SEATTLE - In a race against time, authorities in charge of organizing the Acapulco Open came out triumphant as the famous Mexican port will host its 31st tennis tournament this week, just four months after Hurricane Otis destroyed a vast part of the city's infrastructure.
In November of 2023, ATP confirmed that Acapulco would retain its privilege as hosts of the event if they were able to rebuild the facilities where one of the most important tennis tournaments in Latin America takes place every year. According to ESPN, the Acapulco Open is the second-most impactful week for Acapulco's economy, leaving around $41 million of profits to the touristy port. The arena in which most of the matches are played suffered losses of around $17 million after Hurricane Otis took almost 90% of the seats, but organizers were able to build it back in less than 120 days.
The Mexican Open is part of the ATP Tour 500 series and it was introduced to the tour in 1993 and, since then, has been one of the staple tournaments in Latin America. This year, 11 of the participants are currently ranked in the top-20, with Alexander Zverev (6), Holger Rune (7), Taylor Fritz (9) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (10) the only ones to crack the top-10.
Throughout its three-decade history, Acapulco has seen some of the best tennis players in history be crowned in its courts, including four-time champion Rafael Nadal and two-time champion Venus Williams, between others.
The Acapulco Open will take place from Feb. 26 to March 2 and is one of two ATP tournaments celebrated in Latin America this week, as the Chile Open will also take place from Feb. 26 to March 3. With two ATP tournaments taking place in the same week, Latinos continue making strides in professional tennis. Currently, Argentina is the only Latin American country to have eight players currently ranked in the men's top-100. Sebastián Báez and Facundo Díaz will partake in the Chile Open while Argentine favorite Diego Schwartzman, currently ranked just outside of the top-100 (117), will compete in Acapulco.
In the history of the Mexican Open, only five Latinos have won the men's singles title. The last one to do so was Juan Martín del Potro in 2018 perhaps one of the most difficult roads to the final, defeating four-time champion David Ferrer, 2016 Acapulco champion Dominic Thiem and this year's top-seeded Alexander Zverev, en-route to the title.
Other Latinos involved in this year's Acapulco Open include Mexicans Ernesto Escobedo and Rodrigo Pacheco, who qualified to the tournament via wildcards.
The only times a Mexican tennis player has been crowned at the Acapulco Open came in the doubles category. Giuliana Olmos, alongside partner Desirae Krawczyk, won the last edition of the women's tournament in Acapulco in 2020. In the men's side, Leonardo Lalle is the only Mexican to triumph in Acapulco and he did so twice, the first one coming in 1993 and the second title just two years later, winning the doubles' tournament alongside Argentine Javier Frana.
For more information on the draw, schedule and players involved in this year's Acapulco Open click here.
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