wild fell to his back in celebration. Seyboth Wild lost a final-set tie-break in the next round against former World No. 12 Borna Coric, but he’d certainly shown that despite being 19, he has plenty of game and guts to compete on the ATP Tour.

“I think that every match you win at an ATP Tour event, it gives you so much confidence, it gives you so much strength to believe in yourself, to play better as the matches go by,” Seyboth Wild told ATPTour.com. “I think it had a pretty good [impact] on what I’m doing this week.”

One week later, Seyboth Wild became the youngest Brazilian finalist in ATP Tour history (since 1990) at the Chile Dove Men+Care Open in Santiago. If he beats Norwegian sensation Casper Ruud on Sunday, he will become the youngest ‘Golden Swing’ titlist since Rafael Nadal lifted the trophy in Acapulco 15 years ago. Nadal is the teen’s idol.

“I honestly don’t even know where to start… it’s just amazing,” Seyboth Wild said. “Rafa is a player, I don’t think anybody is going to do in 200 years what he’s done on clay or even reach his tennis level or win the tournaments he won and be the person he is. But if I could accomplish like 15, 20 per cent of what he’s done in his life, it would be amazing.”

For those who haven’t seen last year’s Guayaquil Challenger champion play, he believes his strengths are his forehand and his serve. But more than any physical tool, Seyboth Wild thinks the passion he brings on court and his desire to win are what will help him compete against the best players in the world. That’s also what he wants fans to take away from watching him.

“[It’s my] passion of playing tennis, how much I like the sport and how much I like to compete,” Seyboth Wild said. “I think it’s a thing that all South American players have. We’re just more emotional than Europeans. Maybe we’re like Australians, like Lleyton Hewitt was. It’s something different that we have. Not necessarily better, but different.”

At times, those emotions haven’t actually helped him, but hindered him.

“I’ve controlled that a lot the past few years,” Seyboth Wild said. “I think that most times that it happened, when I overloaded myself with emotions, it made me lose concentration. It made me lose matches that I should not have lost, and most of the time it made me step back instead of stepping forward.”

Seyboth Wild won the 2018 US Open boys’ singles title, and last November he cracked the Top 300 of the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time following his triumph in Guayaquil.

“I’ve had a lot of ups and downs over the past two years,” Seyboth Wild said. “But that happened actually a little fast for me and it’s really good because when I can keep a streak of two, three, four great weeks of practice, it just makes me play better and feel better on court, and that’s what gives me the happiness of playing tennis.”

Seyboth Wild can make national history on Sunday, as he tries to become the first Brazilian since Thomaz Bellucci at 2015 Geneva to lift an ATP Tour trophy. And at World No. 182, a win will make him the lowest-ranked Brazilian to capture tour-level glory.

“Playing in an ATP event, being Brazilian, you don’t have the culture of having top players all the time,” Seyboth Wild said. “It’s just really good, it’s just amazing, it makes me feel like I can do better. It makes me feel like I actually have the potential to go on and use my strengths to keep going in the season.”

The good news that comes with Seyboth Wild’s early ATP Tour success is that he’s only going to get better. He admits there are plenty of plarts in his game to improve.

“I think that’s the good thing about being 19, because I’m already in an ATP Tour event final and I still have a lot to develop. So I still have a lot of space to grow, I still have a lot of things to develop in my game,” Seyboth Wild said. “We can always do something better every day. The fact that I know that and the fact that tennis players know that, it’s what moves us, it’s what makes us wake up every day and want to go practise and want to beat ourselves every day.

“That’s what keeps Roger Federer winning tournaments every day. He’s behind Nadal [right now], but we can’t all be Nadal, we can’t all be Federer. It’s just the motivation that we have.”

Seyboth Wild is projected to climb to a career-high World No. 131 if he loses in the Santiago final, and he will soar into the Top 115 with a title. Between next Monday and the last week of October, the 19-year-old will only have 109 points to defend, giving him plenty of room to climb even higher.

But he is not concerned with that now. First, he’s focussing on playing Ruud. Then he’ll worry about his next practice, and then the practice or match after that. That hunger to do the best he possibly can in the present allowed Seyboth Wild to find a way to win a three-hour, 50-minute marathon last week in Rio de Janeiro. And that’s what will continue propelling him forward.

“I want to be the best player I can be,” Seyboth Wild said. “Better than I am every day. I don’t have a goal of titles, I don’t have a goal of ranking. I just want to do my best and be happy on court.”

Did You Know?
If Seyboth Wild wins the Santiago title, he is projected to rise to second place in the ATP Race To Milan on Monday. If he loses, he will climb to sixth.

The ‘Golden Swing’ in South America has proven a successful stretch on the calendar for Casper Ruud throughout his young career. Last season, he broke into the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings during this time. But this year has been even better.

