The Abierto Mexicano Telcel, one of 13 ATP World Tour 500 series tournaments, switched to blue hard courts in 2014 after 20 years on clay. In 2915, David Ferrer became the first player to win the tournament both on clay and hard courts.
ATP Acapulco Tournament Preview
David Ferrer is back as this year’s top seed. Kei Nishikori is seeded
second, followed by Marin Cilic and Dominic Thiem to round out the top
four. Seeds five through eight feature Bernard Tomic, Ivo Karlovic, 2014
Acapulco Champion Grigor Dimitrov and Jeremy Chardy. The winner takes
home 500 rankings points and $321,625.
There have not been a ton of early upsets in Acapulco the last two years. In 2015, all seeds passed their first round tests and just two seeds fell in their first matches in 2014. Seeds have made up a large part of the back-end of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in the two years on hard courts. There have been at least five seeds each year in the quarterfinals and three of the four semifinalists in both years have been seeds. The finals in both 2014 and 2015 involved seeded players. Here is a look at this week’s seed report.
Seed Report
1. David Ferrer
The Spaniard is 7-1 in Acapulco since the surface switch to hard courts.
Last year, he beat Nishikori in the final in straight sets.
2. Kei Nishikori
Nishikori took well to the hard courts in Acapulco last year with a
finals run. It was his first visit to Mexico since 2012, when the
tournament was still on clay. Nishikori comes in hot with wins in eight
of his last nine matches.
3. Marin Cilic
The Croat will have to shake off a finals loss in Marseille on Sunday to
Nick Kyrgios. This will be a tricky situation for Cilic as he has never
played Acapulco and faces travel from overseas.
4. Dominic Thiem
Thiem’s eight match win streak came to an unexpected end in the Rio
seminfals to Guido Pella in straight sets. The Austrian now must switch
surfaces. He played qualifying in 2014 in Acapulco, winning one and
losing one. Thiem is 5-3 on hard courts this season.