The Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex in Los Cabos is one of two Mexican events on the ATP Tour, alongside the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco.

The Los Cabos tournament, which made its ATP Tour debut in 2016, would have been held this week if not for the Tour suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ATPTour.com looks at five things to know about the ATP 250 event.

The Perfect Preparation
After months of competition on clay and grass, the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex offers ATP Tour stars their first opportunity to compete on hard courts during the North American hard court season. The ATP 250, held at the Solaz Tennis Center, has welcomed former Top 5 stars Juan Martin del Potro, Grigor Dimitrov and Tomas Berdych across its opening four editions.

“It could be my favourite part of the year… It is a good tournament for preparation for [Canada], Cincinnati and the US Open,” said Del Potro.

The event is also popular with players and fans for its off-court activities, including sky diving and jet skiing. Los Cabos is one of the most popular tourism destinations in Mexico, attracting more than two million visitors per year.

“You always love coming back to tournaments that you have done well at in the past,” said 2017 finalist Thanasi Kokkinakis. “Obviously in a place like this, where it feels like you are on a holiday more than playing tennis, [it] is pretty special.”

Querrey’s ‘Mexican Double’
Sam Querrey arrived in Los Cabos in 2017 in top form, making his first appearance since a semi-final run at Wimbledon. The American, who defeated Dominic Thiem and Rafael Nadal en route to the Acapulco trophy earlier in the year, was aiming to complete the ‘Mexican Double’ by claiming his 10th ATP Tour trophy.

After surviving a final-set tie-break in his opening match against Evan King, Querrey notched victories against Vincent Millot, Damir Dzumhur and Kokkinakis to lift the trophy and finish the year with a 9-0 record in Mexico.

“It’s really exciting to win here. I felt like I played really well,” said Querrey. “This tournament only keeps getting better… I think the past couple of months have been the best I’ve played.”

Fognini’s Lucky Hairdo
At the start of his debut appearance in Los Cabos in 2018, Fabio Fognini posted a photo on Instagram of his latest hairdo. The ATP Tour’s Instagram page challenged the Italian to maintain the interesting style throughout the week if its own post received 20,000 likes.

The Italian agreed to the challenge and kept his new style after the post exceeded 25,000 likes. Fognini’s new hairstyle proved to be a good luck charm, as the Italian cruised to the title with victories against Quentin Halys, Yoshihito Nishioka, Cameron Norrie and Del Potro.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Hey @fabiofogna, if we get 20k likes on this photo will you keep the new ‘do for Wednesday’s match at @abiertoloscabos? ?

A post shared by ATP Tour (@atptour) on Jul 30, 2018 at 7:45pm PDT

The Wait Is Over
For the first time since 1995, a Mexican player lifted an ATP Tour title on home soil in 2018.

Mexico’s Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela and El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo dropped just one set across four matches to claim the doubles trophy in Los Cabos, beating Taylor Fritz and Kokkinakis in the championship match. It was the first home triumph by a Mexican player on the ATP Tour since Leonardo Lavalle and Javier Frana’s title run 23 years earlier in Mexico City.

‘Cherry On Top’ For Schwartzman
After picking up trophies on clay in Istanbul in 2016 and Rio de Janeiro in 2018, Diego Schwartzman achieved a milestone moment in Los Cabos last year. Competing as the tournament’s third seed, the Argentine raced through to the semi-finals and won a three-set battle against Guido Pella to reach his second championship match of the year.

In the final, Schwartzman saved three consecutive set points against Fritz at 5-6, 0/40, in the first set to reach a tie-break. The 5’7” right-hander held his nerve in the tie-break and broke serve late in the second set to lift his maiden ATP Tour title on hard courts.

“It was really important for me to come here and win big matches against the big guys,” said Schwartzman. “The title is like the cherry on top for me.”

The Swiss Open Gstaad, founded in 1915, is one of three Swiss events on the ATP Tour calendar.

The ATP 250 would have been held this week if not for the Tour suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ATPTour.com looks at five things to know about the event.

A Talented Honour Roll
Situated near the mountains of the Swiss Alps, the Swiss Open Gstaad is home to one of the most picturesque backdrops of any tournament on the ATP Tour calendar. The Swiss event, a two-time ATP 250 Tournament of the Year, also boasts an impressive list of former champions.

