The 26th edition of the Abierto Mexicano in Acapulco promises to be one of best line-ups in the ATP 500 series of the 2019 season. Four top 10 players (Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, Kevin Anderson and John Isner) and three Grand Slam champions have already signed to play in the Mexican tournament in the famous tourist resort.
Seventeen-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal won the Acapulco Abierto Mexicano in 2013, when the tournament was held on clay for the last time before it switched to blue hard court in 2014.
Twice Grand Slam finalist and world number 6 player Kevin Anderson, who finished runner-up at the US Open 2017 and at Wimbledon 2018, will make his fourth appearance in Acapulco. The South African player won two titles in New York and Vienna, reached the final in Pune and Acapulco, the semifinal in Madrid, Toronto and at the ATP Finals in London and the quarter final at three Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells, Miami and Shanghai. At Wimbledon he won a thrilling semifinal against John Isner after a six-hour and 36-minute battle before losing to Novak Djokovic in a straight-set final. In his previous appearances in Acapulco Anderson lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the tie-break of the third set. Anderson lost to Kei Nishikori in the Acapulco semifinal in 2015. Last year Juan Martin Del Potro beat Anderson 6-4 6-4.
Zverev won his biggest title in 2018 at the Nitto ATP Finals in London, three more titles in Madrid, Munich and Washington and reached two more Masters 1000 finals in Miami and Rome this year. The 21-year-old German player won his first two Masters 1000 titles in Rome and Montreal.
The line-up also featured three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka and former Roland Garros finalist David Ferrer.
Wawrinka, who won the Australian Open in 2014, Roland Garros in 2015 and the US Open in 2016, will make his return to Acapulco after seven yeras of absence. Ferrer won four editions in Acapulco in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015 and will play this event for the final time in his career. The Spanish player will make a farewell tour which includes Auckland, Acapulco, Bueonos Aires, Barcelona and Madrid.
“We have been working, for a couple of months now, to get these players to be part of the tournament. After the 2017 and 2018 editions we have established some standards on the quality of the players we are looking for Acapulco. I believe we have met the standards with the presence of a legend like Rafael Nadal, a young talent like Sasha Zverev and a Grand Slam champion like Sloane Stephens in the women’s tournament. I am sure that a player’s list like this confirms our tournament not only as the best in Latin America but also as one of the most important ATP 500 and WTA Interrnational events”, said Tournament Director Raul Zurutuza.
