ACAPULCO, THE MEXICO RIVERA TENNIS NEWS – TAYLOR FRITZ TEEN SENSATION WINS AGAIN, & SAM QUERREY UPSETS KEI NISHIKORI BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 24th February 2016

ACAPULCO, THE MEXICO RIVERA TENNIS NEWS - TAYLOR FRITZ TEEN SENSATION WINS AGAIN, & SAM QUERREY UPSETS KEI NISHIKORI BY RICKY DIMON |

#Thiem vs #Tursunov, casi medianoche y seguimos en la #CanchaCentral. ¿Estás aquí? #AMT2016 – Photo by @AbiertoTelcel via Twitter.

Taylor Fritz’s assault on the ATP rankings continued on Wednesday at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. One day after after upsetting Jeremy Chardy, the American qualifier blasted past Victor Estrella Burgos 6-1, 6-3 to punch his ticket to the quarterfinals of the 500-point event.

Fritz dropped one service game in the second set, but it hardly mattered because he broke Estrella Burgos a total of five times in eight return games. The 18-year-old capped off his victory in style by breaking again at 5-3 in the second set to finish the job in exactly one hour.

Currently at No. 102 in the world, Fritz will be the youngest player in the top 100 when the new rankings are revealed next Monday. With Wednesday’s victory, the Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. native is expected to reach the top 80 even if he loses his next match to Sam Querrey. It is a hard-to-believe rise, as Fritz was outside the top 1000 last January and at No. 694 as recently as October 11 of last fall.

His 2016 campaign already includes a Challenger title in Australia, a runner-up performance in Memphis, and now a quarterfinal run as a qualifier in Acapulco.

Querrey is also in fine form. The 6’6” American reached the Memphis semifinals and he avenged his loss there by ousting second-seeded Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday. Querrey preceded that effort by demolishing Dudi Sela 6-2, 6-0 during first-round action.

Sam Querrey of the US returns the ball against Kei Nishikori of Japan during their match at the Mexican Open tennis tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, 24 February 2016. The event runs from 22 to 27 February 2016. EPA/ALEX CRUZ

In fact, each of Acapulco’s top two seeds–and the two finalists from last year’s event–bowed out in the second round. That’s because David Ferrer exited the tournament by losing to Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 6-4.

“I think everything suits me here,” Dolgopolov explained. “I’ve played well here on clay courts; I’ve played well here on hard courts. And that’s why I’m coming back here and enjoying myself. It’s great to get wins like this… I think I was quite calm. I was happy I’m on court because I was injured last week. I played relaxed and the pressure was more on him. I was aggressive and went for my shots.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Abierto Mexicano Telcel (Acapulco, Mexico)

RESULTS – WEDNESDAY, 24 FEBRUARY 2016

Singles – First Round

A. Dolgopolov (UKR) d [1] D. Ferrer (ESP) 64 64

S. Querrey (USA) d [2] K. Nishikori (JPN) 64 63

[4] D. Thiem (AUT) d D. Tursunov (RUS) 67(5) 63 64

[5] B. Tomic (AUS) d A. Mannarino (FRA) 64 64

[7] G. Dimitrov (BUL) d D. Young (USA) 63 64

R. Haase (NED) d A. Bedene (GBR) 64 67(3) 64

I. Marchenko (UKR) d [Q] R. Harrison (USA) 76(3) 46 76(5)

[Q] T. Fritz (USA) d V. Estrella Burgos (DOM) 61 63

Doubles – First Round

[1] J. Cabal (COL) / R. Farah (COL) d T. de Bakker (NED) / R. Haase (NED) 64 76(5)

E. Butorac (USA) / S. Lipsky (USA) d [2] R. Klaasen (RSA) / R. Ram (USA) 76(8) 60

[WC] J. Erlich (ISR) / C. Fleming (GBR) d M. Pavic (CRO) / M. Venus (NZL) 46 76(5) 11-9

O. Marach (AUT) / F. Martin (FRA) d J. Chardy (FRA) / L. Paes (IND) 62 64

SCHEDULE – THURSDAY, 25 FEBRUARY 2016

CANCHA CENTRAL start 4:00 pm

ATP – I. Marchenko (UKR) vs [5] B. Tomic (AUS)

ATP – A. Dolgopolov (UKR) vs R. Haase (NED)

Not Before 8:00 pm

ATP – [7] G. Dimitrov (BUL) vs [4] D. Thiem (AUT)

Not Before 10:00 pm

ATP – [Q] T. Fritz (USA) vs S. Querrey (USA)

GRANDSTAND start 4:00 pm

WTA – D. Cibulkova (SVK) vs [6] J. Larsson (SWE)

WTA – [8] Y. Wickmayer (BEL) or M. Puig (PUR) vs [3] A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)

WTA – [WC] N. Osaka (JPN) vs [2] S. Stephens (USA)

ATP – [4] T. Huey (PHI) / M. Mirnyi (BLR) vs M. Fyrstenberg (POL) / S. Gonzalez (MEX)

CANCHA 4 start 5:00 pm

WTA – M. Lucic-Baroni (CRO) vs C. Mchale (USA)

WTA – [3] L. Arruabarrena (ESP) / P. Goncalves (BRA) vs M. Irigoyen (ARG) / P. Kania (POL)

WTA-After Suitable Rest – [WC] A. Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) / Y. Wickmayer (BEL) vs [2] K. Bertens (NED) / J. Larsson (SWE)

CANCHA 3 start 5:00 pm

ATP – [WC] J. Erlich (ISR) / C. Fleming (GBR) vs [3] P. Petzschner (GER) / A. Peya (AUT)

ATP – O. Marach (AUT) / F. Martin (FRA) vs E. Butorac (USA) / S. Lipsky (USA)

ATP – [1] J. Cabal (COL) / R. Farah (COL) vs A. Bedene (GBR) / G. Muller (LUX)

CANCHA 2 start 6:00 pm

WTA – [1] A. Medina Garrigues (ESP) / A. Parra Santonja (ESP) vs T. Maria (GER) / M. Sanchez (USA)

WTA-After Suitable Rest – X. Han (CHN) / C. Mchale (USA) vs [PR] A. Rodionova (AUS) / G. Voskoboeva (KAZ)

Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine returns the ball to David Ferrer of Spain during their match at the Mexican Open tennis tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, 24 February 2016. The event runs from 22 to 27 February 2016. EPA/ALEX CRUZ

Topics: 10sballs.com, Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Atp World Tour, David Ferrer, Jeremy Chardy, Kei Nishikori, Ricky Dimon, Sam Querrey, Sports, Taylor Fritz, Tennis News, Victor Estrella Burgos