The Danish Holger Rune, fourth in the world ranking, heads the list of participants in the ATP 500 in Acapulco, which will be held from February 26 to March 2 in the Mexican resort.
In a press conference, the organizers confirmed that Rune, 20, is the head of a group of 10 confirmed figures, five of them among the first 10 positions on the world list.
The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, fifth in the world, the American Taylor Fritz, eighth, the Norwegian Casper Ruud, ninth and the German Alexander Zverev, tenth, complete the list of the “Top 10” in which the great absentee will be the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz, who played in Acapulco when he was a rookie far from the best in the world, dropped out at the last minute in the last two years and in 2014 he will not be there because, according to the tournament owners, he will go to the United States from the Rio de Janeiro tournament. United to play the Indian Wells Masters 1,000 in March.
Five other players in the top 20 were confirmed this year, the American Frances Tiafoe, eleventh, the American Tommy Paul, thirteenth, the Italian Lorenzo Musetti, eighteenth, the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, nineteenth, and the American Ben Shelton, twentieth.
Alvaro Falla, tournament director, explained that they have been in talks with the two players with the most Grand Slam tournaments won, the Serbian Novak Djokovic and the Spanish Rafael Nadal, but they will not be in Acapulco in 2024 unless they decide. last minute.
“We want Nole to accompany us at some point; there is a bidding between several tournaments to see who wins him and we hope to have him at some point. As for Rafa, he is in a moment of recovery and is on the right track,” said Falla.
The Open will be played on hard courts with a prize pool of $2,013,940, it will be held for the first time a week after the ATP 250 in Los Cabos, the other major tournament in Mexico, and before the Masters 1,000 in Indian Wells and Miami.
In 2023 the Open was won by the Australian Alex de Minaur, who defeated the American Tommy Paul in the final 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. De Minaur is not announced for next year, although organizers confirmed that the full list of players will be announced in February.
Source: ESPN
