Semifinal spots will be handed out in a depleted Acapulco draw on Thursday, when Flavio Cobolli and Valentin Vacherot — the two highest seeds left — take the court. They are facing Yibing Wu and Brandon Nakashima, respectively.
(Q) Yibing Wu vs. (5) Flavio Cobolli
Following a four-match losing streak, Cobolli is starting to show signs of life. The 20th-ranked Italian advanced to the Delray Beach semifinals last week and now finds himself in the quarters of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel with straight-set victories over Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez and Dalibor Svrcina.
Up next for Cobolli on quarterfinal Thursday is a first-ever meeting with Wu, who has already won four matches in Acapulco. The world No. 142 from China qualified for the main draw with straight-set defeats of Juan Pablo Ficovich and Rinky Hijikata before beating Casper Ruud and Sho Shimabukuro in straight sets (three of the four total sets went to tiebreakers). Talent has never been a question for Wu — only health. The 26-year-old seems to be rolling along nicely right now, so a minor upset would hardly be surprising.
Pick: Wu in 3
(6) Valentin Vacherot vs. Brandon Nakashima
Vacherot and Nakashima will be going head-to-head for the first time in eight years on Thursday. Their only previous meeting came at a 2018 hard-court Futures event, with Nakashima prevailing 7-6(6), 6-3. Fast forward to 2026 and both guys are in the top 30 on the pro tour. Vacherot comes in at No. 27 in the world thanks largely to his shocking Shanghai title last fall, while Nakashima is right behind in the 29th spot.
Neither man had much trouble securing a quarterfinal place this week. Vacherot dropped his opening set to Coleman Wong but then rolled, after which he ousted Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-3. Nakashima made quick work of both Elias Ymer (6-3, 6-4) and Patrick Kypson (6-4, 6-4). Through two matches, the 24-year-old American has not been broken a single time while striking 16 aces compared to just one double-fault. If he can match Vacherot in the serving department, Nakashima’s superior all-court game should make the difference.
Pick: Nakashima in 3
WWW?
Tough call on both of these. This tourney is very underwhelming at this point so I don’t really care to watch
No good bets on either of these. No idea what Flavio is gonna do these days. And I won’t take Wu as a favorite
Naka as a favorite here is also not enticing. I don’t hate Vacherot at +120ish so maybe that will be the only choice here
agreed. no value on the Cobo-Wu match.
Wu in 2; Naka in 2.
Cobolli has a couple of wins, but they are over guys not in the top 100, plus he had 40 UE’s in his last match so don’t get too excited, Wu is playing good enough ball to take Cobolli out and likes his TB’s this week, having played 4 already including qualys, Wu in 2, 7-6(2), 6-2.
Nakashima’s numbers seem nice on the surface, but when you know they came against non ATP players, then they have much less value, Vacherot never even faced a BP vs. Monfils, so he has the upper hand, Vacherot in 2, 7-6(6), 7-6(4).
Naka all day. Vacherot is a nobody and beat a 39 year old Monfils. Naka just took out Kypson who beat De Minuar. He’s not gonna lose to Vacherot. His serve has been on point and his all around game is better.
Vacherot certainly isn’t a nobody at this point. He’s pretty much legitimized himself. Whether or not you think his masters title was a fluke, he still rattled off like 9 wins in a row and has a masters 1000 to his name. Something Nakashima likely will never accomplish. He’s also accumulated more ranking points in like 2 months than Naka has over the last 52 weeks so
Vacherot is certainly following up his Masters title much more strongly than our Aussie Popyrin did his. It’s really given him belief he can compete on the tour. Popyrin is a bit nervous and IMO relies too much on his serve. Kokkinakis also had that nervousness when push came to shove.
? Nakashima a good record on hard court, full stop
So does Vacherot.
How can you describe John Isner as a non ATP player ( before he retired)?
My feeling is Vacherot will beat Nakashima. More consistent recently and has confidence. Also I think Belucci will be more competitive against Tiafoe than people would casually think, although I still think Tiafoe should win this one.
Results: Cobolli 7-6(4), 6-1 and Nakashima 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Yeah wow!😲 I’m leaving this assortment of hats in case anyone feels the need either to ingest or prescribe one.
🎩 👒 🎓 ⛑️ 🧢
I dont see Sombrero there..
Yeah, right? Total oversight. Sadly no decent emoji appear available. I’m not sure if search links will come through here but here’s a cute one…
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=sombrero+emoji+copy+and+paste&iar=images&t=fpas&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.imgbin.com%2F11%2F23%2F6%2Femoji-with-sombrero-smiling-emoji-with-sombrero-4A0xnyuE.jpg
Just too big for here.