Last year it was announced that Bogota’s ATP World Tour 250 tournament would be transferred to Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico. With just a few weeks ahead of their first edition, VAVEL USA had the opportunity to talk with Los Cabos Open’s tournament director, José Antonio Fernández about the surprises the tournament holds for the fans, the draw of players and the venue.
Second ATP Tournament in Mexico
This new tournament marks the second ATP event in Mexico. The country has also been the host of the Mexican Open in Acapulco for 23 years and since 2001 it’s also a WTA event. “It’s really important, in the world, we have 195 countries and just 31 have the possibility to have an ATP tournament and from that 31 tournaments only like 14 have two or more tournaments. Now Mexico is part of this elite club, so for the country is a really important issue,” Mr. Fernandez said and continued explaining the wide coverage the tournament will get. “We will have coverage in around 47 countries in almost 17 broadcasters in the five continents.”
It’s no surprise that the second tournament in Mexico will take place in Los Cabos. The venue is all set and ready for the event. “The location is unbelievable, the location is very nice. We will have the location at the Delmar International School which is a private school that opened a few months ago, so it’s brand new and it has all the facilities to have an ATP tournament.”
Mr. Fernandez also talked about the hotel where players will stay and the current progress of the courts. “The hotel is a very Mexican colonial hotel which is the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar is a five-star hotel, two golf courses, the spa, and eight restaurants. We will have everything completed and ready for having this first tournament in Los Cabos and receive all the players.”
The stadium will have a capacity of 3,500 people and the tournament will also have four additional courts. As of today, the tournament recently shared a photo of the finished stadium on their social networks.
Impressive line-up of players
Los Cabos Open will take place at the same time as the Olympics, Mr. Fernandez confirmed they had doubts since “most of the players want to play and defend the colors of their country.” However, last year the ATP confirmed that there will be no ranking points at Olympic Games. This decision helped the tournament to have a very impressive draw in their first edition. “Obviously for the players the position from the ATP made them think about it twice, so the result is there, the 75 percent of the draw is in the Top 50, we have very good names of players, and we are very happy with the players we are having at Los Cabos,” Mr. Fernandez said. Despite the Olympics the tournament has a better cut than Acapulco which is a 500 event.
Among those great names of players, there’s a top 10, Dominic Thiem. The Austrian has had a very good year and the tournament is aware of the importance of having a player like him. “He’s not a promise, he’s a reality. He’s playing awesome tennis, won seven tournaments this year and he’s one of the guys that will be in the Top 5 soon,” Mr. Fernandez said when asked about having a player like Thiem in the draw.
Los Cabos Open could also have a potential rematch of the Acapulco final as Bernard Tomic is another player that has confirmed his attendance. “We have young players and we have other players with a lot of experience such as Verdasco, Karlovic, Chardy, Querrey who has been playing awesome tennis. So, we have a very good draw and we are very happy to have this mix of players of young and experienced players,” Mr. Fernandez said when asked about the draw that was announced earlier this month.
A great experience for the fans
Being so close to the United States, Mr. Fernandez is positive about the attendance of many international fans. “We have from Los Cabos to the United States around 34 direct flights. So yes, we are expecting a lot of people from the United States and Canada. For instance, in Acapulco, we just have like seven percent of the people come from international tourism, for Los Cabos we are expecting to have around 40 or 50 percent coming from the USA and Canada.”
And the fans will be able to enjoy a truly Mexican experience as Mr. Fernandez explained to us. “The experience for them is going to be unbelievable because at the end you will find an event in which we are gonna offer entertainment and it’s a familiar event which is based on tennis. There will be parties, music events, kids area and a very important gastronomic area where they will find delicious food from Los Cabos. So we are making every single detail very important so we can deliver to the people an experience that will be unbelievable for them.”
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Precautions about the heat
Located at the southern end of the Baja California Peninsula, the usual weather in Los Cabos is considered desertic and very hot during the summer. However, the tournament has already taken the right precautions. “The first match in Los Cabos will start at 5pm that will be from Monday to Thursday. Friday and Saturday the matches will be until 7pm. We are taking in consideration the weather which is why the matches will be in the evening.”
Support to Mexican players
Being the second tournament in Mexico means that young Mexican players will be given some wildcards. “We’re gonna give one to Lucas Gomez which is the number one player in Mexico. Actually, he is right now in the 530 in the ranking, he’s 20 years and we think he’s gonna have a good career,” Mr. Fernandez said when asked about the wildcards for Mexican players. “We are gonna have other Mexican players in the qualifications and maybe get them some wildcards for the doubles. Again the compromise we have with Grupo Pegaso is to help the Mexican players who are trying to have a career in the tour.”
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With just a few weeks ahead of the tournament, Mr. Fernandez shared the excitement of this first edition of Los Cabos Open. “Well is a huge challenge for the Pegaso Group, another product we’re gonna put in the events that we have so far in the last years. So this tournament is a new challenge, a new destination and for us is a very important product to establish into position during the next years in Los Cabos.”
The tournament will take place from August 8 to August 13 in Los Cabos, Baja California. Tickets are still available through their website or Ticketmaster, and the website offers some packages with accommodations so everyone can enjoy this first edition of Los Cabos Open.