• The fifth edition premiered the new Cabo Sports Complex (CSC) venue

• The ATC Safety Program was successful

• On the sports side, Los Cabos will have a new champion

• The next edition will take place on August 1^st through the 6^th, 2022

After a week of high-level tennis and with an organization that is always looking for the highest quality standards, the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021 comes to an end after successfully overcoming the challenges involved in hosting this ATP 250 tournament.

The director of the tournament, José Antonio Fernández, spoke about what it meant to hold this top-level sporting event in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur. This particular edition will be remembered for the challenges it lived, such as the premiere of the new venue, the Covid-19 pandemic, the absence of fans and direct competition with other tournaments around the world.

“It has been hours, months and two years of work by the entire staff with a new format in which we not only adapt to the pandemic with an event without an audience, but also to a new house to which we had to understand the new operation. This venue came to stay,” he said.

With the satisfaction that the comments have been very positive about the new venue, and with the firm conviction to continue working to finish detailing the venue, the Tournament Director explained the concept and the projection that Cabo Sports Complex (CSC) will have.

“We’ve had great feedback from players, media and the ATP about our new home. This year we used the Grandstand Caliente.mx as our stadium, but next year we will build a stadium with a capacity of 3,500 people and the entire commercial area with sponsors,” he explained.

“It is an incredible place surrounded by a great architecture, landscapes, lighting and all the detail that was created around this large venue that has given very positive results. It is a great satisfaction to finish the tournament and work in a wonderful place,” Fernández added.

On the sports side, the fifth edition of this tournament, held in Los Cabos, offered high-level tennis and great surprises during the competition, regardless that the event was at the same time as other important competitions.

“The players had four options to choose from: Olympic Games, Umag, Gstaad and Los Cabos. It was difficult to think of important players, but our list of players was very good because it mixed the youth, the experience and there were two former tournament champions. We saw good level of tennis and that always characterizes this tournament,” said the Tournament Director.

During the week emerged the possibility that Los Cabos will have a new champion between Cameron Norrie (GBR) and Brandon Nakashima (USA), for the tournament as for the ATP tour.

In another important news regarding the health emergency, the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021 activated the ATC Safety Program in order to have the tournament in viable conditions following the various protocols established such as the use of facemasks, constant antibacterial gel application, sanitization of all areas, constant antigen testing and social distancing, among others.

“The event came at a complicated time because of the third outbreak of the pandemic that is not only in Mexico, but globally, so we strengthen the ATC Safety Program. We have done more than 4,000 antigen tests on all ATP employees, and staff, with practically no cases”.

José Antonio Fernández thanked the sponsors on the event, led by Mifel, for their support and trust, as well as the Government of Baja California Sur, the Ministry of Health and the local City Council for the realization of this contest that reached 79 countries around the five continents.

The Abierto de Tenis Mifel will continue with the intention of establishing itself as one of the best tournaments in the ATP 250 category for the next editions. Next year, the tournament will take place on August 1-6, 2022.

The Mexican Hans Hach-Verdugo and the American John Isner defeated the American Hunter Reese and the Nerlandish Sem Verbeek 5-7, 6-2, 10/4 and won the doubles title of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021 that took place this week in Los Cabos.

With this victory, Hach-Verdugo is now the second Mexican that has won the doubles tournament after Miguel Ángel Reyes Varela’s victory, who, together with Salvadoran Marcelo Arévalo, won the title back in 2018.

During the first match of the day in the sixth and final day of the tournament, which took place at the Cabo Sport Complex, Isner and Hach-Verdugo were very solid and firm when closing points in the super tiebreaker which, in the end, they won.

“I will not be able to sleep tonight from all this happiness with my first title, I am very excited that in the end, all the hours and training days has finally given me something back,” said Hach-Verdugo after the match.

Isner considered that “the partnership worked quite well because we are very good friends”.

