The Mexican Open, also known as the Abierto Mexicano Telcel due to sponsorship reasons, is a longstanding ATP event in the coastal city of Acapulco, Mexico, belonging to the ATP 500 series.
Date: | 26 February - 2 March |
Category: | ATP 500 |
Surface: | Hard |
Location: | Acapulco, Mexico |
Venue: | Arena GNP Seguros |
Players: | 32 players (2024 Mexican Open ATP Entry List) |
Prize Money: | $2,206,080 (2024 Mexican Open ATP Prize Money) |
Points: | 500 for champion (2024 Mexican Open ATP Points) |
Draw: | 2024 Mexican Open ATP Draw |
Official website: | https://abiertomexicanodetenis.com/ |
The event has a very colorful history as it changed both the host city and the surface. It was first held in 1993 on clay, seeing Thomas Muster win the trophy. The event was initially an ATP 250 event but was upgraded to an ATP 500 event ahead of its move to Acapulco in 2001.
The event was held in Acapulco on outdoor clay until 2014 when it became a hard court event as part of the leadup to the Sunshine Double, the Indian Wells Open, and the Miami Open. It's generally held at the end of February as it usually finishes in the first week of March.
Initially, the tournament was played at the Club Alemán, before it was moved to the Fairmount Acapulco Princess until it relocated again to the Arena GNP Seguros in 2022.
Many great players played at the event due to the extravagant location in a famous resort town. Muster famously loved coming back, winning the event four times, as did Rafael Nadal, who also won four times here. David Ferrer was also a regular, as were some other players.
The event switching to hard courts saw the entry lists skew towards players preferring that type of surface instead of clay, but it didn't hurt its prestige. It's still one of the most popular events despite being held in the same week as the Dubai Championships.
In 2023, the tournament venue was hit by a hurricane, and it seemed that the 2024 edition of the tournament would have to be cancelled, but thanks to an incredible effort from the organizers, the Arena GNP Seguros was restored and the Mexican Open remained on the calendar in 2024.