By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday February 29, 2020
Rafael Nadal eased past Taylor Fritz to claim his third Acapulco title and his 85th overall.
Photo Source: Guillermo Sanchez
Rafael Nadal eased past American Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-2 and grabbed another slice of Abierto Mexicano de Tenis history on Saturday by becoming the oldest player to win the title.
Fifteen years earlier as an 18-year-old Nadal had become the youngest ever winner in Acapulco.
During the 15-year span between titles in Mexico the Spaniard has never wavered in his passion for the sport or in his unquenchable desire to continue to excel at its highest level.
On Saturday night in Acapulco Nadal was dominant from start to finish even if he didn’t possess his very best tennis, and he made relatively short work of the 22-year-old American from Southern California in their first ever meeting, dropping just four points on serve through his first seven service games and never surrendering a break throughout the 74-minute contest.
Nadal broke three times on seven opportunities and kept up the pressure in Fritz' service games by winning 11 of 17 second serve return points. The American, playing in his first 500-level final and fifth final overall, held his own early in both sets but wilted under the pressure of having to produce too much elevated tennis with too much regularity.
The 33-year-old Broke Fritz for 5-3 in the opening set before serving the stanza out and then he broke the American for 3-2 in the second set before he closed the final by winning the final five games.
Nadal, who first claimed the Acapulco title on the red clay in 2005 and won it again on his favorite surface in 2013, has now joined David Ferrer as one of the tournament’s only two players to have won the trophy on both surfaces.
“Supper happy,” Nadal said on court after the final. “I played a great event I think from the beginning to the end. Here in Latin America, in Acapulco for me, has been the first big title that I won in my career, so to be able to stay here after 15 years, it’s amazing.”
Nadal didn’t drop a set in Acapulco and he improves to 20-2 lifetime at the event, and 13-3 on the season. He won 22 of 41 return games and converted 22 of his 35 break points.
With his victory the great Spaniard moves 11 matches from his 1000th career victory. His lifetime record stands at 989-200.