The American said that they both get along well on the court, and during the week “neither of us pushed the other and I think our game complements each other very well. My serve is very good and Hans has fantastic returns, today he was the best player on the court”.

For Isner, 36 years old, this was his sixth doubles title in his career, while for the Mexican Hach-Verdugo, 31 years old, this is his first as a professional.. “The dream of Mexican fan is to see a Mexican in the final and win it, and Hans did it tonight,” said the Tournament Director, José Antonio Fernández, during the award ceremony.

With only 19 years of age, the American Brandon Nakashima has a chance that only a few players have achieved at that age: to compete in the ATP tournament’s Final. For this young player, it will be the first time as a professional and he will play it at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021.

Nakashima, current 134 in the world, will seek a way to win the title against the British Cameron Norrie, who is the first pre-classified in the tournament in Cabo Sports Complex (CSC).

The American’s week has been a dream and will try to close it with a happy ending raising the colorful “Pelota Huichol”, the trophy which is an authentic work of art in the ATP 250 of Los Cabos.

Nakashima forged his relationship with Mextenis, the tournament’s organizers at the Abierto Mexicano de Tenis in Acapulco, where he was eliminated by his compatriot Frances Tiafoe in the first round. However, fate had a good future waiting for him in the main draw of Los Cabos.

“Thank you for believing in Brandon when no one else believed in him, not even events in America. He will be grateful to you for many years,” this was the message that Nakashima’s team sent to the organizers of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021 after getting his pass to the Final.

Getting to this final is a remarkable achievement for Nakashima’s career, as prior to this week, he had never won a Main Draw match at an ATP level.

In order to get to the final, Nakashima defeated his compatriots J. J. Wolf and Sam Querrey in the first and second rounds. Querrey himself, champion in Los Cabos in 2017, commented after his match that the Next Gen young promise has the potential to stay in the Top 100 of the world’s ranking for a long time.

Later in the quarterfinal round, Nakashima defeated the Australian Jordan Thompson, and, in the semifinal, he defeated the American John Isner, second-placed, giving the biggest surprise of the event.

Tonight’s Final will be one of the first big challenges on Nakashima’s career in professional tennis besides looking for his first ATP title, he is fighting for a spot on the ATP Next Gen Finals (11th in the race). Brandon Nakashima and Cameron Norrie will play in the Final of Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021 no later than 8:00 pm in the second round of the Grandstand Caliente.mx.

The Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021 could be the cherry on the top for Cameron Norrie’s best season. Tonight, the Briton will play the Mexican ATP 250 final at Cabo Sports Complex (CSC) against the American Brandon Nakashima, which means that he could get his first tour-level title.

The 25-year-old left-handed, number 30 in the ranking, arrived at Los Cabos with some outstanding statistics that placed him as one of the best players in the entire circuit. Today, he will play his fourth Final of the year and the fifth of his career.

With his arrival in the Final on the hard courts of Los Cabos, Norrie already managed to reach the main event in this season on three different surfaces such as Estoril (clay), Lyon (clay) and Queen’s (grass).

Cameron Norrie, who is the first pre-classified of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021, already has 34 victories, same victories as the Serbian, and number 1 in the world, Novak Djokovic. Both Cam’, and Nole’, are only below the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (40) and the Russian Andrey Rublev (36) in that category.

In addition, the Briton is also among the players with the most incredible matches of the entire ATP Tour this season, only a little below Novak Djokovic (5) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (5). In this section, Norrie’s numbers are the same as the Italian Matteo Berrettini (4).

“Obviously it is very good to reach my fourth Final (of the season). I think it would be nice to take a step further, but I am happy with the level I am playing. I’m very happy to move on to another Final, especially in Mexico because I love competing here, I enjoy playing near the beach and spend time here, so it’s great to do it in front of the Mexicans,” said the ATC 2021 finalist.

Cameron Norrie and Brandon Nakashima will play in the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021 no later than 8:00 pm in the second round of the Grandstand Caliente.mx.

