Sports Pundit spoke with Raul Zurutuza, director of the prestigious Abierto Mexicano Telcel (AMT), to learn about the upcoming venue featuring a modern new stadium - the largest in Latin America to welcome an ATP event, next February.
Zurutuza also addressed the main reason for organizers to rule out hosting a new edition of the WTA International in the near future - the AMT was the first tennis event in the country to have an official WTA women’s tournament.
Furthermore, he commented about the health protocols ahead of the new edition, and the four Top Ten players confirmed to join the main draw.
Acapulco: A Prestigious Home for Tennis in Mexico
For more than 20 years, the Abierto Mexicano Telcel (AMT) presented by HSBC, also known as the Mexican Open, has seen the finest tennis players in the world shining at the hard courts in glamorous Acapulco, Mexico’s largest beach resort city located in the State of Guerrero.
The 29th edition of the ATP 500 tournament promises to bring the fan experience to another level following the inauguration of its new home, the Arena GNP Seguros, an open area spanning over an eight acres surface.
Tournament director from 2002 onwards, Raul Zurutuza, took some time from a busy schedule to talk about the challenges faced by the organization to bring back to life the construction project, suspended in 2020 due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
“The Arena GNP Seguros is a dream come true that we have been looking for since 2015 when the tournament started to show signs of being too crowded in the final days of the event,” Zurutuza stressed.
Voted the best tournament of the year on three occasions (2007, 2017, 2019) with nearly 55,000 spectators packing the Fairmont Acapulco Princess stadium, the event was ready to take the next step, building a brand new complex, an investment estimated at $8 million.
However, in March 2020, the Coronavirus hit the world and brought the construction works to a complete stop, holding up the launch, scheduled for 2021, until 2022.
“Circumstances in Mexico delayed the project until we found the correct formula with the owners of the Princess Mundo Imperial Hotel to start the construction of the venue,” Zurutuza added.
“Resuming the construction has been the work of many people and teams that have been working through long periods of time in order to recover the months that the project was in on hold.
Looking ahead into the 2022 edition, he remarks: “We are in good standing with the construction calendar, and we do not see any major issues coming up in the next two and a half months, so we should be on time.”
Featuring a modern design and state-of-the-art facilities, the main stadium, the largest venue in Latin America for an ATP event, will boast a capacity to host over 10,000 spectators.
Also, there will be a Grandstand for over 2,000 fans, four alternate courts, and a series of facilities that include restaurants, shops, and entertainment areas.
Medvedev and Berrettini to Debut in Acapulco
Late in October, the organizers unveiled the first four Top Ten players to commit to the event, world number two Daniil Medvedev, reigning champion Alexander Zverev, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Italian Matteo Berrettini.
While Zverev will be back in Acapulco for the fifth time on tour, defending his title, U.S. Open champion Medvedev and world number seven Berrettini are looking forward to making their first appearance on Mexican soil.
Tsitsipas, who reached the final in his debut in 2021, also confirmed to make a second appearance in Mexico.
The final list of players will be released by mid-January 2022 and for a second consecutive year, Acapulco will not have a WTA event.
In 2021, the 21st edition of the women’s tournament got canceled as an agreement with the WTA franchise owner could not move forward.
Zurutuza explained to Sports Pundit the decision to focus on the ATP tournaments.
“We are not planning to have a WTA event in the near future; first, we need to concentrate on the two ATP [tournaments] the company owns (ATP 500 Acapulco and ATP 250 Los Cabos) as the two of them have a new venue that will need to be more operational along the year. And second, we will need to wait for the proper financial moment to buy a WTA event.
Covid-19 Health Protocols Ahead 2022
What are the requirements for fans and international players attending the event in 2022?
“We are expecting to have full capacity for the 2022 event; as of today and pending on how the circumstances are in late January, we will request the fans to show proof of vaccination against Covid-19 and a negative antigen test with 72 hours of validation.
“As of the players and ATP staff, we will follow the rules and protocols the ATP indicates. I do not see [the rules] being as strict as it was this past tournament.”
Back in March, the players underwent a PCR test upon arrival, and with a negative result, they would get their credentials to move freely inside the bubble.
In addition, the AMT adjusted to a revised calendar due to the effects of the pandemic. As a result, the venue was moved from February to March, featuring a capped 30 percent capacity.
Next season, the Abierto Mexicano Telcel will run from February 21st through 26th.