Twice An Acapulco Semifinalist, Rune Begins Anew With Victory

Holger Rune
Holger Rune (photo: MEXTENIS/Abierto Mexicano de Tenis)

ACAPULCO/WASHINGTON, February 26, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Opening round play at the ATP 500 Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC continued Tuesday evening in Acapulco, headlined by 2021 champion Alexander Zverev of Germany, two-time semifinalist Holger Rune of Denmark and popular American Frances Tiafoe on Estadio.

The World No. 13 Rune, who is seeded fourth, faced 50th-ranked Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the opening match on Estadio before World No. 2 and top seed Zverev took center stage to face No. 33 Matteo Arnaldi of Italy. Finally, Tiafoe opposed No. 41 Alexandre Muller of France, fresh off his runner-up finish at Rio de Janeiro last weekend.

First, Rune converted three of six break-points opportunities en route to a 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory over Carballes Baena in one hour and 58 minutes. The 21-year-old Dane improved to 6-5 on the 2025 season – leveled his career head-to-head against Carballes Baena at 2-all – and moved into the second round against No. 42 Brandon Nakashima of the United States, who edged past No. 62 Benjamin Bonzi of France 7-6 (6), 7-5 in two hours and 15 minutes.

Rune hit 31 winners – 21 of them from the forehand side – to 32 unforced errors, compared to 12 winners and 19 unforced errors by his opponent. He won 78 percent of his first-serve points, saved two of four break points and outpointed Carballes Baena 72-63.

“It was very important [to win the first set],” said Rune in his on-court interview, noting that Carballes Baena beat him in the first round at the 2023 US Open. “I haven’t had the best experiences against him … so it gave me extra motivation to keep going today and to get my revenge. I’m very happy that I won.”

Rune spoke favorably of the Arena GNP Seguros atmosphere and the Mexican fans. “I think the atmosphere is great, playing at night,” he said. “It’s nice conditions. It’s very humid and it takes a little bit of time to get used to it, but I love it. The fans are great. The balls are a little bit slower, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.”

Next, Zverev came into his first-round match with Arnaldi 22-1 in opening rounds since the start of the 2024 season. His lone loss was to fellow German Daniel Altmaier in the first round at Acapulco last year. Against Arnaldi, Zverev overcame the hot and humid conditions to win, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4, in two hours and 44 minutes.

“I came from clay a few days ago, didn’t have much time,” said Zverev, who improved to 12-3, during his on-court interview. “I’m happy to beat a quality player and be through to the next round.”

Finally, Tiafoe, in his seventh appearance in Acapulco, brought at 4-2 record in opening rounds of the event. He was looking for his first Top-50 win since defeating Daniil Medvedev at the 2024 Laver Cup last September. In facing Muller, he prevailed 6-4, 6-2 in 70 minutes.

During Sunday’s Media Day, Tiafoe admitted that he’s not had the best start to the 2025 season, as his 3-3 win-loss record coming into the Abierto Mexicano Telcel would attest to, “but that’s how it usually happens to me.

“I’m happy to be here in Mexico, it’s one of the great places to play,” he said. “The fans are amazing; they always fill the stadium and make it exciting. It’s a great experience. It was crazy on the floating court in the bay of Acapulco on Saturday. I had never done it before, but I had a lot of fun as did Holger. Great view!”

Around the Abierto Mexicano Telcel

• Wild card Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez of Mexico, a former junior World No. 1, became the first Mexican player to win a match in Acapulco since Santiago Gonzalez defeated countryman Daniel Garza in the opening round of the 2011 tournament.

The 19-year-old, 355th-ranked Pacheco Mendez served his 12th ace on match point and upset No. 66 Aleksandar Vukic of Australia, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4), in three hours and one minute in his first-round match on the Grandstand.

At 4-all in the third-set tie-break, Pacheco Mendez won the final three points of the match and collapsed to the ground in celebration of his victory. After earning three career tour-level wins in Davis Cup play, he garnered the biggest win of his career against Vukic and it was his first against a Top-80 opponent. Pacheco Mendez outpointed Vukic 122-108. The victory lifted his PIF ATP Live Ranking 79 spots to No. 276.

• No. 9 seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada, who entered on a five-match winning streak after winning his first ATP 500 title at the Dallas Open three weeks ago, converted five of 12 break points and defeated 106th-ranked American qualifier Nishesh Basavareddy, 7-5, 6-2, in an hour and 38 minutes.

• No. 48 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain rallied from a set down and saved four match points to defeat 70th-ranked Italian lucky loser Mattia Bellucci, 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-2.

• Late Monday, 83rd-ranked qualifier Learner Tien of the United States won his ATP 500 main-draw debut over No. 74 Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, 7-6 (5), 6-3, in an hour and 52 minutes. The 19-year-old from Irvine, Calif. struck 24 winners and made only 19 unforced errors, compared to his opponent’s 19 winners and 39 unforced errors. In the second round, Tien will face World No. 2 and top seed Alexander Zverev in the second round.

• In doubles, Czech duo Tomas Machac and Jakub Mensik, who on competed head-to-head in the singles draw on Monday, teamed to defeat Americans Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek, 7-5, 7-5, to advance to the quarterfinal round.

• Also, No. 3 seeds Hugo Nys of Monaco and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France advanced to the quarterfinal round with their 6-4, 6-1 win over Sander Arends of the Netherlands and Luke Johnson of Great Britain late Monday evening. They will face American qualifiers Christian Harrison and Evan King, who beat Rinky Hijikata of Australia and Ben Shelton of the United States, 7-6 (2), 6-2 on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s Abierto Mexicano Telcel results

Wednesday’s Abierto Mexicano Telcel order of play

By the numbers

One-fourth of the 32-play main draw field is comprised of Americans: World No. 10 and third seed Tommy Paul; World 14 and fifth seed Ben Shelton; World No. 18 and seventh seed Frances Tiafoe; No. 34 Alex Michelsen; No. 42 Brandon Nakashima; No. 52 Marcos Giron; 83rd-ranked qualifier Learner Tien; and 106th-ranked qualifier Nishesh Basavareddy.

“Quotable …”

“That was one I wanted really bad. For me, I won the first set in the first two matches and ended up going down a break in the second, losing the second, and ultimately losing in three sets. So, for me, I wanted to fight back there, complete it in two and get off the court.”

– World No. 14 and fifth seed Ben Shelton of the United States, during his on-court interview, after defeating No. 39 Flavio Cobolli, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), Monday night to advance to the second round against No. 63 David Goffin of Belgium. It was Shelton’s first career win in three tries against Cobolli.

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