Five former World No. 1 players in the FedEx ATP Rankings — John Newcombe (1971), Ilie Nastase (1973), Stefan Edberg (1986), Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1995) and Roger Federer (2004) — have lifted the trophy in south-western Switzerland. Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja own an Open Era-record three singles titles at the event.

David Rikl owns a record four doubles trophies, leading a strong tradition of Czech doubles champions in Gstaad. Sixteen editions of the doubles tournament have featured a Czech champion, including a consistent period of success between 1996 and 2008 when only two winning doubles teams did not feature a Czech player.

Federer’s Cows
Following his maiden Grand Slam title run at Wimbledon in 2003, Federer quickly returned to Switzerland to compete in Gstaad the following week. In a special on-court ceremony to mark his Wimbledon victory, the Swiss was presented with a cow.

Federer fell to a five-set defeat against Jiri Novak in the final that year, but 12 months later he claimed the trophy. When the Basel native returned to the event after a nine-year absence in 2013, he was once again gifted a cow on court.

Berrettini’s Breakthrough
When Matteo Berrettini arrived in Gstaad in 2018, the Italian had never reached a tour-level quarter-final or won an ATP Tour doubles match. But that didn’t stop the Italian from winning nine matches across singles and doubles to take home both trophies.

Then World No. 84, the Italian defeated three consecutive seeded players to take the singles title without dropping a set. Following his singles final win against Roberto Bautista Agut, the 22-year-old returned to the court later in the day to clinch the doubles trophy alongside Daniele Bracciali.

“[Gstaad was an] unbelievable week. I won singles and doubles there and I had never won an ATP Tour doubles match, so it was all in a rush. I will never forget that week,” said Berrettini.

Thiem’s Triumphant Return
One year after a straight-sets loss to Viktor Troicki on his tournament debut, Dominic Thiem returned to Gstaad in 2015 in peak form. The Austrian made a quick journey from Umag, where he had just lifted his second ATP Tour title, to make his second straight appearance at the Swiss ATP 250.

Following a straight-sets win against Federico Delbonis, Thiem battled past Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez to reach his second final in as many weeks. In a repeat of the 2014 Kitzbühel final, Thiem gained revenge against David Goffin to lift his third tour-level crown of the year after 86 minutes.

Federer, Safin Claim Doubles Title
Three years before his singles title run in Gstaad, Federer captured the doubles trophy alongside Marat Safin. The pair, which contested the 2004 Australian Open singles final, dropped only one set in three matches to book a final meeting against Michael Hill and Jeff Tarango.

Unfortunately, the rain-affected championship match didn’t last long. After claiming the first game, Hill was forced to retire from the contest due to a leg injury, handing the trophy to Federer and Safin. It was the only time Federer and Safin, who had both lost their opening singles matches, competed as a doubles team.

“Winning like this is kind of strange,” said Federer. “But it seems like it was just meant to happen. We’ve played good doubles this week and I’m happy to have been able to make the crowd happy again after my first-round exit in the singles.”

Ever wished you could play with one of world’s best tennis players or learn from two of the world’s best coaches? You can do both at the same time!

Stan Wawrinka and his coaches, Magnus Norman and Daniel Vallverdu, will provide a two-hour lesson to the winner of an auction and their guest to support members of the ATP Coach Programme affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The lesson will take place at an ATP Tour event in Europe or the Americas between January and July 2021

Learn More & Bid!

Norman, a former World No. 2 who has worked with Wawrinka for all three of his Grand Slam titles, is excited to spend time with the auction winner.

“They can expect to get the same one-handed backhand as Stan Wawrinka, basically,” Norman joked on ATP Tennis Radio. “I’m going to do basically the same drills. A couple of hand-feeding drills, a couple of racquet-feeding drills, some live-ball [situations] and try to get my knowledge when it comes to technical work across to the player. It’s going to be a fun experience for sure. A fantastic initiative from Dani Vallverdu, who put this together. It’s a fantastic thing.”

