On Monday, hard court competition as part of the ATP 500 competition in Acapulco began. Highly placed Casper Ruud, Holger Rune and Taylor Fritz won promotion in the second round, although it was not without problems.

Third seed Taylor Fritz took on fellow titleholder John Isner in the main arena on Monday. The oldest of the US representatives won the first set, but in the next two it was the 25-year-old Californian who made his Top 5 debut on Monday (more here). It was he who finally won 3:6, 6:3, 6:4 and thanks to this he evened the balance of the competition with the 37-year-old compatriot at 3-3.

Fritz will face Denis Shapovalov on Wednesday. The Canadian also came back after straight sets of 0-1 to defeat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-7(4), 6-0, 7-5. It was his third consecutive victory over the Serb in the main series. Now he will play against the American, with whom he is 5-2 on the circuit.

Number two Casper Ruud also had a tough time in Acapulco. In the first round, the Norwegian met qualifier Guido Andreozzi and after the third set tie-break he finally beat the Argentinian 6:4, 4:6, 7:6(2). His opponent on Wednesday will be Japan’s Taro Daniel, who beat American Jeffrey John Wolf 6:4, 6:4.

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Also playing with the “four”, Holger Rune had problems during the inauguration of the Mexico Open Championship. The talented Dane lost the first set after a tie-break, but in the next two he was better than Ben Shelton. He eventually beat the American 6:7(7), 6:4, 6:2 and entered the 1/8 finals. His next rival will be the Portuguese Nuno Borges or the American Nick Chappell.

Other top seeds also qualified for the second phase. Scored “six”, American Frances Tiafoe won with Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 7:6(6), 6:4. As a reward, he will meet experienced Spaniard Feliciano Lopez on Wednesday, who dismissed American Christopher Eubanks ( 7:6, 6:4).

Tommy Paul, who played with the “seven”, also enjoyed the victory. The American beat Ecuadorian Emilio Gomez 6-1, 7-6(4). Now he will meet his compatriot Michael Mmoh, with whom he faced many times lower level events in 2016-2019. Mmoh won the inaugural American Marcos Girona 7-6(3), 6-1.

Abierto Mexicano TelcelAcapulco (Mexico)
ATP 500, hard court, $2.013 million prize pool
monday 27 february

1st singles round:

Michael Mmoh (USA) v Marcos Giron (USA) 7-6(3), 6-1
Tommy Paul (USA, 7) – Emilio Gomez (Ecuador) 6-1, 7-6(4)
Taylor Fritz (USA, 3) – John Isner (USA) 3:6, 6:3, 6:4
Denis Shapovalov (Canada) v Miomir Kecmanovic (Serbia) 6-7(4), 6-0, 7-5
Feliciano Lopez (Spain, WC) v Christopher Eubanks (USA) 7:6(3), 6:4
Frances Tiafoe (USA, 6) v Yoshihito Nishioka (Japan) 7-6(6), 6-4
Holger Rune (Denmark, 4) v Ben Shelton (USA, WC) 6:7(7), 6:4, 6:2
Taro Daniel (Japan, Q) v Jeffrey John Wolf (USA) 6-4, 6-4
Casper Ruud (Norway, 2) v Guido Andreozzi (Argentina, Q) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(2)

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