Cameron Norrie came to Los Cabos to remind us that he is living the best season of his career. In the first round of the Grandstand Caliente.mx, the Briton defeated Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-1 in just over an hour to get to the final of the in the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021.

The match foreshadowed an even match since both players arrived with three victories each, also, they arrived at the court as first and third seed, but this was not the case and Norrie had the control from beginning to end.

The 25-year-old left-hander, and current number 30 in the ATP, did not go easy from the start, as he quickly hit the American’s first serve in order to take the lead 3-0 after confirming his own serve.

Shortly after, the best point of the afternoon was when the score was 30-15 / 3-1 in a long rally of more than 20 strokes that Norrie won by striking a winning shot with a crossover backhand, which gave him confidence to continue adding up until closing the partial with a 6-3.

Fritz, who was a finalist at Los Cabos in 2019, tried not to let his guard down, but in the second set he had numerous unforced errors that Norrie took advantage of, he combined his serves correctly with three breaks in the set to close 6-1.

With this victory, Cameron Norrie will have the chance to win his first ATP title if he manages to defeat the young American Brandon Nakashima this Saturday. Nakashima got to the final round in Los Cabos after defeating John Isner.

The Final of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021 will be the fourth final that the Briton will play in 2021, he has reached the final in previous tournaments, for example, Estoril, Lyon and Queen’s. Norrie wants to be the champion for the first time in the Mexican ATP 250.

“I don’t have to do anything different (to win a Final); I’ve been close, but my rivals played better. Now I’m counting on that experience in order to be ready. I think I must have a great level to compete, but I also need to enjoy more and believe in myself to win that trophy,” said the first finalist of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021.

The American Brandon Nakashima, 19 years old, surprised everyone at the the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021 by defeating his compatriot John Isner 7-5 , 6-4. Therefore, he advanced to the tournament’s final that will be played this Saturday at the Cabo Sport Complex.

Nakashima, 134 in the world, will play in the final against the British Cameron Norrie, first pre-classified, who defeated the American Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-1

It will be Nakashima ‘s first final in his career. He’s been a profesional since 2019 and in this season he fought to get to the finals of the Next Gen, ranking in which he is in the 11th position.

“Getting to the finals feels great, it’s definitely a big achievement for me,” Nakashima said after the match.

He also mentioned that the American players like to play in their country, “but I also like to know that I play well outside. I am lucky that I’m not too far from home, I have enjoyed my time here this week, on and off the court, and I am eager to play tomorrow (the final),” he added.

The first set was very even, both players had solid then kept his for the 7-5.

Isner’s wanted to take Ownership of the the initial set, but Nakashima started with a break in the first game, a sufficient difference to win the set since both players defended their serve in their turns until Nakashima finished with the surprising 6-4.

“I made it to the semifinal even though I didn’t play well and the same time I’m positive and that’s what I get out of this. I hope to play better from now on,” Isner said at the conference.

The American John Isner, second pre-classified, won 6-3, 6-4 against the Australian Alex Bolt in order to get his ticket to the semifinals of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021, that is played this week in Los Cabos.

Isner, 36 years old and number 39 in the world, advanced to the semifinals in 67 minutes.

After the match, in a conference room, Isner talked about his match on Wednesday in which he defeated the Russian Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, a hard-working victory that got him to play in the Quarter Finals this Thursday.

“Yesterday I could have lost easily and I’m aware of that, anything could have happened and maybe I wouldn’t be here now, so after winning today I was very happy,” said Isner, who effusively celebrated his triumph.

“I felt like a lot of pressure came off my shoulders and I think that’s why I played better today, the match was pretty straight forward and I think it was because I felt more comfortable on the court”. added.

In the first set, the American defended his serve four times, meanwhile his rival did it three times in order to get 4-3. During the eight game, Isner broke his rival’s serve which was key for Isner to take the lead 5-3 and finished the match 6-3.

