Unseeded American Sam Querrey has completed his dream week at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel Open in Acapulco by defeating second seed Rafael Nadal 6-3, 7-6(2), to lift the title.
The world No.40, who was playing in his first ATP final for 12 months, entered the encounter as the underdog after losing to Nadal in their four previous meetings on the tour. Nevertheless, Querrey managed to avoid a fifth consecutive defeat by firing an impressive 19 aces in the match (compared to his opponents one) and hitting 41 winners.
“It’s definitely a tournament that I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” Querrey said after his win. “It’s just one of those weeks where I got in the zone and everything was working for me. I hope I can have more like this.”
Prior to his Mexican success, the 29-year-old had only reached the quarter final stage in one out of four tournaments he has participated in this year. This week he had enjoyed wins over David Goffin, Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios and Nadal. Querrey is set to rise to 26th in the world rankings as he aims to break back into the world’s top 20 for the first time since July 2013.
“After the match against Goffin, I knew I could go far here if I continued to play at that level,” he explained. “My forehand and backhand were great and my serve bailed me out of trouble when I needed it. I felt like I had a lot of support throughout the week and everyone has been so kind. It’s been a pleasure to play here.”
Nadal has also praised the achievements of his conqueror. In the match the Spaniard had six break point opportunities, but was unable to convert any of them due to Querrey’s mighty serve. The world No.6 admitted that he was playing ‘under pressure’ throughout the match. Still, he only produced 23 unforced errors compared to Querrey’s tally of 29.
“He played very well, almost reaching perfection,” said Nadal. “I played under a lot of pressure because of his serve and baseline game. He left me with very few options, and the few I had he also played good. I have to congratulate him.”
Suffering his second final loss in 2017 after his epic five-set battle with Roger Federer at the Australian Open, Nadal is refusing to be negative about his latest shortcoming. The 30-year-old is chasing after his first title since last year’s Barcelona Open and his first on a hard court since the 2014 Doha Open.
“I started the season well but, unfortunately, I played two finals and lost both. It’s a process, you have to have the confidence that things are going well, I have started the year well and I am in a high position in the Race.”An upbeat Nadal said.
“ I still have tournaments to add, two more on hard court and then the clay court tour, the most important of the season for me.”
Both men will now travel to California to prepare for the first Masters 1000 event of the year, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
