Los Cabos, BCS, August 3, 2019.- Diego Schwartzman won his first title of the year at the Los Cabos Open after beating the American Taylor Fritz in two sets.

The Argentine had a nervous start to the match quickly going down 2-4; however, with his heart full of passion, he managed to turn the score around winning the first set tiebreak 8-6.

In the second set, the match was defined when Fritz was down 1-2 15-40, add out, and he received his second code violation for breaking his racket, ultimately, losing the game to give Schwartman a significant 3-1 lead.

The final score was 7-6(8) 6-3, in one hour and forty-two minutes allowing “Peque” to become the first Latin American Champion of the Los Cabos Open in its four editions. The Buenos Aires native who won the love and appreciation of the fans in the stands, did not disappoint to win his first title of the year. Additionally, he was able to get his revenge on Fritz who recently defeated him in the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo.

“It is spectacular to win the title. There are many important tournaments to follow, this was the last 250 that I will play this year, the last one that is on my calendar – as of now. There are only 500 or Masters 1000 and a Grand Slam. So it was very important for me to achieve this title, to have the necessary confidence to know that I am doing things well on the court. Also, that I am physically well because to advance to the next tournaments, I will have to beat the best in the world. A title helps all that.”

On the other hand, the 21-year-old American suffered his second consecutive defeat in a final after losing last week in Atlanta to the Australian Alex de Minaur.

“This final and last week’s final definitely helped my ranking but you know, winning this tournament would have helped move my ranking even more forward so I am really disappointed. I made mistakes that I would not typically make and then I tried to fight back and I just was not playing well. Again, I am really disappointed in the way that I played – I had chances in the first set and I did not take them and I did not come up with anything in the big moments, that is something that I am usually really good at. I am really good under pressure and I just handled it really poorly today,” stated Fritz who concluded his press conference assuring the press that “I want to come back next year. I love this tournament so much.”

As for Schwartzman, who is about to turn 27-years-old, will take home the champions check of $131, 430 in prize money and 250 ATP points that will go towards his ranking.

Los Cabos, BCS, August 3, 2019.- Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys of Monaco are the new doubles champions of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex after a high-quality match against the British Dominic Inglot and the American Austin Krajicek on Pegaso Stadium. 

The players from Monaco won a thrilling one hour and fifty-seven minute match with the final score of 7-5, 5-7, 16-4.

The number one seeds, Inglot and Krajicek, managed to save five match points, later setting up one match point for themselves, but ultimately failed to convert it after a double fault.  

Hugo Nys, No. 92 in the world, and Arneodo, No. 98, won their first title together in Los Cabos. This year, the pair played in two Challenger finals together; they won the title in Lille but fell in Bourdeux.

In addition to winning their first title, Arneodo and Nys will take home a total of $43, 120 in prize money and 250 ATP points that will go towards their rankings.

Los Cabos, BCS., August 3, 2019.- Alexander Penagos Muñoz of Chiapas, conquered the boy’s final of the Cabo Cup this hot, Saturday afternoon on Grandstand Caliente after beating Diego Tarazona of Baja California Sur in the final. Alexander, 14-years-old and a Junior in high school, won the match 6-2 7-5.

“I feel very happy to have won this tournament, I had never played on a professional court before and so I feel very happy about it. I won the Cabo Cup in Mexico City where I have been training for a while – then, they paid everything for me to come here to play. The final was very difficult but I achieved the victory,” said the 2019 Cabo Cup Champion. Penagos thanked his parents for their support, along with his brother, physical trainer Eloy Avelino and his psychologist Magali Palacios.

 “My dream ever since I was a little kid is to become a professional and reach number one. My idol is Roger Federer because I like how he plays, how he carries himself on the court and his style of play.”

His parents, Alfredo Penagos and Martha Muñoz have always given him all the support to focus on both his studies and the sport. He said that one of his goals is to finish his academics – he is undecided on which field he would like to enter whether it be in pediatrics, physiotherapist, or something in sports.

