Ruud rolls past Rinderknech at ATP 500, Paul advances
Ben Shelton turned the tables on Flavio Cobolli on Monday evening in Acapulco.
Having lost the first two matches in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against the Italian from a set up, the American did not make the same mistake again. The lefty battled past Cobolli 7-6(4), 7-6(4) to reach the second round of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.
“That was one I wanted really bad. For me I won the first set in the first two matches and ended up going down a break in the second, losing the second, and ultimately losing in three sets,” Shelton said in his on-court interview. “So for me I wanted to fight back there, complete it in two and get off the court.
“It’s never easy going into a match being 0-2 against somebody. Like I said in Australia, you go 0-3 and they become your daddy, so I was fighting again for that not to happen and happy with the performance tonight.”
Awaiting Shelton in the second round in Acapulco will be David Goffin, who breezed past Rinky Hijikata 6-2, 6-3.
💙 @BenShelton left a heartfelt message to the crowd at the @AbiertoTelcel after winning his first round match…
“Siempre contigo Acapulco” 🙌#AMT2025 pic.twitter.com/W3u1Nz4ajW
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 25, 2025
Earlier, Casper Ruud eased into the second round on the Mexican Pacific Coast with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against Arthur Rinderknech. The No. 5 player in the PIF ATP Rankings has now won seven of his past eight matches and will next take on Aleksandar Vukic or wild card Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez in the second round.
Ruud, who is the second seed in Acapulco, is fresh off a run to the Dallas final and is 14-4 at ATP 500 events dating back to the start of last season. He now owns a 3-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead against Rinderknech, with all three victories coming in straight sets.
In the first game it did not appear the match would be so simple. The Frenchman hit two sizzling winners and Ruud misfired off his trusted forehand wing to lose serve to 15. But that was the most danger the favourite faced in front of the Mexican crowd.
Ruud broke his opponent’s serve three times from nine chances according to Infosys ATP Stats and did not lose serve again himself after the opening game to triumph in one hour and 42 minutes.
The 26-year-old was a finalist at both Mexican ATP Tour events, Acapulco and Los Cabos, last year. Ruud will try to go one step further this edition to claim his first title of 2025.
Third seed Tommy Paul and eighth seed Tomas Machac also enjoyed comfortable starts to their Acapulco campaigns. Paul downed Gabriel Diallo 6-2, 6-2 to set a second-round meeting with his countryman Marcos Giron, who himself downed Adam Walton 7-6(4), 6-2. The World No. 10 Paul is now 9-6 in Acapulco, where he reached the championship match in 2023.
Meanwhile Machac prevailed in an all-Czech battle with #NextGenATP Czech Jakub Mensik. With both players making their Acapulco debut and facing a countryman on the ATP Tour for the first time, the 24-year-old Machac held firm for a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 triumph on Grandstand. He will next face Daniel Altmaier, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 winner against Miomir Kecmanovic.