He hasn’t played a match yet, but Novak Djokovic is already happy that he chose to play at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, where he’s making his debut this week.

On Sunday evening, hundreds of fans came to watch Djokovic practise on Cacha Central, the tournament’s centre court. The fans greeted him with a screaming ovation as he entered the stadium and cheered throughout his practice. Djokovic, who’s been a pro for 14 years, said he hasn’t experienced such a night too often in his career.

“I want to thank all the people who came to welcome me and to watch the practice session and to give me this amazing energy that I felt on the court,” he said during his pre-tournament press conference. “I am trying to feed off that energy and obviously play the best tennis that I can possibly play this week and hopefully have a good tournament.”

The 29-year-old right-hander is making his debut in Mexico. He accepted a wild card into the ATP World Tour 500 event last week. The Serbian will have to bring some of his best tennis if he plans on a perfect debut.

The Acapulco field features four Top 10 players, including No. 6 Rafael Nadal, No. 8 Marin Cilic and No. 9 Dominic Thiem. No. 11 David Goffin, No. 17 Nick Kyrgios, No. 18 Jack Sock, and No. 22 John Isner round out the top eight seeds.

“It’s very impressive. It’s going to be a hard tournament,” said Djokovic, who greeted the press corps with un poquito de español, “Buenos días a todos,” or “Good morning, everyone.”

The Belgrade native is returning to tournament action for the first time since falling to Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in five sets during the second round of the Australian Open. The setback was the right-hander’s earliest Melbourne exit since 2006, when he was ranked No. 76 and fell to American Paul Goldstein.

“I haven’t experienced the first-week Australian Open loss for many years,” said Djokovic, who has won the Grand Slam six times. “But… it’s kind of normal and expected to go through those times when you’re not playing as best as you can maybe, as best as you want to be, or maybe the opponent has an amazing day. It’s sport. You have to deal with it, and you can always learn much more from the losses.”

Per Djokovic’s high standards, the World No. 2 has struggled during the past seven months. He’s won only two titles during that span – Rogers Cup, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown, in July; and the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha last month when he knocked off World No. 1 Andy Murray.

In Acapulco, Djokovic will try to return to his form of 12 months ago, when he experienced one of the best stretches of his career. The Serbian won the Australian Open, the March Masters – Indian Wells and Miami – and then didn’t miss a step on the European clay, taking the Mutua Madrid Open and Roland Garros to complete his career Grand Slam.

Read More: Federer, Monfils Roll In Dubai Openers

“All in all, I feel that I’m in a much better state of mind than maybe I was at the end of last year. So I keep on going. I love this sport. That’s why I’m playing it. That’s why I’m here. I’m just hoping that I can stay healthy and as dedicated as best as I can be,” he said.

Despite his early loss Down Under, Djokovic still followed the remainder of the Australian Open. He, like millions of tennis fans around the world, was excited to see his friends and rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal fight in the final.

“It was amazing to see… Roger win the Australian Open, at his age, after injury and after being absent for so long. It’s quite impressive. I congratulate him for that. He never ceases to impress everybody, and it was great to see a Federer-Nadal final,” Djokovic said. “I think it’s very important for the sport of tennis that these two guys are back in Grand Slam finals, winning trophies, because they are the icons of tennis. They have contributed so much to the popularity of the sport worldwide.”

Argentine Renzo Olivo booked himself a second-round match-up with fourth seed Joao Sousa on Monday at the Brasil Open. Olivo beat 2016 semi-finalist Inigo Cervantes of Spain 7-6(6), 6-4 in one hour and 53 minutes.

Olivo saved 12 of 16 break points and landed 70 per cent of his first serves to win his Sao Paulo debut. The 24-year-old Olivo, No. 92 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, will face Sousa for the first time.

Olivo’s countryman Guido Pella also advanced, hitting 10 aces to prevail against Brazilian wild card Guilherme Clezar 6-2, 6-3. In doubles, second seeds Julio Peraltz and Horacio Zeballos won almost 70 per cent of their service points to beat Andres Molteni and Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-3. Italians Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini also moved into the quarter-finals, squeaking past Argentines Federico Delbonis and Maximo Gonzalez 3-6, 6-1, 10-8.