There are several auctions and prize draws currently up for grabs until 27 July. A hit with Andy Murray headlines a dream experience at Wimbledon, Toni Nadal will spend two hours on court with an auction winner at the 2021 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and Severin Luthi will give a two-hour lesson at the 2021 Swiss Indoors Basel. The first round of auctions raised more than USD $90,000, including a USD $19,000 winning bid for a US Open VIP Package and coaching session with Ivan Lendl.

“I think it’s great because a lot of the top coaches, they work with top players and it’s maybe another financial situation if you work with top players [compared to] lower-ranked players,” Norman said. “I think especially during these times, lower-ranked players, they cannot afford to pay the salary of a coach when they’re not working together. So obviously the coaches are really struggling at the moment.

“I think it’s great that the top coaches are coming together… it’s incredible, just the things we are doing together. It’s a great thing and it can help a lot of coaches that have been without salary for months now.”

Norman has greatly enjoyed his time as a coach, and he looks forward to giving back to his colleagues when he works with Wawrinka and Vallverdu to put together a special lesson for their package’s winning bidder.

“I’m going to give it everything I have. When the player comes on court I’m going to try to make the player as good as possible,” Norman said. “I think it will be a great experience… It’s going to be a great session and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Wawrinka is excited to support the cause. Funds raised will be allocated by the ATP Coaches Committee. In addition, a part of proceeds will be donated to a global COVID-19 relief fund.

“Our sport owes a lot to coaches and I would not have become the player I did without their help over the years,” Wawrinka said. “I want to thank everyone involved for their support.”

Vallverdu, who has spearheaded these auctions, has been thrilled by the response.

“It has been really exciting to see the response the initiative has received so far. It’s fair to say it has exceeded all our expectations and will go a long way to help coaches,” Vallverdu said. “I want to thank everyone for their generous contributions and look forward to fans enjoying the incredible experiences lined up in the second round.”

Editor’s Note: ATPTour.com is resurfacing features to bring fans closer to their favourite players during the current suspension in tournament play. This story was originally published on 21 July 2018.

Leander Paes is well known for his efforts on the doubles court, reaching No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings, claiming 54 tour-level titles including eight Grand Slam triumphs, and becoming the first tennis player to compete at seven Olympic Games.

But it’s easy to forget that Paes was successful on the singles court as well, winning 101 tour-level matches in his career. Twenty years ago this week, the Indian star captured his lone singles title on the ATP Tour in Newport, Rhode Island at the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

“It’s one of the Top 5 career highlights that I have right next to my Olympic medal, right next to all the Grand Slams that I’ve won,” Paes told ATPTour.com. “Winning Newport at the Hall of Fame got my tennis racquet that I won with in the Hall of Fame, got my shoes that I played with that day and the shirt that I played with in the Hall of Fame and when I do have kids and when I do have grandkids I can always bring them back here and show them a bit of the body of work that papa and grandpa has done.”

Paes had always found some of his best singles success at the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In 1996, at the age of 25, he reached his first ATP Tour semi-final on the Rhode Island grass, beating 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash in the first round. Two weeks later, he won the bronze medal in singles at the Olympics, proving his ability in the discipline.

“That was just humongous back home,” Paes said. “So when I came back here two years later and won the singles event here at the Hall of Fame, I remember it was a pretty big deal back in India.”

Looking back at it, the 1998 Newport field was stacked with talent — a 17-year-old Lleyton Hewitt, 18-year-old James Blake and 22-year-old Rainer Schuettler stick out. The second seed was doubles legend Mark Woodforde, who had been in the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings just two years earlier. Two future No. 1 players in the ATP Doubles Rankings, Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor, were also competing in singles.

But Paes was a man on a mission. He remembers playing on Court 2 in the first round against David Dilucia, getting pushed deep in a third set against the American. He says he hit a diving backhand drop shot winner to help get him through that match, and the rest was history.

“It was huge [for me],” Paes said. “I think that the Newport win in many ways gave me a sense of belief, gave me a sense of confidence and a sense that my hard work was paying off.”

At the time, Paes was on the fence between pushing on in both singles and doubles, or focusing solely on doubles, which he would do following the 1998 season. He had already owned 10 tour-level doubles trophies alongside Mahesh Bhupathi when he arrived at the International Tennis Hall of Fame that July.

