Acapulco R1 previews and predictions: Ruud vs. Wu, Dimitrov vs. Atmane

No. 3 seed Casper Ruud is making his fifth trip to Acapulco and will go up against qualifier Yibing Wu during first-round action on Tuesday. An all-unseeded affair features Grigor Dimitrov and Terence Atmane.

(3) Casper Ruud vs. (Q) Yibing Wu

Ruud and Wu will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they collide in round one of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel on Tuesday. A longtime Acapulco participant, Ruud generally loves life south of the border. He is 8-2 lifetime at this tournament with a final appearance in 2024 and also finished runner-up in Los Cabos two years ago. It could be just what the doctor ordered for the 12th-ranked Norwegian, who is a modest 5-4 so far this season.

It has already been a productive week for Wu, who qualified for the main draw with straight-set victories over Juan Pablo Ficovich and Rinky Hijikata. However, the injury-plagued world No. 142 owns only three top-50 wins dating back to the start of 2025. Given how well Ruud usually plays in Mexico, this likely marks the end of the road for Wu.

Pick: Ruud in 2

Terence Atmane vs. Grigor Dimitrov

Dimitrov’s comeback from his torn pectoral muscle at Wimbledon has been predictably slow. The 34-year-old Bulgarian returned for one event in 2025 and beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the Paris Masters before withdrawing. Dimitrov is 1-3 so far this season and has dropped three matches in a row against Raphael Collignon, Tomas Machac, and Alex Michelsen.

Up first for the world No. 44 is a second meeting with Atmane, who lost their only previous encounter 7-6(3), 6-3 at the 2024 Rome Masters. Atmane has not done anything since his miracle run to the Cincinnati semifinals last summer. The 63rd-ranked Frenchman won only one more main-draw match in 2025 and is off to a 1-4 start to his 2026 campaign. More bad news for Atmane is that Dimitrov is 13-5 all time in Acapulco with one title.

Pick: Dimitrov in 2

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