Norrie bids farewell to Los Cabos, Tsitsipas debuts with victory
- Tommy Paul (No.14) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (No.5) advance to the quarterfinals after their first meeting in Los Cabos.
- 2021 champion Cameron Norrie makes a surprise exit in his first match at the seventh edition of the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo
Los Cabos, August 2, 2023.- The top seeds went into action in the seventh edition of the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo on center court, and with the exception of the elimination of second-seeded Briton Cameron Norrie, the rest of the favorites managed to win, although not without setbacks.
American Tommy Paul (No. 14) opened the third day of activities against Brazilian Felipe Meligeni Alves and although he managed to defeat him 7-5, 7-6(7) in 2 hours and 15 minutes, the Latin took him to a hard-fought tie break in the second set, winning the support of the public present at the Cabo Sports Complex (CSC) for the quality of his points.
In the final, the Acapulco Open 500 finalist managed to handle the pressure of his debut and will now face Australian Alex de Miñaur in a rematch of the Mexican Open final.
In the second match at the Mextenis Stadium, Cameron Norrie (No. 13), second seed of the Los Cabos ATP 250, was surprised by the level of the No. 129, American Alexander Kovacevic.
It is the biggest victory of his career and he advances for the second time to the quarterfinals of an ATP tournament (Seoul 2022). The 24-year-old managed to take Norrie to a tie break in the second set, in a duel that was similar to the previous one, however after tying the 2021 champion, 5-7, 7-6(7) and even though he had to call the physio for a leg massage, he managed to take the third set 6-4 and brought the fans to their feet with his performance.
Kovacevic will now face Germany’s Dominik Koepfer in an unusual quarterfinal, in the same bracket as Tommy Paul and Alex de Miñaur.
Finally, in the stellar match of the third day, top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas (No.5) defeated American John Isner 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 17 minutes. The Greek was solid in his returns and the veteran could not find a way to break the favorite in his debut in Los Cabos. Tsitsipas will face Chile’s Nicolas Jarry in the quarterfinals.
“The first matches seem to be the most important when you enter a tournament. Today was a good match, Isner was protective of his game. I came in with confidence and anticipation of what his next move would be. I dictated the game very mature and very calm,” Stefanos said after the match.