The girl’s Cabo Cup was won by Paulina Villegas Robles of León, Guanajuato. She defeated April Cárdenas of Guadalajara 6-0 6-0 on Court 1.

“It was an amazing experience. I love to play tennis and apart from that, I had a lot of fun. I got to meet a professional player, I have never been to a tournament like this, so I am happy.”

 “In León, I signed up for the tournament because of my coach Juan Ponsce and I won it – that is why I had the opportunity to come here,” said Paulina, a high school student. Paulina went on to explain that if she cannot play professional tennis, she would like to be a chef, she loves to cook. Additionally, her favorite players are the Romanian Simona Halep and Argentina’s Juan Martín del Potro. 

Paulina Villegas’s family includes her father Manuel, her mother Berenice, her sister who plays college tennis and her brother who plays soccer in Spain.

Los Cabos, BCS, August 2, 2019.- For the second consecutive week, Taylor Fritz is in an ATP tour final. The 21-year-old American won the second semifinal at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex, with a flawless victory over Radu Albot of Moldova, ranked No. 41 in the world.

In just over an hour and ten minutes, Fritz won the match with a score of 6-3 6-2 and is into his fourth final of the year; he won the Challenger in Newport Beach, the ATP 250 in Eastbourne and lost in the final of Atlanta to Alex de Minaur.

“The confidence of reaching my first final this year and winning that title, showed me that this is my level. I have been working incredibly hard and simply trying my best, to be the best that I can be – I think this has showed a lot in my results.”

In regards to the hot climate in Los Cabos, Fritz acknowledges that it has not been much of an issue for him, “It is definitely hotter here than at home [in California]. During the day it is so hot, fortunately, we are not playing during the day. I love playing night matches, it has been comfortable every match that I have played, so the heat has not affected me at all.”

The showdown against Diego Schwartzman will be the first singles final Fritz will play at the Los Cabos Open after three attempts. In 2017, he lost in the quarterfinals to Thanasi Kokkinakis and in 2018 he was eliminated in the second round by the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka.

Los Cabos, BCS., August 2, 2019.- Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman defeated his friend and doubles partner Guido Pella in order to qualify for the final at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex.

With the support of the fans, “Peque” Schwartzman, the third seed in the tournament and No. 27 in the world, started the match with great focus and a break of serve in order to take the first set. However, Pella, the second seed of the tournament, did not leave without a fight – he tied the match at one set all.

In the third set, Schwartzman came out with with great determination and outplayed his compatriot in order to reach the sixth final of his career in search of his third title.

This season, Peque, 26-years-old, was a finalist in Buenos Aires, losing to the Italian Marco Cecchinato. So, in Los Cabos, he would love to have a second chance at winning an ATP tournament this season.

“To beat Guido today, I had to play 100% and my best tennis; I knew I had to do that in order to beat him. I think that the people enjoyed the match a lot, we played some very good points, it was a close match – it seemed like the people enjoyed that two Argentines were competing to make it in the final.”

On his behalf, Pella, lost the opportunity to make it into his third final of the year. He was a finalist in the ATP 250 in Córdoba and the Champion in Sao Paulo.

“As expected, it was a game that was very difficult, with him running a lot. In the third set, I had trouble keeping up with him because he was playing at a very high level. But in general, I had my opportunities, 3-1, I had game point and made an easy mistake. Then, 4-1, I failed again; they were small details, beyond the 6-1 result. I could have fought more but today it was his turn, he played throughout the match, so he deserved to win,” said Pella who will play at the Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal; he will play against David Goffin of Belgium in the first round.

Moreover, the second doubles semifinal of the tournament was won by the British Dominic Inglot and the American Austin Krajicek who beat the Israeli Jonathan Erlich and the Indian Divij Sharan, 6-2 3-6 10-3.

In Saturday’s final, Inglot and Krajicek will face Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys of Monaco.

Los Cabos, BCS, August 1, 2019.- The American Taylor Fritz defeated the Italian Fabio Fognini at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex, preventing him from defending his title from last year.

