ATP 500 Dubai, Acapulco 2/24 - 3/1 2025

[ti-amie]

Mexican Open in Acapulco rocked by illness and upsets as top-seeded players fall

By Charlie Eccleshare
Feb 27, 2025

A bizarre Wednesday at the Mexican Open in Acapulco ended with the top five seeds out of the tournament, with at least three of them succumbing to illness.

Norway’s Casper Ruud pulled out ahead of his match against home qualifier Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez because of a “stomach illness,” while Holger Rune of Denmark lasted just three games against America’s Brandon Nakashima before retiring.

Like Ruud, Rune confirmed on social media that he had a stomach issue, writing on X: “Furious and so sad at the same time. Had a food poisoning and was unable to play today.”

American Tommy Paul, ranked No. 10 in the world, also succumbed to stomach issues and withdrew ahead of his match against compatriot Marcos Giron.

Of the remaining top seeds, there were stunning losses for Alexander Zverev, the world No. 2, and Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe. It has not yet been confirmed if any of them were suffering from the illness that affected Ruud, Rune and Paul.

Zverev’s defeat by the young American Learner Tien is another significant win for the 19-year-old after defeating Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open in January en route to the fourth round.

Zverev, who has a chance to take the world No. 1 spot over the next three months with Jannik Sinner suspended, again came up short after disappointing tournaments in Argentina and Brazil the past two weeks.

Despite being seven inches taller than his opponent and dominating in the serve power department, Zverev was often far too passive and found himself unable to dictate from the baseline. Three points in which Tien net cords looped into Zverev’s strike zone, only to be met with half-hearted approach shots, typified his performance — Zverev lost all three of those points.

Tien, who had to qualify for the event, also allowed the German’s forehand to beat itself; he won 6-3, 6-4 with Zverev making 18 unforced errors.

Belgian veteran David Goffin beat Shelton 7-6(3), 6-3. After their match, Goffin told reporters that even with the illness going around, the upset victories should not be underestimated: “Even if (some players) were, I think, sick a little bit, every opponent it’s hard to beat.”

Tiafoe, the No. 7 seed but the sixth-highest after the withdrawal of would-be No. 6 seed Lorenzo Musetti on the eve of the tournament, lost 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3 to the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

The day and night of upsets leaves the tournament wide open with only two-seeded players remaining: No. 8 Tomas Machac, the world No. 25, and No. 9 Denis Shapovalov, ranked No. 32. Shapovalov avoided the upset curse by defeating American 20-year-old Alex Michelsen, who received medication on court in the second set of a 6-4, 6-3 loss. Machac beat German qualifier Daniel Altmaier.

All of the affected players will hope to have recovered in time for the ATP 1,000 at Indian Wells, Calif., whose main draw starts next week. Ruud will be particularly cautious, having struggled for much of last year after being infected with a parasite at the French Open. It left him badly underpowered for his semifinal there against Zverev and then saw him bedridden for more than a week.

The Mexican Open quarterfinals take place Thursday.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/616366 ... ults-draw/

[ti-amie]

[ponchi101]

Not the enchiladas...

[ti-amie]

Friday 28 February, 2025 (Day 7) Dubai

Centre Court
Starts At 1:00 PM

R. Haase/H. Jebens (Q) Vs (2) H. Heliovaara/H. Patten
Followed By
Y. Bhambri/A. Popyrin Vs J. Murray/J. Peers
Not Before 5:00 PM
Q. Halys (Q) Vs F. Auger-Aliassime
Not Before 7:00 PM
T. Griekspoor Vs (4) S. Tsitsipas

[ti-amie]

Friday 28 February, 2025 (Day 7) Acapulco

ESTADIO
Starts At 7:00 PM

T. Machac (8) Vs B. Nakashima
Not Before 8:30 PM
D. Shapovalov or M. Giron Vs A. Davidovich Fokina or R. Pacheco Mendez

GRANDSTAND
Starts At 7:00 PM

S. Gonzalez/L. Miedler or A. Erler/C. Frantzen Vs H. Nys/E. Roger-Vasselin or C. Harrison/E. King
Followed By
T. Machac/J. Mensik or S. Doumbia/F. Reboul Vs H. Hach Verdugo/J. Tracy or N. Balaji/M. Reyes-Varela

[ashkor87]

impressive run by Machac thus far..beat Tien now

[mick1303]

Shapovalov is on a 8-match winning streak. It does not sound like a lot, but actually it is his new career best.

[ashkor87]

Medvedev beaten already..hope not in terminal decline

[Owendonovan]

Medvedev beaten already..hope not in terminal decline

Feels like he's been playing victim to his own peril.

[ponchi101]

Terminal decline it is. After a player says that he is not having fun on court, you can set the timer to 1 minute.

[mick1303]

Top players collected enough data on Tien. His somewhat unusual patterns are already studied and the novelty effect wears out. Powder-puff serve however will be there to exploit.

[FredX]

Terminal decline it is. After a player says that he is not having fun on court, you can set the timer to 1 minute.

He did make it one semifinal in the last three weeks, which is more than Zverev can say.

[ponchi101]

Terminal decline it is. After a player says that he is not having fun on court, you can set the timer to 1 minute.

He did make it one semifinal in the last three weeks, which is more than Zverev can say.

Zverev, as Mick stated, may be broken after that Aussie defeat. Right now, I would put some money (not a lot) on that both of them are over. It may be a possibility.

[FredX]

Meanwhile, Tsitsipas has reached a final...the "Lost Generation" still has some surprises!

[ti-amie]

Saturday 01 March, 2025 (Day 8) Dubai

Centre Court
Starts At 4:30 PM

F

Y. Bhambri/A. Popyrin Vs (2) H. Heliovaara/H. Patten
Not Before 7:00 PM
F
S. Tsitsipas (4) Vs F. Auger-Aliassime