“I was on the threshold of winning doubles Grand Slams,” Paes said. “I had to balance both. And I knew having won my singles medal in the Olympics in 1996, I had a lot of singles in me.”

But Paes has only made two singles quarter-finals on the ATP Tour since his triumph in Newport, beating then-World No. 2 Pete Sampras just weeks later in New Haven to earn perhaps the biggest singles victory of his career. He’d then make the quarter-finals at the Dell Technologies Hall of Fame Open for the fourth consecutive year in 1999.

“I feel like a lot of my singles results like beating [Pete] Sampras, that got overshadowed a bit. Beating [Roger] Federer too, when he was coming up. Just a lot of the singles gets overshadowed a little bit, including winning the singles here, because of the mammoth doubles career I’ve had,” Paes said. “I can’t believe that the singles win was 20 years ago. That’s a long time. I would’ve never imagined that I’d still be playing tennis.”

But the 45-year-old is still plugging away on the ATP Tour. He partnered American Jamie Cerretani to beat Nature Valley International champions Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara in the first round in Newport this year before bowing out in the quarter-finals.

And while Paes is happy to reflect on the memories of his triumph 20 years ago, he’s not done pushing for success. His focus is set solely on what’s ahead.

“I’m a happy guy. I stay in the moment. I focus on things that I have in hand. I don’t think I’ve really sat back over the last 29 years and really looked at my career and said ‘I’ve done that’,” Paes said. “I’m always striving to do something new. I’m always trying to push the body and the mind to different boundaries. That’s the reason that I still play now.”

Russians have taken the ATP Tour by storm over the past few years and three of the Top 15 players in the FedEx ATP Rankings — No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, No. 14 Andrey Rublev and No. 15 Karen Khachanov — are from the country. All three joined Russian WTA stars Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Daria Kasatkina on this week’s episode of Tennis United.

Perhaps the nicest part for the trio is that they are close friends. They’re certainly not afraid to joke around with one another.

“Andrey gets really, really angry if you call him Jannik because he looks like Jannik Sinner a little bit,” Medvedev said. “During this Australian Open he comes into the locker room and I said, ‘Hi Jannik, how are you?’ He got angry, he [went] away for 10 minutes, came back 10 minutes later, and goes, ‘You are Davydenko then!'”

Medvedev is 24, Khachanov is 23 and Rublev is 22, so they have known each other since they were juniors.

“[I had] so many matches with these two guys,” Khachanov said, before recalling a funny memory. “I remember still when Daniil was rolling on the court, crying and throwing the racquets to the forest! That was terrible behaviour, but I think it’s a pity that we don’t have videos.”

All three men have had signature moments at the US Open. In 2017, Rublev became the youngest tournament quarter-finalist since Andy Roddick in 2001. Two years ago, Khachanov battled Rafael Nadal in a gruelling four-setter, falling just short after four hours and 23 minutes. Perhaps the biggest of those moments came last year, when Medvedev went on a memorable run to the final in which he lost a five-set classic against Nadal.

“The US Open last year was special in many ways, and I think I will remember it for all my life,” Medvedev said.

“It was cool because it was a like a story. It was like a script, it was evolving,” Tennis United co-host Vasek Pospisil said. “Every day there was a new twist and turn and a happy ending. It could have been a movie.”

Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Marat Safin, the two Russian men who have reached World No. 1, also joined the show. Kafelnikov had an idea for why the current Russian trio is enjoying success.

“When I became a Top 10 player, Marat was six years younger than me and he wanted to catch up to me, so we had healthy competition between each other and one was driven by another,” Kafelnikov said. “We’ve got three guys who are in the Top 20 and they all three are competing with each other. That’s the reason why tennis in Russia is very successful at the moment.”

Who wouldn’t want to play a tournament that makes you feel like you’re on a vacation?

Former World No. 2 Magnus Norman, who won the Nordea Open in Båstad twice, believes that the atmosphere of the event is what helped it win ATP 250 Tournament of the Year for 11 consecutive years from 2002-12.

“I think it’s a combination of the great vibes [and the fact that] players are staying very close to the venue, so there are no transportation issues. You bring your racquets and one minute later you’re on centre court from your room,” Norman told ATPTour.com. “Everything is located very close to the tennis and then if you want to go to the restaurant, you’re [already] almost in the restaurant. Everything happens in the same place, the beach is right there. Everyone in Båstad does a good job. All the players feel very welcome and at home.”

