Holger Rune and Ben Shelton are set to team up on the doubles court next month in Indian Wells. But before they join forces for the first time, they will contest their ATP Head2Head matchup in the singles opening round at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC. Saturday’s draw for the ATP 500 event also revealed Mackenzie McDonald as top seed Carlos Alcaraz’s first opponent and set an all-American showdown between third seed Taylor Fritz and John Isner.
Returning Acapulco quarter-finalist Marcos Giron, who opens against countryman Michael Mmoh, was on hand for the draw ceremony and shared his matches to watch in the opening round.
“I would want to see Mackie, a fellow American, playing against Carlitos,” the 29-year-old said. “Carlitos is obviously playing great I think that would be a fun one.” McDonald will be bidding to upset a Spaniard ranked at No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the second time this season after his second-round upset of Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open.
“Also Holger Rune against Ben Shelton, I think that’s going to be a really good one,” Giron added. “Ben’s been playing great, quarter-finals of the Australian Open. Holger is young, in the Top 10 in the world. So I think that’s going to be a really good match.”
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Giron is one off 11 Americans in the singles main draw, not including potential qualifiers, with third seed Fritz and sixth seed Frances Tiafoe leading the way. If the American No. 1 Fritz can move past Isner in the first round, he will face the winner of another marquee opening match between Denis Shapovalov and Miomir Kecmanovic. Tiafoe opens against Japanese No. 1 Yoshihito Nishioka.
Second seed Casper Ruud will begin against a qualifier and could face J.J. Wolf in the second round. In the other half of the draw, Alcaraz’s potential path could include a quarter-final against seventh seed Tommy Paul and a semi-final against Fritz.
In the doubles draw, brothers Jacopo Berrettini and Matteo Berrettini will meet Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in the opening round. The winner of that match will play top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski or Mexcan wild cards Hans Hach Verdugo and Migiel Angel Reyes-Varelo.
Main-draw action begins Monday, with the player-favourite tournament being held at the Arena GNP Seguros for the second year.
“Playing here in Acapulco is incredible,” said Giron. “This tournament’s incredible, one of the best of the year. The fans are awesome, the facilities are great, especially this new stadium. I’ve got nothing but good memories.”