Acapulco is ready to host the 32nd edition of the Mexican Tennis Open next year, according to the Mexican Tennis Association (AMT) and the state’s Tourism Ministry (Sectur).

The tournament is set to take place from Feb. 24 to March 1 at the Arena GNP Seguros. According to organizers, 60% of the tournament’s tickets have already been sold.

During a press conference, AMT head of operations Geoffrey Fernández recalled that the Category 5 hurricane caused structural damage to the Arena GNP Seguros event complex. However, the arena was ready by the time the tournament returned for the 2024 edition in February.  

For that reason, Fernández said, “the 2024 edition was a magical and unique year.”

Fernández said he expects the tournament’s upcoming edition to bring in 500 to 550 million pesos (US $25 to $28 million), exceeding by 200 million pesos (US $10 million) the revenues of the previous edition. 

So far, players expected to compete include the No. 2 world-ranked German player, Alexander Zverev, who won the championship in 2021; Norway’s Casper Ruud, who lost in the 2024 finals to Australia’s Alex de Minaur; the United States’s Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton; Denmark’s Holger Rune; and Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti. 

The full list of players attending the event, Fernández said, will be released in the coming weeks. 

Fernández also announced the launch of digital tickets this year for the event, to prevent ticket resales.

Acapulco’s reconstruction continues

According to Welfare Ministry head Ariadna Montiel, the reconstruction of Acapulco and Coyuca de Benítez after Otis has cost 35 billion pesos (US $1.82 billion). 

Simon Quiñones Orozco, head of Guerrero’s state Tourism Ministry, said that 1,000 rooms per month have been renovated in 236 hotels since Otis and that he expects 16,000 rooms to be available in the Diamante and Dorada hotel zones by next February. 

People are gaining confidence in Acapulco, he said, and the city’s schedule of events is only bolstering that confidence.

Quiñones expressed gratitude for the Mexican Tennis Open’s sponsors and organizers, saying that thanks to the tournament, Acapulco’s reconstruction process was “accelerated,” making it possible for both Sectur’s annual Tourist Tianguis tourism industry conference, the Tourist Tianguis, and the National Banking Convention to take place in the city earlier this year. 

With reports from La Jornada, Milenio, México Quadrantin and El Sol de Acapulco