Fritz, the fifth seed, took advantage of the nagging right ankle the Italian struggled with throughout the match; the final score was 6-1, 7-6(1). The 21-year-old American, who was the junior world champion in 2015, broke Fabio’s serve twice during the first set. Following the end of the first set, the Italian requested a physical trainer to tape up his right foot. 

The second set was even – no breaks of serve for either party. Fognini significantly improved his first serve standing at 73%, while Fritz hit just 37% of first serves in. 

In the third set tiebreak, Taylor Fritz played a close to perfect game winning it 7-1. The Italian, ranked No. 9 in the world was the only top ten player in the tournament, suffered his first lost in Baja California after winning the 2018 tournament.

As for Fritz, this is his fifth tournament of the year where he has managed to reach the semifinals or better; he did it in Atlanta, Eastbourne, Lyon and the Newport Challenger. In the semifinals of Los Cabos, Fritz will play against Radu Albot of Moldova, a player who he has never faced before on the professional circuit.

“I feel really good. Fabio is the number one seed, he is the defending champion, is a top ten player, so this is a big win for me. It was a very tough quarterfinal to play, so I am happy to get through,” said the California native. 

“I feel that I am playing my best tennis. I feel like I have found a level of consistency that even when I am not playing my best days, my level is still pretty high. The clay season was solid, my first title in Eastbourne, the finals in Atlanta, I feel very confident, so yes, I am definitely playing well,” Fritz, the No. 28 ranked player in the world concluded.

In the final doubles match of the day, the Argentines Guido Pella and Diego Schwartzman were eliminated by Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys of Monaco 6-2, 0-6, 6-10 in the super tiebreak.

Lastly, the British Dominic Inglot and the American Austin Krajicek defeated the Brazilian pair Fernando Romboli and the Kazakh Mikhai Kukushkin 6-3 6-2.

Los Cabos, BCS., August 1, 2019.- Argentina is guranteed a finalist in the fourth edition of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex with Guido Pella’s quarterfinal victory over the South Korean Soonwoo Kwon.

Pella, No. 24 in the world, was slow in finding his rhythm, but managed to come back from one set to love, to close the match 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in two hours.

The Bahía Blanca native, who is in search of his second ATP title after being crowned in Sao Paulo, stopped the brilliant run of the Korean player who reached the quarterfinals as a qualifier. 

In the semifinals, Pella will face his friend, compatriot, and current doubles partner, Diego Schwartzman; this guarantees Argentina to have a finalist in Los Cabos.

Pella and Schwartzman have played against each other six times, three times on the ATP tour and three more in challengers, qualifying, and futures. Schwartzman has only been able to beat Pella one time at the Masters 1000 in Monaco last year; Guido has won the five other times, most recently in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Cordoba Open. 

Meanwhile, in the third quarterfinals match-up, the seventh seed, Radu Albot of Moldova beat the Australian wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3 6-3.

With this victory, the 29-year-old Albot, No. 41 ATP, reached his fourth semifinal of the season in addition to Delray Beach, Montpellier, and Geneva.

Los Cabos, BCS, August 1, 2019.- In less than an hour, the third seed, Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, became the first semifinalist of the fourth edition of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex after winning the first match of the day over the eighth seed, Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.

 Schwartzman, ranked No. 27 in the world, displayed great consistency throughout the match to win 6-1 6-2 in just 57 minutes; he was very effective returning having broken his opponent’s serve five times. Although his first serve percentage was relatively low at 46%, he was able to hit 80% of his second serves in. 

“As long as I do not spend too much time on the court, with the heat and the conditions in which are played, I feel very good physically. So I have to rest and be ready for tomorrow. But aside from how short the match was, what surprised me the most was the way I played and the confidence I had today,” said “Peque” after his second victory in Los Cabos.

“Both yesterday and today, my serve was not working great, luckily, the second serve was pretty good. However, to get further, I have to improve because obviously it affects a lot my way of playing and my confidence when I am strong on my first serve,” said Schwartzman.