Ruud defeated Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(5), 6-2 in one hour and 51 minutes on Saturday to reach the Chile Dove Men+Care Open final. The 21-year-old, who two weeks ago became the first Norwegian to win an ATP Tour singles title in Buenos Aires, is into his second tour-level final of the month.

“I feel good. Santiago is the last tournament of this South American swing. I enjoy coming to South America so much. It’s been a special place for me, really,” Ruud said. “Last year I broke into the Top 100, now I’m playing two finals. It’s been a very solid trip for me. This is very nice to end the swing here.”

If Ruud defeats #NextGenATP Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild on Sunday, he is projected to climb to a career-high World No. 28 on Monday. Ruud became the highest-ranked Norwegian in FedEx ATP Rankings history by reaching No. 34 earlier this month.

The 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor used his forehand to control play against Ramos-Vinolas. Although the Spaniard has reached an ATP Masters 1000 final on clay — doing so at the 2017 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters — he struggled to find anything in his game to wrestle away rallies from Ruud.

Ruud crushed a return winner in the first-set tie-break to earn a fourth set point, which he converted when Ramos-Vinolas failed to return his serve. The Norwegian did not let slip his momentum, pummeling an inside-out forehand winner to break for 3-2, and earning another break when the Spanish lefty hit a forehand into the net.

Ruud has been highly complimentary of Santiago throughout the week, and it has shown in his game as he has not lost a set in three matches.

“Norway and Chile are very far away from each other on the map, but the nature and the climate are not that different,” Ruud said. “You have the mountains and the sea, also. I also heard that further south there are some fjords and some really nice landscape. I think it’s a nice place for me to be. I wish I could visit more of Chile.”

The second seed’s opponent in the final, Seyboth Wild, cruised past Argentine qualifier Renzo Olivo 6-1, 6-3 in 79 minutes to reach his first ATP Tour final.

Entering the week, World No. 182 Seyboth Wild only owned two tour-level wins. But the 19-year-old now has a chance to become the youngest player to win a title during the ‘Golden Swing’ since Rafael Nadal at 2005 Acapulco.

Seyboth Wild, the 2018 US Open boys’ singles champion, is already the youngest Brazilian finalist in ATP Tour history (since 1990), and he can become the second teen to win an ATP Tour title since 2017 Umag, joining 19-year-old Alex de Minaur, who won his first trophy in Sydney last year.

The Brazilian showed no fear of the moment against World No. 297 Olivo, using his forehand to push the qualifier back and to get out of trouble when under pressure. Seyboth Wild saved all three break points he faced while earning 14 break points of his own — converting four — to earn the biggest win of his career.

After capturing his fifth Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title, Novak Djokovic took a moment to applaud two-time runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas and share his belief that the Greek has the potential to reach the top of the FedEx ATP Rankings.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion, who is 18-0 this year, praised Tsitsipas for his desire to improve and believes the 21-year-old is also capable of lifting multiple Grand Slam titles.

“I love the fact that he is more than just tennis player and he’s always looking to learn from the experience and to understand something new about himself so he can improve, get better,” said Djokovic.

“That for me is a trait of a champion, of someone that for sure has a great potential to be No. 1 of the world and win Grand Slams and be a great ambassador of our sport. He already is, but he has a great future ahead of him, I’m sure.”

Djokovic remembers what it is like to achieve success at Tsitsipas’ age on the ATP Tour. The Serbian claimed his first ATP Tour trophy when he was 19 and, like Tsitsipas, clinched his first Nitto ATP Finals trophy at 21 years of age.

Tsitsipas has developed his game under an intense spotlight. In 2018, the Greek rose from No. 91 to No. 15 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and finished his breakout year as the second winner of the Next Gen ATP Finals.

Last year, Tsitsipas advanced to his first Grand Slam semi-final at the Australian Open. But the Athens-born star also learned how to deal with defeats, enduring a four-match losing streak in North America. The Greek returned to form in Asia, before finishing the season with his biggest title at the The O2 in London.

“You go through the process of self-realisation and learning, maturing, then understanding what’s good for you in life, in your career. He’s a mature man already,” said Djokovic.

“He’s young from the perspective of professional sport, but he’s been around. He’s very smart, very wise.”

Tsitsipas is not alone as he continues to develop his game on the ATP Tour. He is often joined by father and coach Apostolos Tsitsipas and his mother, Julia Salnikova. Salnikova even took part in Tsitsipas’ semi-final press conference, asking her son if he was aware of how many tennis greats were actively supported by their parents.

“Parents, family members, the closest people in your life that have been there since day one are your greatest support,” said Djokovic. “Of course, they want the best for you.

“I know both of his parents. They’re nice people. They really care about him being the best tennis player he can be and also the best person he can be. I think they’re doing a very good job.”

