Top seed Rafael Nadal has reached the championship match in all three previous appearances at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. If he continues to produce the level of tennis he did on Tuesday against Mischa Zverev of Germany, the Spaniard has a strong chance of reaching a fourth final in Acapulco.

Competing in his first match since finishing runner-up last month at the Australian Open (l. to Djokovic), the Spaniard showed no sign of match rust in defeating Zverev 6-3, 6-3. He improves to 15-1 at this event and finished the night with 25 winners to just 14 unforced errors.

Nadal wasted no time getting down to business on Cancha Central and struck a gorgeous backhand lob winner to grab a 3-1 lead in the first set. He held the advantage for the rest of the set and carved a forehand drop volley winner on set point to take the early advantage.

Playing with the confidence of a man who comfortably won both of his previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings against Zverev, Nadal continued to apply pressure in his return games. The German eventually succumb to the relentless offense and began leaking errors from the baseline. Nadal won the last four games of the match and struck a backhand passing shot winner on match point to end the contest after 80 minutes.

Awaiting Nadal in the second round is a blockbuster match against Nick Kyrgios, who defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 7-5. Although the Aussie arrived in Acapulco with a 3-3 record this season, he consistently brings his best in prime-time matches against the world’s top players. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 3-2, but they’re even at 1-1 on hard courts.

The Zverev family went 1-1 on Tuesday as second seed Alexander Zverev encountered few problems in dismissing #NextGenATP Aussie Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-3. The German was untouchable on serve throughout the contest and only lost one point on his first serve (26/27). He was equally dominant in return games, winning 65 per cent of second-serve return points and accumulating nine break points throughout the night.

Third seed John Isner broke his Acapulco curse by scoring his first win in five tries at this event, holding off a determined Adrian Mannarino of France to prevail 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. The American fired 18 aces and broke Mannarino twice in the final set to advance after one hour and 45 minutes.

Isner will play fellow American and good friend Sam Querrey in the next round after Querrey comfortably dispatched Guillermo Garcia Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-2. Querrey leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Isner 5-2.

Fourth seed Diego Schwartzman showed no sign of the right leg injury that forced him to retire in his first-round match last week at the Rio Open presented by Claro. The Argentine finished strongly after more than two hours of tennis to dispatch Marius Copil of Romania 6-3 4-6, 6-1. Next up for Schwartzman is Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, who survived a wild match featuring 12 service breaks in 24 games to defeat Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

The average height of the Top 10 at the end of the 2018 season was 6’3”. While our sport is undeniably getting taller at the top of the tree, last year, there were two Top 20 standouts under 6′ who led the way in the crucible of converting break points when returning.

Hello Fabio and Diego. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of the Top 20 in the year-end 2018 ATP Rankings focused on break point conversion against first and second serves. The analysis uncovered that Fabio Fognini and Diego Schwartzman stood tallest on tour when the biggest moments in a match arrived.

Break Points Won vs. First Serve
Fognini (5’10”) led the Top 20 in 2018 with break points won against first serves, converting 34.7 per cent (123/329) of the time. The 31-year-old Italian finished the 2018 season ranked No. 13, which equaled a career-high he first reached in 2014.

The leading five players from the Top 20 in the 2018 season:
F. Fognini = 37.4% (123/329)
B. Coric = 36.7% (80/218)
N. Djokovic = 36.3% (143/394)
R. Nadal = 35.8% (102/285)
R. Federer = 35.4% (86/243)

Break Points Won vs. Second Serve
Schwartzman (170cm / 5’7”) was only 17th best of the Top 20 winning break points against first serves in 2018, but he vaulted all the way up to the the top when he got a look at a second serve.

The 26-year-old Argentine posted a career-best ranking of No. 11 midway through 2018 after reaching the quarter-finals of Roland Garros, losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in four sets.

The leading five players converting break points against second serves in 2018:
D. Schwartzman = 62.1% (123/198)
R. Nadal = 60.1% (113/188)
F. Fognini = 56.5% (113/200)
A. Zverev = 54.7% (135/247)
K. Khachanov = 53.9% (103/191)

Alexander Zverev saw the most break points against second serves in 2018 with 247 and had the second highest total against first serves, at 352. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic had the most break points against first serves, at 394.

There was almost a 20 percentage-point gap between the average win percentage of the Top 20 converting break points against first serves versus second serves in 2018.

Taller players universally reign supreme on serve leaderboards in our sport, but players under 6′ are still thriving and competing at the highest level by dominating on the return side of the equation.

A hidden gem of our sport is that John Isner, at 6’10”, and Schwartzman, 5’7”, can equally be superstars on the global stage. Diversity of player height and game styles in tennis continues to offer a pathway to the top for anyone who has the burning ambition to reach for the stars.

Frenchman Gael Monfils was at his acrobatic and entertaining best on Tuesday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. He and Marin Cilic had split the first two sets, and Monfils wanted to set the tone of the third set early.

Serving at 30/0, the Frenchman delivered a near service winner down the T that Cilic barely got a racquet on. The ball hung in the air before Monfils took control of the point, rocketing a forehand to Cilic’s backhand corner. Then the real fireworks began.

Cilic replied with a soft backhand lob, and Monfils leaped into the air for the tomahawk. “Ahhh, the slam dunk!” the announcer shouted.

His fellow commentator added, “That’s worth the entrance money, isn’t it?”

Monfils held to love and won 83 per cent of the points in the decider (24/29) to cruise to a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 win. He will next meet Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.

Read More & Watch Highlights: Monfils Extends Perfect Record Against Cilic

On his debut at the Brasil Open, Jaume Munar needed just 66 minutes to defeat Pedro Sakamoto 6-3, 6-2 on Tuesday.

The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals semi-finalist, who is bidding to reach his fifth ATP Tour quarter-final of the season this week, converted each of his four break-point chances to reach the second round. Brazilian qualifier Sakamoto was making his ATP Tour debut after defeating former World No. 37 Carlos Berlocq en route to the main draw.

Munar will be aiming to earn his 10th tour-level victory of the season when he meets Christian Garin of Chile in the second round. Garin claimed a first-round win for the third straight week on the ATP Tour on Monday, beating Pedro Sousa of Portugal 7-6(3), 6-2.

Cordoba Open champion Juan Ignacio Londero joins Munar in the second round. The seventh-seeded Argentine dropped only three points behind his first serve (35/38) to defeat Paolo Lorenzi 7-6(3), 6-1. Londero will meet Hugo Dellien of Bolivia for a place in the quarter-finals. Dellien cruised past Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez 6-1, 6-2 in 61 minutes.

Did You Know?

Londero entered the Cordoba Open earlier this month without a tour-level victory. The Argentine has won seven of his nine matches on the ATP Tour since arriving in Cordoba.