On a historic Tuesday night at Mexico’s Albierto Tercel Stadium, veteran Gael Monfils and rising star Wu Yibing etched their names in the record books with two of the most important first-round wins of the tournament.
Monfils challenges father’s time
Monfils showed vintage resilience to beat Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 7-6(5) in a high-stakes, roller-coaster affair. With the victory, the 39-year-old became the oldest Frenchman to win a tour-level match in the Open era, surpassing his legendary compatriots Nicolas Mahut and Richard Gasquet.
The game was far from plain sailing. After taking the first set, Monfils found himself a break point behind in the second, with Dzumhur looking to force the match into a decider. The climax of this drama was Zumhur’s serve, with the score 4-5, 15-40; the Bosnian heroically saved two match points and finally forced the score into a tie-break. However, Monfils’ experience came to the fore in moments of pressure, allowing him to close out the match and end a tough seven-match losing streak dating back to last summer.
Monfils, who plans to retire at the end of the season, made his final appearance in Acapulco and is now the second-oldest man to win a race in the event. Notably, he has not competed in the Mexican resort town since 2009, when events were still held on clay courts. He will face Valentin Vaccello in the second round.
Wu Yibing sets a new landmark
On the other side of the draw, Wu Yibing continues to solidify his status as a pioneer in Chinese men’s tennis. John Woo shocked third seed Casper Ruud with a 7-6(2), 7-6(1) performance. The win made Wu the first Chinese to win a race in Acapulco.
With his fiery forehand (definitely on fire) and clinical baseline attack, Wu dominated both tiebreaks to secure his third career victory over a top-20 opponent. His ability to maintain a high level against the world No. 12 proves that, when healthy, he can still be a dangerous threat on hard courts.
Men’s first round results – Tuesday at Acapulco
- Alexander Zverev [1] definition. Corontanmutai, 6-2, 6-4
- Patrick Capeson definition. Alex de Minaur [2],6-1,6-7(4),7-6(3)
- Wu Yibing definition. Caspar Rudd [3]7-6(2), 7-6(1)
- Alejandro Davidovich Fokina [4] definition. Daniel Altmaier, 7-5, 6-3
- Flavio Coboli [5] definition. Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez, 7-6(3), 7-6(3)
- Valentin Vachero [6] definition. Coleman Huang, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
- Raphael Jodar definition. Cameron Norrie [7]6-3, 6-2
- Frances Tiafoe [8] definition. Nuno Borges, 6-4, 6-4
- Gael Monfils definition. Damir Zumhur, 6-4, 7-6(5)
- Sho Shimabukuro definition. Adrian Manarino, 6-3, 6-4
- Alexander Kovacevich definition. Adam Walton, 7-6(1), 7-6(3)
- Miomir Kekmanovic definition. Tristan Scukett, 6-2, 6-2
- Brandon Nakajima definition. Elias Immel, 6-3, 6-4
- Terrence Altman definition. Grigor Dimitrov, 6-3 6-3