For the second straight year, Tsitsipas entered the Dubai championship match on a run of eight straight wins. The Greek rushed to Dubai after lifting his second straight title in Marseille last Sunday, but battled through to his 11th ATP Tour final (5-6) with wins against Pablo Carreno Busta, Alexander Bublik, Jan-Lennard Struff and Daniel Evans.

Having also fallen in the Dubai final last year to Roger Federer, Tsitsipas struggled to hide his disappointment after falling short at the ATP 500 event for the second straight year.

“It’s disappointing trying so hard and not really getting the final result that you want,” said Tsitsipas. “For sure, I would love to see myself holding that trophy. Of course, he gave more than me and he deserves it.”

But Tsitsipas didn’t dwell on his disappointment for long, praising Djokovic for his 21-match unbeaten run. Djokovic has achieved 21 consecutive victories or better on seven occasions in his career.

Tsitsipas’s personal streak may have ended at eight wins, but he has the belief that one day he will be the one to make headlines for extended winning runs on the ATP Tour.

“I am not surprised he has done it. I want to do it one day too… I’ve been playing some good tennis,” said Tsitsipas. “Obviously I’ve never had the record that Djokovic has. But I do think it’s possible. Of course, lots of respect to him for doing it so many times.”

Spaniards Roberto Carballes Baena and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina played together for the first time this week at the Chile Dove Men+Care Open in Santiago. But it certainly didn’t seem that way.

Carballes Baena and Davidovich Fokina defeated second seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jonny O’Mara 7-6(3), 6-1 on Saturday to lift the trophy. The Spaniards only dropped one set en route to the title.

Neither man had won a tour-level doubles match in 2020 entering the week, and Davidovich Fokina had never played one at all. But the Top 100 singles players in the FedEx ATP Rankings found rhythm in Santiago, eliminating two of the four seeded teams (also third seeds Sharan/Sitak) en route to their triumph.

The key to the match was the first-set tie-break. Carballes Baena and Davidovich Fokina won two of their first three return points of the tie-break and they never looked back, winning the set and then breaking in their first two return games of the second set. The champions triumphed after one hour and 11 minutes.

The victors won more second-serve points (72%) than their opponents did first-serve points (64%). They also saved two of the three break points they faced.

Carballes Baena and Davidovich Fokina each earn 250 FedEx ATP Doubles Ranking points and a share of $34,160.

Arevalo and O’Mara, who reached this year’s Australian Open quarter-finals as well as semi-finals in New York and Delray Beach, fall to 10-4 on the season after making their first ATP Tour final as a team. They each add 150 points to their tally and a split of $17,500.

Taylor Fritz produced a thrilling comeback on Friday evening against fellow American John Isner to reach the final of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado for HSBC. Although the American still needs to beat Rafael Nadal for the champion’s trophy, he remained on court following his victory for another presentation.

Fritz joined Linda Clark, ATP Tour Vice President, Tournament Relations – Americas, in presenting Tournament Chairman Renata Burillo with a trophy honouring the Acapulco event’s place as one of the Tournaments of the Year in the 2019 ATP Tour Awards.

Read: Fritz Reaches Acapulco Semi-finals with Stunning Comeback

Two years after last receiving this award, the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC, which also earned this recognition in 2007, has once again been named the ATP 500 Tournament of the Year. The event, held at the Acapulco Princess Mundo Imperial, was held on clay for 20 years before transitioning to hard courts in 2014.

“On behalf of Mextenis, our sponsors and the Mexican fans, we are incredibly happy and proud of this award,” Burillo said. “To receive the recognition of the ATP Players fills us with energy to continue to work hard to make the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC an even better tournament. We want to thank all the players for the trust and support we have received over the years. Acapulco is, and will always be, your home.”

The Acapulco tournament enjoyed record attendance in 2019, welcoming more than 55,000 fans.

The Tournament of the Year awards, voted annually by ATP 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 Masters 1000 and 250 tournament categories, respectively.

Visit the official ATP Tour Awards section on ATPTour.com.

After World No. 1 Novak Djokovic claimed his fifth Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title on Saturday, the on-court reporter asked the champion what specific goals he has for the rest of the season. And perhaps the 79-time tour-level titlist’s response wasn’t what the crowd expected.

“One of the targets is to go unbeaten the whole season,” Djokovic said. “No, I’m kidding. I’m not kidding, actually.”

During Djokovic’s press conference a short time later, a reporter asked the Serbian to set the record straight. Is completing a perfect season truly a goal for him?

“No, no,” Djokovic said, cracking a laugh. “Of course I’m trying to embrace the moment and appreciate where I am. I think this has been one of the best starts of all seasons I had in my career. I feel great on the court. I’ve been playing great tennis on the hard courts. That is my most successful and preferred surface.”

