Scouting Report: Top 20 stars flock to Acapulco; Medvedev & Rublev in Dubai; Jarry leads Santiago

Peter Staples/ATP Tour

The ATP 500 action heats up this week with two events at that level being held simultaneously for the first time this season, while the 'Golden Swing' continues in South America.

Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune and Stefanos Tsitsipas are among those competing at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco. Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev headline the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. In ATP 250 competition, Nicolas Jarry and Sebastian Baez are the top two seeds at the Movistar Chile Open.

ATPTour.com breaks down five things to watch at each event.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN ACAPULCO
1) Stars Aplenty in Acapulco: Nine Top 20 players headline the field at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC. The Top 4 seeds are Zverev, Rune, Alex de Minaur and Taylor Fritz, respectively.

2) Mexico Memories: De Minaur enjoyed a milestone triumph last year in Acapulco, where he collected his biggest career title. A seven-time tour-level titlist, the Australian entered the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time last month and now will aim to defend 500 points.

3) Deja Vu for Zverev?: Zverev is aiming for his first title of the season. The 26-year-old German, who is 13-3 in Acapulco, will be hoping for a piece of deja vu at the hard-court event, where he won the title in 2021 before embarking on a six-title season, including two ATP Masters 1000 trophies, a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and the Nitto ATP Finals.

4) American Power: Also in action at the ATP 500 will be five of the six highest-ranked Americans: Fritz, last year’s finalist Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton and Christopher Eubanks. An American has not lifted the trophy in Acapulco since Sam Querrey in 2017.

5) Gonzalez/Skupski Top Seed In Doubles: Mexico’s own Santiago Gonzalez will look to treat the home crowd to a title run alongside Neal Skupski. They will face competition from Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski, Rinky Hijikata and Joe Salisbury, Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson, and William Blumberg and Casper Ruud.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN DUBAI
1) Medvedev Makes Return: Playing his first tournament since the Australian Open final, World No. 4 Medvedev is returning to familiar ground. Medvedev ran through the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships field last year without dropping a set, including a semi-final victory against Novak Djokovic before downing Rublev in the final.

2) Rublev Hunts Another Dubai Crown: The 26-year-old Rublev has won nine of his past 10 matches in the U.A.E, where he lifted the trophy in 2022. A 15-time tour-level titlist, Rublev is searching for his second title of the season (Hong Kong).

3) Former Champion Murray: Making his eighth appearance at the ATP 500, the 2017 champion Andy Murray looks to find his best form and build upon his first tour-level victory of the season he earned in Doha.

4) #NextGenATP Star Mensik: Czech teen Jakub Mensik produced an impressive performance at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, becoming the youngest finalist in tournament history in just his third tour-level event. The 6'4" Mensik earned a special exemption into Dubai, where he will start against Borna Coric.

5) Australian Open Champs Lead Doubles: Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden are playing their first event since winning the season’s first major. The Indian-Aussie duo are the top seeds in Dubai. Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek are seeded second.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN SANTIAGO
1) In Form & At Home!: The 28-year-old Jarry found a high level two weeks ago at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires, where he was a finalist, having upset two-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz in the last four. Now the Chilean No. 1 returns to his hometown, where he is the defending champion and top seed.

2) Baez In Field: Three of Baez's four tour-level titles have come on clay. A finalist in Santiago two years ago, the Argentine looks to go one step further to add to his trophy cabinet. The 23-year-old is seeded second, and will arrive in Chile after he contests his first ATP 500 final in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.

3) Fils Seeks Second Clay Crown: #NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils captured his first tour-level title on the Lyon clay last May, and closed the season by reaching the title match at the Next Gen ATP Finals. Making his Santiago debut, the 19-year-old will aim at improving upon his fourth-place position in the Pepperstone ATP Race to Jeddah.

4) Brazilian Stars: Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild went on a fairytale run in Santiago in 2020, lifting the trophy as a then-ranked No. 182 wild card. After ending a five-match losing skid last week in Rio de Janeiro, the 23-year-old hopes to maintain his South American form. The 17-year-old #NextGenATP Joao Fonseca, who was a quarter-finalist in Rio, looks to make another splash as a wild card in Santiago.

5) Home Hopes: Other Chileans in action in Santiago include fourth seed Alejandro Tabilo, who captured his maiden tour-level title earlier this year in Auckland. 2021 champion Cristian Garin looks to string together back-to-back wins for the first time this season. Tomas Barrios Vera, who made his Top 100 debut last month, is also competing.