Whereas the Dubai final was a wild card (Aslan Karatsev) vs. a qualifier (Lloyd Harris), the Abierto Mexicano Telcel title is coming down to the top two seeds on Saturday night.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev will be squaring off for the seventh time in their careers when they meet again in Acapulco. The head-to-head series stands at 5-1 in favor of Tsitsipas, who has won five in a row over Zverev. Four of the Greek’s victories have come on hard courts and he has won seven consecutive sets at Zverev’s expense.
Tsitsipas will take additional confidence from the fact that he has been by far the best player all week in Acapulco. The world No. 5 dropped only one set to Felix Auger-Aliassime en route to the final and he otherwise destroyed Benoit Paire, John Isner, and Lorenzo Musetti.
Zverev had been a modest 5-4 in 2021 prior to arriving in Mexico, but so far this week he has ousted Carlos Alcaraz, Laslo Djere, and Dominik Koepfer in straight sets (he also got a walkover from Casper Ruud.
“I am really looking forward to the final,” said Tsitsipas. “Sascha is someone I’ve played against in the past and it’s never easy. We’re both really hungry and we’re both very competitive.”
There could be some fireworks on Saturday night, just hopefully not another earthquake–which actually happened in the middle of a point during the Zverev-Koepfer semifinal. Earthquakes aside, this one should be mostly straightforward. Zverev may be able to steal a set if he gets hot on serve, but Tsitsipas has dominated this matchup and he has been the man to beat all week long.
Pick: Tsitsipas in 3
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Tsitty boi moneyline. Zverev second serve will get feasted upon
I’m loving all the new and recycled players right now. Have not had time until this weekend for watching tennis. This morning I flipped on the old TV and it was a St. Petersburg WTA Semifinal, Kasatkina v Kuznetsov. So great to see Daria playing tennis so well. She had disappeared from my mind for whats seems like an eternity. (She is still only 23) But it seemed like she was gone for good. She has a big chance win the final v Gasparayan…maybe.
Should be a great match….Tpas in 3.