Alexander Bublik fought past Nicolas Jarry 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday to claim his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title at the Morelos Open. The 19 year old became the youngest winner on the circuit this year and third #NextGenATP star to lift a trophy, joining Hyeon Chung (Maui) and Noah Rubin (Launceston).

Bublik’s march to the title caps an impressive rise to the Top 150 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, ascending to a career-high World No. 137. Just four months ago, the Kazakh was sitting outside the Top 300, but a quarter-final result at the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow – his first ATP World Tour main draw – and a run to the second round as a qualifier at the Australian Open, set the stage for his biggest professional title on the hard courts of Morelos.

ATPWorldTour.com spoke to Bublik after his victory:

What was it like to win your first title?
It was a big win. The first title always means a lot. I’m very happy. It gives me a lot of confidence and I’m close to the Top 100 now, but I still need to keep working hard.

In the final, you needed five match points to serve it out. Take us through that and how you finally managed to get it done.
He (Jarry) was playing unbelievable. He passed me twice with incredible shots. I got a little nervous. I was struggling to get there and I said to myself that I needed to win it. I got a first serve and it was over.

You were feeding off the energy from the crowd all week. How did you use that to your advantage?
I was struggling at times and they helped me a lot. They loved me there since the first day, since my first match. They definitely helped me. That’s the thing about tennis. When you have a big crowd, I’m in love with it.

You haven’t played many Challenger events. This was just your 10th main draw and first final. How have you made the transition look so easy?
It’s really not. When I played my first Challenger last year in Kazan, I got past the first round and I thought it was a big first step forward. Then I won a couple of Futures titles and I went back to Challengers and I got some more wins, reaching my first quarter-final. I wasn’t rising very fast. I took little steps closer and closer and had a big experience [at the ATP World Tour event] in Moscow at the end of the year.

Having reached the quarter-finals as a qualifier at the VTB Kremlin Cup in October, did that experience give you a boost entering the 2017 season?
Moscow really helped me a lot. That was a big push for me, because I’ve been working hard for a while. At the same time the year before, I was playing qualies at a Futures event. I worked a lot for it and it showed me that I could compete with these guys. Then I had a great run at the Aussie Open (qualifying and reaching the second round) and I really believed it. This Challenger gave me the confidence that I can not only play well, but win a tournament.

Did you do anything different in the offseason to prepare you for your first full season on tour?
We worked on several things in the pre-season here in Delray Beach. We worked a lot on the physical part because I’m a big guy. That is, building up my strength with my serve. We also changed the way I train, which helped me a lot. Training in Delray is the best. I’ve been in America since I was 12 years old, living in San Francisco, so I love it here.

You are up to No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan. What would it mean for you to qualify?
That’s one of the main goals for me this season to qualify. It sounds like a great event and it will be very interesting to play there. I hope to stay healthy so I can make it.

ICYMI – #NextGenATP star @AlexanderBublik claims his first #ATPChallenger title with a splash, soaring to victory in Morelos, Mexico. pic.twitter.com/Adm4qfVGUX

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) February 26, 2017

Philipp Kohlschreiber moved to within two match wins of the 400th victory of his career on Monday by beating eighth seed and last month’s Apia International Sydney titlist Gilles Muller 6-4, 7-6(1) in 88 minutes at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. “Hopefully I can achieve the mark here in this tournament,” said Kohlschreiber, who now has 398 match wins. “It would be great [and] mean I’m in the semi-finals.” He will next face #NextGenATP Daniil Medvedev or wild card Omar Alawadhi.

Marcel Granollers lost just three of his first service points in beat Jiri Vesely 6-3, 6-2 in 77 minutes for a second-round clash against second seed and defending champion Stan Wawrinka or Damir Dzumhur.

Third seed and seven-time former winner Roger Federer and Gael Monfils compete at the Aviation Club in Dubai, venue of the ATP World Tour 500 tournament, later today. The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is celebrating its 25th edition this year.

