Almagro from Spain defeats Nalbandian to capture the Mexican Tennis Open in Acapulco (3/08)
The Mexican Tennis Open at the beautiful Fairmont Princess Hotel in Acapulco took place February 25-March 1, 08. This ATP/WTA tour event attracted predominantly Spanish and South American players because of the red clay surface. Other name players from around the world come to participate as the weather is spectacular in this city and it is the most popular Latin Tennis tournament in the world today. The draw of 32 in the men’s singles featured some top players while the women’s draw was a bit weaker with ranked players.
#6 Seed Nicolas Almagro (pictured above) from Spain came into the tournament ranked 28th in the world but will move up after he defeated #1 seed David Nalbandian (pictured below in yellow) of Argentina in a straight set final. Almagro (pictured above with the trophy) used his clay court expertise and quickness to take the title. Nalbandian (pictured below in yellow) was confident after winning the Buenos Aires Open the week before and was the clear-cut favorite for this tournament having moved his world ranking to #8. He breezed to the finals with victories over Pashanski, Ventura, #8 seed Starace of Italy and Luis Horna of Peru. Horna (pictured below in red) beat his doubles partner Calleri to reach the semis in the second best match of the tournament before bowing out in straight sets to the #1 seed.
The up and coming Almagro had to survive a quarterfinal match vs. Nicolas Massau of Chile after dropping the first set. He kept his composure and rallied to win the next two sets before a very tough semifinal vs. powerful Jose Acasuso (pictued below) of Argentina in the best match of the tournament. It was back and forth before Almagro prevailed in a third set tiebreaker. Almagro showed perseverance, determination and a slight cocky attitude as he tried to intimidate his opponents despite his smaller frame. Five of the top eight seeds didn’t make it past the second round. #2 Moya lost to Massau, #3 seed Monaco from Argentina lost to Horna, #4 seed Canas, also from Argentina, lost to Acasuso, #5 Chela (last year’s champion from Argentina) lost to countryman Calleri in a 3 set match and #7 Andreev of Russian lost in the first round.
The WTA final went as expected as #1 seed Flavia Pennetta (pictured below) from Italy defeated #2 seed Alize Cornet of France in 3 sets. The only American in this tournament was Jill Craybas who had a nice run before losing to Cornet in the semis. This tournament is growing more every year with bigger prize money and higher ranked players joining.
If you are a foreigner coming to this tournament, beware of some non-enforced rules. For instance, there is a no smoking policy inside the stadium while play is going on but there are many people lighting up and the ushers are very laxed about it and not on the lookout. One note of caution on a more serious matter – We witnessed an incident where a woman hit a man while in line at a vendor stand. Security was called and nothing was done. If this had happened in most other tournaments around the world, she would have been removed from the stadium at once at the very least if not gone to jail. Here in Mexico, she was allowed to watch the rest of the tennis match. The man was told that the police would come and she would be cited but that never happened. Be prepared for inconveniences and rules that are different or not enforced. We doubt we will come back. More information at www.abiertomextenis.com.mx