Seven Swedes have won the clay-court event, which was first held in 1948, in the Open Era: Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander, Henrik Sundstrom, Joakim Nystrom, Magnus Gustafsson, Norman and Robin Soderling. That rich history for home favourites makes the tournament even more special for Swedes competing.

“We came as juniors playing in Båstad for so many years growing up. I think I was nine years old when I first came to Båstad and I came and watched the big tournament. It’s always been very special for the Swedish players to play in Båstad,” Norman said. “Obviously when you come back as a pro, playing in your home country… it feels almost like you’re playing a tournament, but at the same time you’re almost on vacation.”

Norman won his first of 12 ATP Tour titles at 1997 Båstad. Just weeks before, he’d made his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros and defeated Goran Ivanisevic at Wimbledon.

“At 21 years of age, there were a lot of expectations on my shoulders,” Norman said. “A lot of people in Sweden wanted to see me play, so obviously I was super happy to be able to handle that pressure, playing very well at home and winning my first title in front of my parents and friends from my hometown. It was very special.”

Norman competed in Båstad nine times, tallying a 21-7 record. He played the event often because of its slot shortly after Wimbledon and because he enjoyed competing at home. In 2000, he captured his second Båstad title. He was the No. 2 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings at the time.

“It’s always nice to win at home. It’s a nice memory when you go there sometimes… when you see your name on the board as one of the Swedish winners,” Norman said. “As a tennis player you want to play well all the weeks and I always wanted to play well in Sweden… I always wanted to play at home even if I was No. 2 in the world, so I hope people in Sweden will remember that.”

The Hall of Fame Open has long been one of John Isner’s most successful events. Nobody has won the tournament more, as the American has triumphed on the historic Newport grass four times. The ATP 250 has been a family affair for Isner, too.

Last year, Isner had a new guest by his side in Newport: his daughter, Hunter Grace, who was born in September 2018. Throughout the week, the first thing he did after the match was go see his daughter.
It made for a special moment when Isner defeated Alexander Bublik 7-6(2), 6-3 for the title. Joining him on court for the trophy ceremony were Hunter Grace and Isner’s wife, Madison McKinley Isner.

“That was cool. That was actually something I wasn’t even thinking about at all during the course of the match. Thankfully I wasn’t getting ahead of myself, but then when it came time to do the ceremony, I looked at where my wife was sitting. She wasn’t there,” Isner said. “She had gone and got Hunter Grace and brought her over to the side of the court. She was smart enough to go get her and knew that would be a good moment to capture. So that was the highlight of the week, no doubt.”

The big-serving righty first triumphed in Newport in 2011, sprinting to the title without dropping a set. He defeated Olivier Rochus 6-3, 7-6(6) for the trophy. But perhaps what sticks out about the event is that Isner was forced to miss his brother Nathan’s wedding to finish the job.

“It definitely turned out to be a great decision,” Isner said at the time.

The top seed planned to rush to the wedding if he lost by the semi-finals. He was disappointed to miss the special moment, but thrilled to win his second ATP Tour title.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a better week serving,” Isner said. “I’m fortunate to have that weapon and I was in a groove for five matches. It carried me to the championship here.”

Isner, who also emerged victorious in Newport in 2012, served even better at the tournament in 2017. He became the second player to win an ATP Tour title without facing a break point since records started being kept in 1991. Tommy Haas accomplished the feat at 2007 Memphis, and Alex de Minaur did it last year in Atlanta. Isner beat Matthew Ebden 6-3, 7-6(4) in that year’s championship match.

“It’s hard to win a tournament. It’s no small feat to come out here and be the last man standing,” Isner said. “I’m very happy about that.”

Isner, who has only won the Atlanta title more often (five times), has long been comfortable in Rhode Island, where he holds a 23-5 record. He enjoys the intimate setting and the local scene, which includes restaurants on the water.

“My very first ATP Tour event was here in 2007 and I didn’t enjoy the courts that much back then because I didn’t know how to play on them,” Isner said. “To say that I’ve won this event four times isn’t something I thought would be possible.”