Mexican Open Tennis: Acapulco Throws the Wildest Week in Sports
Fireworks over the Pacific. Players in all-white linen walking a red carpet at the Princess Mundo Imperial hotel. A Michelin-starred chef grilling local Guerrero ingredients while Casper Ruud talks about how much he loves the food. The Mexican Open tennis tournament doesn’t start with a coin toss. It starts with a party.
Every February, the Abierto Mexicano Telcel turns Acapulco’s Zona Diamante into something that no other ATP 500 event can touch: a week where world-class tennis collides with beach resort culture, late-night matches, gourmet food, live concerts, and the kind of energy that makes players vote it their favorite tournament on the entire tour. Three times, actually, in 2007, 2017, and 2019, making it the most beloved stop in professional tennis.
And in 2026, the stakes feel different.
A City That Refused to Stay Down
You can’t talk about the Mexican Open without talking about what happened to Acapulco on October 25, 2023. Hurricane Otis, a Category 5 monster that went from tropical storm to catastrophe in 12 hours, destroyed 80% of the city’s hotel infrastructure and caused an estimated $15 billion in damage. The Princess Mundo Imperial, the very hotel that hosts the tournament’s legendary White Party, was gutted. Half-sunk yachts littered the marina. Palm trees lay across highways like fallen soldiers.
Two years later, the Arena GNP Seguros is ready. Hotels are operating at full capacity. And the 33rd edition of the Mexican Open is projected to generate 800 million pesos in economic impact for a city that was nearly wiped off the tourism map. It’s not just entertainment anymore. It’s proof of something.
The Mexican Open’s White Party Sets the Tone
Most tennis tournaments open with a press conference and some practice sessions. This one opens with the Fiesta de Blanco.
Held at the Princess Mundo Imperial, the White Party is exactly what it sounds like: an all-white dress code gala where players, coaches, officials, and local celebrities gather on the hotel’s oceanfront terrace for a night of live music and food paired with fireworks. Zverev showed up with his partner last year. Holger Rune talked about looking forward to the food. Santiago González, the Mexican doubles player, called it “like being home.”
This year, Chef Carlos Gaytán returns to run the culinary program. Gaytán is the first Mexican chef to earn a Michelin star, and his presence at the tournament isn’t some random catering gig. He fuses local Guerrero ingredients with high-cuisine techniques, creating a dining experience that rivals the tennis itself. Pair that with Cuervo cocktails and Fisher’s seafood, and you’ve got a food scene that most Grand Slams can’t match.
When Acapulco Tennis Matches Last Until Dawn
This tournament holds a record that no other ATP event wants: the latest finish in professional tennis history. In 2022, Alexander Zverev and Jenson Brooksby played a match that ended at 4:54 AM. Not a typo. Nearly five in the morning, with fans still in the stands, the Pacific breeze turning cold, and two professionals grinding through a third set while most of the Western Hemisphere slept.
That’s the thing about night tennis in Acapulco. The matches start late, the crowd runs hot, and nobody seems to care about the clock. It creates an atmosphere that Wimbledon’s polite applause and the US Open’s celebrity box simply can’t replicate. This is raw, loud, unapologetically Mexican energy, and the players wouldn’t trade it for anything.
The Mexican Open 2026 Draw Reads Like a Statement
Four Top 10 players headline this year’s edition, with Alexander Zverev at No. 3 leading a field that includes Lorenzo Musetti, Alex de Miñaur, and Ben Shelton. De Miñaur won back-to-back titles here in 2023 and 2024, which makes him the player everyone’s chasing. Shelton’s been coming for four straight years trying to break through. And the supporting cast doesn’t hurt either: Casper Ruud, who’s about to become a father, Grigor Dimitrov, and Gael Monfils in his farewell season after two decades on tour.
The most interesting addition isn’t even playing. Juan MartÃn del Potro, the Argentine who won the 2018 title and the 2009 US Open, returns as the tournament’s ambassador. Del Potro’s career was cut short by persistent knee injuries, and his emotional farewell from tennis in 2022 left fans gutted. Bringing him back to a place where he claimed one of his final titles adds a layer of nostalgia that tournament organizers clearly understand.
Then there’s Rodrigo Pacheco, the young Mexican who stunned everyone by reaching the quarterfinals last year. He’s back with a wildcard, and for a country that doesn’t produce many ATP-level players, he represents something the local crowd desperately wants to believe in.
More Than Matches
What separates this week from every other ATP 500 is the event ecosystem that’s quietly been built around the court. The 2026 edition includes a coaches’ congress featuring legends like Leonardo Lavalle and Nicolás Pereira. There’s a 5K charity run through the city with Adidas supporting the Construyendo foundation. Kids Day gives families access to players before the main draw begins.
And the closing act? A concert by Moenia, the Mexican electronic pop group, as part of their #EstamosBienTour. In a city that’s spent two years rebuilding from devastation, that tour name hits harder than they probably intended.
Why This Tournament Matters Beyond Tennis
Most ATP events are interchangeable. Nice venue, good draw, standard hospitality. What makes Acapulco different is that the tournament can’t separate itself from the city. The history, the glamour, the trauma, the resilience, it all bleeds into the week. You feel it in the crowd’s intensity at 2 AM. You taste it in Gaytán’s Guerrero-sourced plates. You see it in the fireworks over a Pacific coastline that looked completely different 28 months ago.
The prize pool is over $2.7 million, but that’s not the number that matters. It’s the economic injection into a recovering city, the 4,000+ indirect jobs, and the global broadcast that tells the world Acapulco is still standing.
Tennis is the excuse. The culture is the point.
