{"id":505394,"date":"2026-02-28T14:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T14:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/505394\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T14:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T14:22:09","slug":"tennis-atp-abierto-mexicano-telcel-presentado-por-hsbc-2026-tiafoe-takes-out-nakashima","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/505394\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennis, ATP \u2013 Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC 2026: Tiafoe takes out Nakashima"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first semi-final at the Acapulco ATP500<\/a> featured an intense tactical battle between the No. 5 seed Flavio Cobolli and the unseeded Serb, Miomir Kecmanovic, on Friday. Cobolli, currently sitting at a career-high world No. 20, had to rely on every ounce of his defensive prowess to navigate a 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4<\/a> victory that lasted nearly two and a half hours.<\/p>\n

The match began with a highly competitive opening set where neither player was willing to concede ground from the baseline. Kecmanovic, who had been on a \u201cgiant-killing\u201d run after upsetting top seed Alexander Zverev, played with extreme aggression, but Cobolli\u2019s resilience in the tiebreak proved decisive. The Italian recovered from an early mini-break to take the first set, displaying the same mental fortitude that saw him save multiple break points in his previous round.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Kecmanovic roared back in the second set, breaking Cobolli twice to force a decider. However, in the final set, Cobolli found a higher gear. Reports from Latin American outlets highlight that Cobolli\u2019s fitness was the difference maker; he broke Kecmanovic\u2019s service three times in the third set and ultimately sealed the match with a powerful and precisely placed return that the Serb could not handle.<\/p>\n

This victory marks Cobolli\u2019s fourth ATP final, where he will seek his third career title and his first at the ATP 500 level.<\/p>\n

Tiafoe\u2019s resilience ends Nakashima\u2019s run<\/p>\n

The late-night session saw an all-American clash that lived up to the hype, as Frances Tiafoe staged a dramatic comeback to defeat Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4<\/a>. For Tiafoe, the win is a milestone moment, marking his first final in Acapulco in eight attempts.<\/p>\n

Nakashima, the world No. 29, dominated the early proceedings. His methodical approach and clean ball-striking left the No. 8 seed frustrated in a lopsided 6-3 opening set. The second set developed into a classic \u201ctug-of-war,\u201d eventually reaching a high-pressure tiebreak. Nakashima was just two points away from the final, but Tiafoe\u2019s flair and crowd-favorite energy took over. Saving a critical point at 5-6 in the tiebreak, Tiafoe reeled off three straight points to snatch the set 8-6 and shift the momentum entirely.<\/p>\n


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In the deciding set, the \u201cBig Foe\u201d experience was on full display. Tiafoe sharpened his net play and increased his first-serve percentage to 72%, keeping Nakashima on the defensive. After securing a break midway through the set, Tiafoe remained clinical on his own delivery, serving out the match to the delight of the Mexican fans.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first semi-final at the Acapulco ATP500 featured an intense tactical battle between the No. 5 seed Flavio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-505394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}