Nadal Completes Acapulco Hat Trick

Rafael Nadal’s first two titles at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC (2005, 2013) were clinched on red clay. On Saturday, the top-seeded Spaniard completed his Acapulco hat trick on a hard court with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory against American Taylor Fritz.

Nadal secured his 85th ATP Tour singles title and his first of the season. He stormed through the draw without dropping a set and lost an average of five games per match this week. Nadal moved to 20-2 in Acapulco and joined fellow Spaniard David Ferrer as the only players to win at least three titles at this event.

The 33-year-old proved to be particularly dangerous this week in return games. He led the tournament in return games won (54%, 22 of 41) and converted 22 of 35 break points (63%).

Despite the loss, Fritz can be pleased with reaching his fifth ATP Tour final (1-4) and his first at an ATP 500 event. He and 2017 champion Sam Querrey are the only Americans to reach the singles final in tournament history. The 22-year-old will move to a new career-high FedEx ATP Ranking of No. 24 on Monday.

Nadal earned 500 FedEx ATP Rankings points and $372,785. Fritz picked up 300 points and $187,110.

More to come...

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2we2t3Q