Denis Istomin, Evgeny Donskoy, Marius Copil and Lukas Rosol all booked their spots in the main draw as a result of winning through the final qualifying round.

Watch Full Match Replays

Doubles Seeds Safely Through To QFs

Top seeds and ATP Finals titlist Henri Kontinen and John Peers lost just two of their service points in cruising past Alawadhi and Amirvala Madanchi 6-1, 6-1 in 37 minutes for a place in the quarter-finals. Fourth seeds and 2015 semi-finalist Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau overcame Mate Pavic and Alexander Peya 7-6(2), 6-1 in 64 minutes.

Strong Fields in Acapulco, Dubai & Sao Paulo: The busiest month of the season comes to a close this week with ATP World Tour 500-level tournaments in Acapulco and Dubai and the final Latin American clay-court stop in Sao Paulo. Eight of the Top 10 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings are in action, including five in Acapulco, led by No. 2 Novak Djokovic, and No. 6 Rafael Nadal. In Dubai, top-ranked Andy Murray, No. 3 Stan Wawrinka and No. 10 Roger Federer lead the way. In Sao Paulo, the top three are Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta and Albert Ramos-Vinolas and two-time reigning champion Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.

Emirates ATP Race to Milan Leaders: There are six #NextGenATP players among the Top 20 Emirates ATP Race to Milan (as of Feb. 20) in the main draw and two others in the final round of qualifying in the upcoming tournaments.

View full Race To Milan standings 

ABIERTO MEXICANO TELCEL (Acapulco): One of the favourite destinations on the ATP World Tour is the Acapulco Princess Mundo Imperial, site of the 500-level Abierto Mexicano Telcel. The tournament made the switch from clay to hard courts in 2014 and this year’s field features a tournament record five of the Top 10 players, led by wild card and World No. 2 Novak Djokovic, who is making his tournament debut. The others include No. 6 Rafael Nadal, who returns for the first time since 2013, No. 8 and defending champion Dominic Thiem, No. 9 Marin Cilic and No. 10 David Goffin. Rounding out the seeds are first-time entrants No. 16 Nick Kyrgios and No. 21 Jack Sock. Thiem and Nadal are the only former champions in the draw.

Novak Makes Debut: Djokovic, who accepted a wild card to play in Acapulco for the first time, is playing his first tournament match since his five-set 2R loss to Denis Istomin at the Australian Open on Jan. 19. After Melbourne, Djokovic played in Serbia’ s 1R Davis Cup tie vs. Russia and he defeated #NextGenATP star Daniil Medvedev in the second singles match in four sets (did not play reverse singles). The 29-year-old Serbian is making his Acapulco debut and second career pro tournament appearance in Latin America. Last summer he lost in the 1R at the Rio Olympics (l. to del Potro). Djokovic opened the season by defending his title in Doha (d. Murray). He enters with 758 career match wins and he is four wins away from tying Pete Sampras for 10^th place on the Open Era list.

Thiem Reigning Champion: Last year Thiem won the biggest ATP World Tour title of his career in Acapulco, defeating Aussie Bernard Tomic 7-6, 4-6, 6-3. It was the second of a career-high four ATP World Tour titles during the season and the 23-year-old Austrian finished as the youngest player in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 8. On Sunday, Thiem won his first title of the season over Pablo Carreno Busta in Rio.

Nadal Eyes 70^th Title: Two-time Acapulco champion Nadal looks to continue his success and remain unbeaten (10-0) in the tournament. In his two previous appearances on clay, Nadal won without dropping a set, capped by final wins in 2005 (d. Montanes) and 2013 (d. No. 4 Ferrer). The 30-year-old Spaniard is playing in his first tournament since reaching the Australian Open final on Jan. 29 (l. to Federer in five sets). He opened the year by reaching the quarter-finals in Brisbane (l. to Raonic). Nadal is not only trying to capture his 70^th career title, he is also attempting to break a three-year-plus hard-court title drought. His last hard court title came in Doha in January 2014 (d. Monfils).

