Roger Federer returned to the pitch in Doha last week, ending an absence from the tour that had lasted over a year. The Swiss phenomenon, who lost after wasting a match ball in the quarter-finals, should also have entered the Dubai tournament but preferred to retire to return to training.
The deal linking the 20-time Grand Slam champion to the ATP 500 in the United Arab Emirates has always prevented Roger Federer from playing at the Mexican Open in Acapulco (that same week). The best players have almost always split evenly so as not to place either table too far away.
Unlike Federer, Rafael Nadal has been to Acapulco a lot in recent years, while Novak Djokovic won the Dubai Open last year. The director of the Mexican Open, Raul Zurutuza, has never hidden his desire to bring Federer to Mexico one day, despite the fact that he is well aware of the difficulty of such an achievement.
Roger Federer never came to Mexico
“This story of Roger Federer, who never came to Mexico because of the Dubai issue, will hopefully never be repeated with another player,” said Raúl Zurutuza.
“It’s important that every player can take part in as many tournaments.” Stefanos Tsitsipas is the number 1 seed at the Mexico Open this week and he makes his debut in this year’s edition and Zurutuza is happy about the Greek tennis star.
“There are a lot of players that you would like to have as a director. The truth is, we talk a lot with his agent (Tsitsipas) and we have a great relationship,” he added. “I think he’s good, I saw him happy and I greeted him at the airport.
He’s a super relaxed guy, very easy and I hope he falls in love with Mexico. “Rafael Nadal would normally compete at Acapulco after winning the event three times. “It’s an integral part of the tournament, the desire to have it is always there, but we have great names and the public will enjoy it,” said Zurutuza.
“The tournament is going well and we will deliver very good results on Saturday.” Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem had bad luck at the beginning of the season. From March 15, 2021, both will be well behind the top 8 to qualify for the ATP finals in Turin.
To qualify, a player must be among the eight players who earned the most points in a given year. These players compete in the finals at the end of the year and Turin will host its first edition this year.
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