ATP Acapulco - DRAW: Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, Stan Wawrinka are top seeds

The Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco is one of 13 ATP 500 series events and also among the most favorite stops in the calendar. It all started back in 1993 and the players like Thomas Muster, a four-time champion in those initial years, Gustavo Kuerten, Carlos Moya, Rafael Nadal, Nicolas Almagro, and David Ferrer have all won the title there on clay. Acapulco switched to hard courts in 2014 to attract the better field of players and it certainly paid off, gathering competitors from the very top like in 2017 when Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic led the pack. Juan Martin del Potro defeated Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson in back-to-back matches to grab the title in 2018 and only Zverev is back in action from that group, together with Nadal and the defending champion Nick Kyrgios.

Competing for the first time since the quarter-final loss to Dominic Thiem at the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal seeks the third title in Acapulco and the first since 2013, facing Pablo Andujar in the first round and Alex de Minaur or Miomir Kecmanovic in round two. De Minaur is making a comeback after skipping the Australian Open, pushing Nadal to the limits at the ATP Cup before suffering an injury that has kept him away from the court for more than a month. Reilly Opelka, Soonwoo Kwon, Steve Johnson and Dusan Lajovic are also in the top quarter, with Nadal looking good to reach the semis and stay in the title chase. 

The 3rd seed Stan Wawrinka opens the campaign against Frances Tiafoe, with the winner of that one facing Radu Albot or Pedro Martinez. Cameron Norrie, Adrian Mannarino, Damir Dzumhur and a former champion Grigor Dimitrov are also in contention from there, with the crowd expecting the quarter-final clash between Wawrinka and Dimitrov. The defending champion Nick Kyrgios meets Ugo Humbert in the first round, with Taylor Fritz or John Millman waiting for the winner of that one in round two. Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex Bolt, Kyle Edmund and Feliciano Lopez seek the semi-final spot from there as well, with John Isner and Alexander Zverev leading the action in the bottom quarter ahead of expected quarter-final duel. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2VjefUW