As every year, the last week of February brings together two of the best ATP 500 in the world. On the one hand, the economic power of the Dubai tournament, and on the other the wonder that Mextenis has with the Acapulco Open.
One year one wins and the next the other, that has been a constant. For this 2023 it was expected that the AMT would throw the house out of the window for its 30th edition, but nothing could be further from reality. 2023 has seen the Dubai ATP 500 sweep Acapulco for the list of players announced in its main draw.
Although casa uno convinced five players from the top-10, the quality of these players is overwhelming. In Dubai there will be nothing more and nothing less than the Serbian Novak Djokovic and the Spanish Rafael Nadal has been announced, although he will not play it due to being injured.
But there they have 44 Grand Slam titles. To those is added 1 from Russian Daniil Medvedev and British Andy Murray, who will receive a wildcard, will add three more. In total there will be 48 “big” titles at the Dubai event. For his part, in Acapulco there will only be one Grand Slam winner who is the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, who only has one US Open to his credit.
It also seems a matter of time before the Austrian Dominic Thiem is announced, so the number of the Mexican contest will end in two. The dispute will be 48 against two Grand Slam titles.
Djokovic is now 12-0 on the year
Tennis journalist Steve Flink has heaped praise on Novak Djokovic for his performance in the Australian Open final.
“At 6-5 in the tiebreak in the third set, they’re having what looks like a pretty neutral rally. Novak steps around and hits a forehand very near the sideline but beautifully controlled, not dangerous. He kept it fairly low and had Tsitsipas on the stretch, and Stefanos missed a forehand cross-court, the match was over.
So he knows how close to the lines, he knows how to measure his shots and even on that one, he didn’t try to hit it that hard, but his placement was perfect, and it’s uncanny what a great match player Djokovic is.” Djokovic said that his leg didn’t bother him from the fourth round onwards and that his movement was much better: “From the fourth round onwards, I feel the leg was not bothering me as much. I felt my movement was much better. I played some of my best tennis, honestly, in Australian Open.”