Delpo Returns: It’s been 11 years since Juan Martin del Potro played in Acapulco. In 2006, he came in ranked No. 146 and retired in the 1R vs. Albert Montanes trailing 6-2, 5-3. It was only his fifth career ATP World Tour match at the time. Since then the Argentine superstar has won 19 career titles, including the 2009 US Open, and reached a career-high ranking of No. 4. Just over one year ago he came into Delray Beach ranked No. 1,042. This past week he played in his first tournament of the season in Delray Beach and lost in the semi-finals to top seed Raonic. Last year he earned a second ATP Comeback of the Year award (2011). He finished at No. 38 with a 32-12 match record on the season, winning in Stockholm (d. Sock) and earning a silver medal at the Rio Olympics where he beat No. 1 Djokovic in 1R and No. 5 Nadal in SF, (l. to No. 2 Murray). He closed the year by leading his country to a first Davis Cup title with wins over Croatia’s Karlovic and Cilic.

#NextGenATP Stars: There are six #NextGenATP players in the main draw, led by World No. 59 Borna Coric, wild card World No. 113 Ernesto Escobedo and four qualifiers – No. 86 Yoshihito Nishioka, No. 90 Frances Tiafoe, No. 115 Stefan Kozlov, and No. 136 Taylor Fritz, who was last year’s ATP Star of Tomorrow recipient.

Sock Coming to Acapulco: No. 8 seed Sock, a winner over Milos Raonic in the Delray Beach final via walkover, is off to a quick start this season. Sock, the No. 1 American, is off to a career-best 10-1 start, winning his second career ATP World Tour title in Auckland (d. Sousa), reaching the 3R at the Australian Open (l. to Tsonga) and winning a match in the USA’s 5-0 Davis Cup 1R win over Switzerland.

Doubles Draw: The top seeds are last year’s World No. 1 duo: Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. The other seeds are: No. 2 Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram, No. 3 Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo and No. 4/last year’s champions Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi, who is aiming for his 50^th career ATP World Tour level doubles title.

DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS (Dubai): The 25^th anniversary of the prestigious 500-level tournament is highlighted by World No. 1 Andy Murray, who is joined by reigning champion Stan Wawrinka and seven-time winner Roger Federer, who is playing his first tournament since his title run at the Australian Open. The other seeds are: No. 4 Gael Monfils, No. 5 Tomas Berdych, No. 6 Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 7 Lucas Pouille and No. 8 Gilles Muller. Prior to last year when Wawrinka captured the title, Djokovic or Federer were champions for a seven-year stretch from 2009-2015.

Murray Top Seed:  Murray is making his first tournament appearance since losing in the 4R at the Australian Open (l. to M. Zverev) on Jan. 22. The World No. 1 opened the season by reaching the final in Doha (l. to Djokovic). He has an 11-4 career record in Dubai, reaching the final in 2012 (l. to Federer) and the quarter-finals in 2008-09 and 2015. Murray is also playing doubles (w/Zimonjic).

Stan Reigning Champion: No. 2 seed Wawrinka is back to defend his title. Last year he returned to Dubai for the first time since 2008 (1R, l. to Hernych). After opening the tournament coming back to beat Stakhovsky in three sets, he did not drop a set the rest of the week, capping it off with a 6-4, 7-6 victory over Baghdatis in the final.  He won two more titles, including his third Grand Slam crown at the US Open (d. Djokovic) to finish No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the third straight year. This season he has compiled a 7-2 match record, opening with a semi-final in Brisbane (l. to Nishikori) and following with the same result at the Australian Open (l. to eventual champion Federer in five sets).

Roger Eyes Eighth Title: Federer is making his 13th appearance in Dubai and the 35-year-old Swiss superstar is playing in his first tournament since capturing his 18^th career Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open on Jan. 29 (d. Nadal in five sets). Federer owns a 47-5 career record in Dubai with seven titles (2003-05, 2007, 2012, 2014-15). He also was runner-up in 2006 and 2011. He has won 10 straight matches in Dubai since losing to Berdych in the semi-finals in 2013. He is trying to win an eighth title for the first time in his career. He also has captured seven titles in Basel, Cincinnati, Halle and Wimbledon. Last year he played his last match in the Wimbledon semi-finals on July 8, 2016 when he lost in five sets to Raonic. He missed the rest of last season with a knee injury.            

