Acapulco already belongs to Rafa Nadal. The Open, the legacy and the public. The Spanish tennis player has defeated Cameron Norrie on the court (double 6-4) in one hour and 54 minutes and has added his fourth title in Mexico (2005, 2013, 2020 and 2022). The Mallorcan’s showcase adds his third title after winning the Melbourne ATP and the Australian Open.
The final began with a Nadal who received the dangerous service of Norrie. The first point of the game went to the Briton, unlike the last few games in this tournament, but the Spaniard turned on the machine with his left foot to try not to let him lead in this first set. The Spaniard broke serve to take the lead. It was part of his tactics, a series of strategies already tattooed on his mind. Nadal went fishing to see if Norrie fell into some traps to extend the advantage. And the British came out of the hole with force with deep shots. And Nadal pressed on his serve and thus took the first set (6-4) in 51 minutes.
Nadal’s punch was effective to take the first point of the first set that led Norrie to despair as he hit the court with his racket. The bravery served as fuel to crush Nadal’s serve and begin to distance himself. The expertise of the native of Mallorca could more by air, by the parallel bars, in the picaditas and in controlling the game from the head. Norrie lost it when the judge did not agree with him. He played on the wire to feel comfortable.
Rafa had one service left to win. One more and have the break of the match in your pocket. Norris, overwhelmed, could not reply. No more. Nadal won for the fourth time in the Mexican tournament and thus ties his compatriot David Ferrer and the Austrian Thomas Muster in number of trophies. The mariachi hat fell to a Nadal who has found one of the best versions of himself at 35 years old. The Spaniard can also go home with the satisfaction of having beaten the now number one in the world, Daniil Medvedev, and of enjoying tennis again, as he has insisted since the start of the year.
The tournament consecrated a Rafa Nadal who reached the top of 21 Grand Slams and found peace of mind that his body has responded well. He has become a master at living with chronic pain in his left ankle. The Spanish also adds the title number 91 in his career. Another record that he has achieved is having won his twenty-fifth title on a hard court.
Nadal has dominated the match record against the 26-year-old Briton. The first time he beat him in the round of 16 at the Australian Open in 2021 (7-5, 6-2 and 7-5). In the quarterfinals in Barcelona he once again prescribed a defeat for him (6-1 and 6-4). At Roland Garros, the Spanish liquidated him (a triple 6-3). If no injury gets in the way, Nadal wants to continue his love affair with tennis.
Feliciano López and Stefanos Tsitsipas, doubles champions in Acapulco
DM
The association named ‘Feli-pas’ won the doubles tournament after beating Salvadoran Marcelo Arévalo and Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer (7-5 and 6-4) in two sets in a one-hour, 34-minute duel . The first set was for the pair of Spanish and Greek, well supported by the public. In the second they squeezed their turn at service to placate any hope. The success of Feliciano López and Stefanos Tsitsipas has been express after they had only played one tournament before, in Vienna.
López had already played two doubles finals, but lost both of them. First it was in 2014 with the Belarusian Max Mirnyi against the duo of Kevin Anderson and Matthew Ebden and then in 2017 when he fell at the hands of John Isner against Jaime Murray and Bruno Soares. This year he made sparks with the Greek. Both defeated the Australians John Patrick-Smith and Luke Saville (7-6 (7 and 6-4) in the round of 16). In the quarterfinals they beat the Colombians Robert Farah and Juan Sebastián Cabral (6-4, 4-6 and 12 -10).In the semis, they beat Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliövaara (double 6-4).Tsitsipas was able to repeat in the singles final, only the British Cameron Norrie stopped him in his tracks in the semifinals by double 6- Four.
You can follow EL PAÍS DEPORTES at Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
#unstoppable #Rafa #Nadal #stays #glory #Acapulco