Rafael Nadal defeated Cameron Norris 6-4, 6-4 to win the Mexican Open in Acapulco for his 91st career ATP singles victory and extend his career-best start for a season to 15-0.
Nadal, who won his third title in 2022 including the Australian Open for his record 21st major singles title, is three victories from tying Ivan Lendl’s total of 94 for third place for most championships in the Open Era. Jimmy Connors leads with 109 and Roger Federer has 103.
The Spaniard won for the fourth time in Acapulco (2005, 2013 and 2020) where he is a fan favorite. Norrie, who was on an eight-match winning streak including winning the Delray Beach Open, was trying to become the first British man to win the Mexican Open in its 29-year history. In two weeks, he will try to defend his title at the BNP Paribas Open, that he won when the event was staged last Autumn.
At the start of the match, Nadal had a break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and went on to win the first set in 51 minutes. The players exchanged breaks in the first two games of the second set. However, Nadal added breaks in the fifth and seventh games to take home the trophy.
In the doubles final, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez and Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo and the Netherlands’ Jean-Julien Rojer 7-5, 6-4.