Kohli Eyes 400 Wins: No. 2 German Philipp Kohlschreiber is three match wins away from reaching the 400 wins milestone in his career. He has a record of 397-307, including 8-7 in Dubai, reaching the semi-finals in 2014 (l. to Berdych) and quarter-finals last year (l. to eventual champion Wawrinka).

Berdych Makes 10^th Appearance: No. 5 seed Tomas Berdych is making his 11^th  appearance in Dubai. The two-time finalist (2013-14), who has reached the quarter-finals or better the past six years, has a 22-10 career record. He began with a 4-4 record but is 18-6 since 2011.

Doubles Draw: The top seeds are Australian Open champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers. The other seeds are: No. 2 Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers, No. 3 Daniel Nestor and Edouard Roger-Vasselin and No. 4 Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.

BRASIL OPEN (Sao Paulo):  Sao Paulo is the site of one of two Brazilian tournaments on the ATP World Tour (Rio de Janeiro). There are five players in the Top 50 Emirates ATP Rankings in the field, led by top seed, Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, who finished runner-up in his biggest career ATP World Tour final in Rio on Sunday (l. to Thiem).  The other seeds are No. 2 Albert Ramos-Vinolas No. 3 and reigning two-time champion Pablo Cuevas, No. 4 Joao Sousa, No. 5 Fabio Fognini, No. 6 Diego Schwartzman, No. 7 Federico Delbonis and No. 8 Carlos Berlocq. There are two former winners in the field: Cuevas (2015-16) and Delbonis (2014).

Cuevas Two-Time Defending Champ: Two-time reigning champion Cuevas comes in with a 12-5 career record, having won nine straight matches over 2015-16 in Sao Paulo. The 31-year-old Uruguayan is off to a slow start this season with a 1-4 match record and he has lost his past three opening round matches, including last week in Rio (l. to De Greef). On Saturday, he captured his sixth career doubles title in Rio (w/Carreno Busta). They are the top seeds in Sao Paulo.

Carreno Busta Top Seed: For the first time in his career Carreno Busta is the top seed in an ATP World Tour tournament. The 25-year-old Spaniard lost in Sunday’s singles final in Rio (l. to Thiem). He saved one match point in his 2-6, 7-5 ,6-0 semi-final win over rising Norwegian #NextGenATP star Casper Ruud. Last season Carreno Busta won two ATP World Tour titles (Winston-Salem, Moscow) and reached two other finals (Sao Paulo, Estoril) and finished a year-end best No. 30 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Last year’s Sao Paulo runner-up is making his third straight tournament visit (4-2 record).

Ruud Newest #NextGenATP Star: The youngest player in the draw is 18-year-old Casper Ruud of Norway. Ruud earned entry into the draw as a special exempt after reaching his first ATP World Tour semi-final in Rio (l. to Carreno Busta after holding match point).  Ruud rose from No. 209 to a career-high of No. 133 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after his breakthrough week. He also moved from No. 16 to No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan standings.

Spanish Success: In 2014, Delbonis became the first Argentine tournament winner since Guillermo Canas won in Costa do Sauipe in 2007. Then Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas won the title in 2015-16. Prior to 2014, Spaniards had won six straight titles in Sao Paulo from 2008-13 with Almagro winning three times:          

2013 – Rafael Nadal                                                                                              
2012 – Nicolas Almagro                                                                                        
2011 – Nicolas Almagro                                                                                            
2010 – Juan Carlos Ferrero                                                                                                          
2009 – Tommy Robredo                                                                                      
2008 – Nicolas Almagro

Doubles Draw: The top seeds are Rio champions Pablo Carreno Busta and Pablo Cuevas. The other seeds are: defending champions No. 2 Julio Peralta and Horacio Zeballos, No. 3 Nicholas Monroe and Artem Sitak and No. 4 Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner.