Rune, Zverev, Tiafoe All Cruise Through Their Opening Matches In Acapulco
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All of the top favorites did well in their first matches at the 2025 Mexican Open in Acapulco, cruising into the second round.
Casper Ruud, Tommy Paul, Ben Shelton, and Tomas Machac made it to the second round at the ATP 500 event in Acapulco on the first day of action. On Day 2 of the event, the other four seeded players followed them into the second round.
The first to play out of the seeded players was Holger Rune. The young Dane is the fourth seed in Acapulco, and he took on Roberto Carballes Baena in the first round of the tournament.
Rune had a one-break advantage in the first set of the match, twice, but even two set points on his serve at 5-4 weren't enough to close out the first set. That had to be decided in a tie-break, which the Dane won 7-4.
In the second set, Rune saved three break points and used his only chance to break to win the match 7-6(4), 6-3, reaching the second round in Acapulco. His opponent will be Brandon Nakashima.
The second of the seeded players to play on Tuesday was Alexander Zverev. The German player, seeded first, took on Matteo Arnaldi in his opening match in Mexico, and it was a proper challenge for the three-time Grand Slam finalist.
Zverev lost the first set of the match in a tie-break, 2-7, but he recovered in the second set. The ATP World No. 2 player broke his opponent's serve and avoided facing any break points to win the second set 6-3.
He was then the better player in the third set to win the match 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4. His next opponent will be Learner Tien, and after the match, Zverev admitted that changing to the hard courts from clay took some getting used to.
"I came from clay a few days ago, didn’t have much time. I’m happy to beat a quality player and be through to the next round."
Another seeded player who got through the first round was Denis Shapovalov. Untraditionally, the Canadian player is seeded ninth in Acapulco. He became a seeded player only after Taylor Fritz withdrew from the tournament.
The upgrade significantly helped Shapovalov because he was initially in Zverev's part of the draw, and he would have to play against him in the second round already.
After a change in the draw, the Canadian player started against Nishesh Basavareddy, and he didn't have too many issues. After falling behind 4-5 in the opening set and facing a set point, Shapovalov controlled the match to win it 7-5, 6-2.
The last seeded player to complete the first-round match in Acapulco was Frances Tiafoe. He also faced probably the most challenging opponent. Alexandre Muller won a title in Hong Kong this year, and he reached the final in Rio de Janeiro.
But Tiafoe was the better player in their match in Acapulco. The American player won 6-4, 6-2, setting up a second-round meeting with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. With Tiafoe's win, all the seeded players made it to the second round in Acapulco.
