ATP Acapulco draw features Carlos Alcaraz, Cameron Norrie, 12 Americans and the Berrettini brothers

ATP Tour

Shahida Jacobs
February 27, 2023

Carlos Alcaraz will face Mackenzie McDonald in his opening match at the Mexican Open while Rio Open champion Cameron Norrie finds himself in the opposite half of the Acapulco draw.

Alcaraz will play in his third tournament in as many weeks as he made his 2023 debut at the Argentina Open and he was the last man standing as he won the title. He made it back-to-back finals as he reached the showpiece match in Rio on Sunday, but was beaten in three sets by Norrie.

Up next is the Acapulco event – a tournament he missed last year due to injury – and the Spaniard is the top seed. World No 49 McDonald – who stunned Rafael Nadal in the third round of the Australian Open – is up first. McDonald is one of 12 Americans who feature in the main draw.

Alcaraz – who has battled with abdominal and hamstring injuries in the past few months – struggled with a leg injury during his defeat to Norrie, but is confident of recovering.

“I felt something in my leg and that didn’t really help me. Now it’s time to recover,” the 19-year-old said.

He added: “I really like Acapulco. I want to go there and play in front of the Mexican fans,” he said.

Seventh seed Tommy Paul, who takes on Emilio Gomez from Ecuador in the first round, is expected to be the first seeded player Alcaraz faces as they are projected to meet in the quarter-final.

Third seed Taylor Fritz props up the bottom section of the top half and he faces fellow American John Isner in a first-round encounter with seventh seed Frances Tiafoe a likely last-four opponent.

¡Listo el Main Draw del AMT 2023! #CelebratingTennis30 pic.twitter.com/bt6p0GyDEv

— Abierto Mexicano (@AbiertoTelcel) February 25, 2023

The bottom half of the draw is headlined by world No 4 Casper Ruud and the Norwegian faces qualifier Guido Andreozzi in his opener. It will be Ruud’s first match since he was beaten by Jenson Brooksby in the second round of the Australian Open.

Eighth seed Alex de Minaur is his projected quarter-final rival.

Norrie is seeded fifth and he takes on Frenchman Adrian Mannarino first, but it gets more difficult after that as he could face Matteo Berrettini in the second round while fourth seed Holger Rune is his projected quarter-final opponent.

Interestingly, Berrettini’s younger brother, Jacopo, is also in the bottom half of the draw after coming through qualifying. The 24-year-old takes on Oscar Otto from Germany first up and he can only meet his brother in the semi-final.