Djokovic has started 2020 by leading Team Serbia to the inaugural ATP Cup title, claiming a record-extending eighth Australian Open trophy and now triumphing in Dubai. He has won 21 consecutive tour-level matches, and is 18-0 on the season.

“I’m just grateful that I’m playing well, feeling well. I’ve won many matches now in a row. I’ll try to keep that run going,” Djokovic said. “It’s just way too early to speak about how long that run might go, the calculations. I try not to think about predictions. I try to focus on what I need to do with myself and my team in order to thrive every day, in order to try to play as best as I can every single match.”

Frenchman Gael Monfils had three match points against Djokovic during the second-set tie-break of their Dubai semi-final. But everything has been going right for the Serbian, who found a way to stave off those chances and reach the final, in which he defeated reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets.

“The season started in the most perfect way possible,” Djokovic said. “I am aware of the fact that most of the matches that I’m going to play, the players will not have much to lose. They will go out and try to play their best and stop the streak. At the same time the more I win, the more confident and comfortable I feel playing the next match and competing and really performing well.”

This is the seventh time Djokovic has earned a winning streak of at least 20 matches. His best start to a season came in 2011 when he went 41-0 — part of a 43-match winning streak — before losing in the Roland Garros semi-finals. So when things are going so well, how does Djokovic stay motivated?

“Motivation never lacks, to be honest, at least in my case. I find motivation in the small things and details,” Djokovic said. “For me the biggest motivation is my self-growth as a player and as a person. Tennis really allows me to have that platform of learning and growing and developing both personally and professionally like nothing else in life. I’m grateful for that.”

Novak Djokovic continued his unbeaten start to the 2020 ATP Tour season on Saturday, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 to claim his fifth Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title.

One day after saving three consecutive match points to beat Gael Monfils in a dramatic semi-final, Djokovic raised his level and converted each of his three break points to win his 21st straight match. Djokovic has won each of the 18 encounters he has contested this season, winning 43 of 49 sets.

Novak Djokovic’s 20+ Match Win Streaks

“I’m trying to embrace the moment and appreciate where I am,” said Djokovic. “I think this has been one of the best starts of all the seasons I had in my career. I feel great on the court. I’ve been playing great tennis on the hard courts. That is my most successful and preferred surface.

“I’m just grateful that I’m playing well, feeling well. I’ve won many matches now in a row. I’ll try to keep that run going. It’s just way too early to speak about how long that run might go, the calculations. I try not to think about predictions. I try to focus on what I need to do with myself and my team in order to thrive every day, in order to try to play as best as I can every single match. That’s the main focus.”

Djokovic continues to impress in 2020, having also lifted the inaugural ATP Cup with Team Serbia and a record-extending eighth Australian Open title last month. With his first Dubai trophy since 2013, Djokovic improves to 5-1 in finals at the ATP 500 event. Only Roger Federer, in 2015, has beaten the World No. 1 in a Dubai final.

This is the first time that a No. 1 seed has beaten a No. 2 seed at this tournament. In each of the previous four contests between the event’s Top 2 seeds, the second seed has lifted the trophy.

Top 2 Seeds In Dubai Final

In a first set largely dominated by serve, Djokovic attacked Tsitsipas’ backhand with deep returns to earn his first break point at 4-3. The 32-year-old was forced to defend as Tsitsipas attacked with an aggressive inside-out forehand approach, but Djokovic ripped a flat cross-court backhand passing shot to take a 5-3 lead. Djokovic converted his first set point with a backhand winner down the line.

After trading breaks early in the second set, Djokovic once again earned a late service break. With Tsitsipas serving at 4-4, the 17-time Grand Slam champion extracted forehand errors from the Greek to earn two break points. Djokovic played with depth and aggression in an extended rally on his first opportunity, before changing the rhythm with a cross-court drop shot to move to within one game of his 79th tour-level crown. As he did when serving for the first set, Djokovic held serve comfortably with another backhand winner down the line.

“I felt mentally I started having a little bit more of an advantage on the court [after breaking at 4-3]. You could sense that I got the momentum. I didn’t want to lose the momentum,” said Djokovic.

“I was a break up in the second set. He [broke back] right away. I was comfortable from the back of the court playing with him. It seems like he did drop his intensity a little bit from the previous matches… I served out the match in a great fashion, won another trophy here. I’m just obviously very, very pleased.”

Tsitsipas was attempting to capture his first Dubai title in his second straight final at the tournament. The Marseille champion, who entered this year’s final on an eight-match winning streak, fell to Roger Federer in last year’s championship match.

“It’s disappointing trying so hard and not really getting the final result that you want,” said Tsitsipas. “For sure, I would love to see myself holding that trophy. Of course, he gave more than me and he deserves it.”

Djokovic receives 500 FedEx ATP Ranking points and earns $565,705 in prize money. Tsitsipas gains 300 ATP Ranking points and collects $284,485.