In other news, the doubles pair Jonathan Erlich of Israel and the Indian Divij Sharan won over the Mexican Hans Hach Verdugo and the American Dennis Novikov, 6-2 6-4, to advance into the semifinals.

Hach Verdugo and Novikov were the team to knock out the defending doubles champions Miguel Reyes-Varela of Mexico and Marcelo Arévalo of El Savador. 

“We didn’t have a very good start to the match, the first set is always important, they were attacking, and when players of that level start fast, it is hard to catch up to them – they played incredibly well. We are leaving, but having beaten last year’s champions was a great victory for me, I definitely took that as a positive this week. I feel as though I am improving,” said Hans Hach who announced that he will be heading to America to play the US Open and the tournaments leading up to it. 

Los Cabos, B.C.S., July 31st 2019.- The Mexican Santiago González and the Pakistani Aisam-Ul-Haw Qureshi, had a great day at the Abierto de Tenis Mifel presentado por Cinemex after winning their round of 16 doubles match against Radu Albot of Moldova and Artem Sitak of New Zealand.

The third seeds, González and Qureshi, played a perfect match winning with a scoreline of 6-1 6-1 in a meeting that lasted just 43 minutes. Additionally, they advanced directly into the semifinals after their next opponents, Frenchmen Gregoire Barrere and Lucas Pouille withdrew due to a back injury to the latter experienced in his singles match against Thanasi Kokkinakis.

“I am very happy to play well and to feel very good on the court. I have never done well here; today we were superior from the beginning. They were not playing their best, but we were a combination of both and that is why we won,” said the Verazcruz native, who just learned that he and his partner are through to the semi-finals due to a withdrawal.

“They just gave me good news, with the withdrawal of Lucas Pouille, he gives us one more day. Not to rest, but to train and make a few adjustments for the semifinals. Hopefully we will be able to get our ticket into the final. There are still two Mexicans, Hans and I, we are on opposite sides of the draw, I hope we can face each other in this dream final.”

In other doubles news, the British Dominic Inglot and the American Austin Krajicek surpassed the Mexicans Lucas Gomez and Luis Paiño in straight sets; the final score was 6-3, 7-5.

Additionally, Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys of Monaco, managed to advance to the next round after winning a thrilling match over the Australians Max Purcell and Luke Saville, 6-7(18), 6-4, 10-8, to advance to the quarterfinals.

The last doubles match of the day was the Kazakh Mikhail Kukuskin and the Brazilian Fernando Romboli who beat the Uruguayan Ariel Behar and the American Nathaniel Lammons 7-6(3), 7-5.

Los Cabos, BCS, July 31, 2019.- Although he struggled a bit in the first set, the Italian Fabio Fognini began his title defense at the Los Cabos Open with a victory. He is now through to the third round after defeating the Spaniard Marcel Granollers in the last match of the day on Pegaso Stadium.

Fognini, the number one seed in the draw and the number nine ranked in the world, lost the first set 4-6 after losing his service game twice. However, in the second set, he showed off his talent to win the match and to set up a quarterfinal clash on Thursday night against the American, Taylor Fritz. 

The final score was 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, allowing Fogna to remain undefeated (5-0) in the Baja California tournament; adding to his four straight wins last year.

“It was a very hard match but I am glad to have gotten out of it. It was a lot, especially mentally, that was the most important thing today. I am very tired, but I am happy because it was the first match in very difficult conditions because it was so late. I could not train a lot and he is a player who serves very well – and at the net, he has a very good volley, so I’m very happy.”

His next opponent will be the 21-year-old Californian, Taylor Fritz, who he defeated last year in Chengdu, China. It will be a complicated match because Fritz has been having a great season.

“I don’t care who it is, I have to be worried about recovering, which is the most important thing for me to do today. He is playing his best too, he played the final last week, he won a title on grass, he is a very young player, but I must stay focused on my side, to do my best,” said the 32-year-old Italian looking to win his tenth professional career title in Los Cabos.