Isner’s victory, who currently has 15 titles in his career, was based on his powerful serves, he had 21 aces throughout the game, his favorite weapon, which left Bolt without a chance.

In the second set, Isner broke his rival and defended his serve for a 2-0 lead and then both defended their serve four times for the final 6-4.

Nakashima settles among the top four

The American Brandon Nakashima maintained a good pace at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021 after defeating the Australian Jordan Thompson 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4) in order to complete the four semifinalists.

Nakashima, 19 years old and number 134 in the world, eliminated the Australian in two hours and 46 minutes, the longest match of the quarterfinals and in which he escaped from a triple match point.

Taylor Fritz is proving that Los Cabos is a land of opportunity for his aspirations. The American entered the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021 semifinals after defeating the American Steve Johnson in an hour and a half, 6-4, 6-4.

The second round at the Grandstand Caliente.mx offered an entertaining match that was defined by small details, such as the fact that on both sets, the only two breaks were for the third seed and number 37 in the world.

Fritz broke Johnson’s serve in the seventh game in order to take the lead 4-3, and then he won the initial set 6-4 through his great serves.

In the second set everything remained balanced between the players until the ninth game, in which Fritz got his second break of the afternoon after Johnson hit the ball into the net, to get 5-4 and later finish the match with another 6-4.

So far in this season, this was the second time that the North American racquets played against each other, and just like at Wimbledon a few weeks ago, Taylor Fritz won again. After this victory, the finalist of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel (2019) will play in this tournament’s semifinals against the first seed, Cameron Norrie (GBR), in a match that will be full of emotions and high-level tennis, which will be played at Cabo Sports Complex (CSC).

In the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021, the favorite, Cameron Norrie, got his pass to the Semifinals after defeating Ernesto Escobedo by a double 6-1 in the Grandstand Caliente.mx.

Both tennis players competed against each other for the first time in the ATP Tour, which foreshadowed an uncertain outcome in the match, since it was between the first seed of the event and the only survivor from the Qualy.

The first game was intense because, after 10 minutes, the Briton broke Escobedo’s serve and never let his guard down. Shortly after, in the third game of the first set, Norrie broke again and got comfortable in the set until he closed at 6-1.

Escobedo tried to fight back in order to take the lead in the second set, but it was not his day. In addition that he played against a rival with a high level of tennis, the American could not find his the way to beat him and therefore made numerous unforced mistakes that resulted in loosing control of the match.

The number 30 in the world broke again in the second and fourth game, he was solid with his serve and that helped him take the lead 5-0, to then win his Quarter Final match with another strong 6-1.

Norrie’s dream of winning the first ATP title of his career is becoming very possible at Cabo Sports Complex (CSC), meanwhile, despite having a bad afternoon, Escobedo finished a good week in which he overcame the Qualy and two more rounds in the main draw.

Cameron Norrie will play the semifinal round against Taylor Fritz (USA).

The American Taylor Fritz, third-placed, defeated the Ukrainian Illya Marchenko 6-1, 6-7 (9), 7-5 and got his ticket to the Quarterfinals of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel 2021 this week at Los Cabos.

Fritz, 23 years old and number 37 in the world, took the control of his gameplay and defeated the experienced Marchenko who made sure that the American was playing his best in a match that lasted 2-hour, 51-minutes.

It looked as if Marchenko, 161 from the world, was about to say farewell to the match when Fritz took a 5-0 lead in less than 25 minutes and closed the first half with a 6-1.

In the second set, much more competitive, the Ukrainian managed to take control on the court in the Cabo Sport Complex and got that set in his favor by winning in the tie-break 7-6 (9).

In the third set, Fritz and Marchenko held their initial serve and then, both broke in straight sets for the 3-3. Then they held their serve until 5-5, but Fritz took a 6-5 lead, and he broke and closed with a 7-5 this an intense match. In the quarterfinals, Fritz will face his fellow countryman Steve Johnson for one of the four semifinals tickets.