2020 Acapulco

March 1, 2020

In pictures: The story of Acapulco 2020

From Renata Zarazua's Cinderella week at home to 17-year-old Leylah Fernandez's spectacular breakthrough to the final and Heather Watson's dramatic path to her fourth career title, all the best photos from the 2020 Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC.

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Reigning Pan-American gold medalist Nadia Podoroska of Argentina was beaten in the first round of qualifying by Slovenian teenager Kaja Juvan.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Martina Trevisan took a set lead in the first round of qualifying, but fell to Caroline Dolehide.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Nicole Gibbs overcame wildcard Fernanda Contreras Gomez in the first qualifying round to set up a clash between former Top 100 players against Sara Errani.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Two-time champion Errani was given a wildcard to qualifying and successfully reached the main draw by beating top qualifying seed and former finalist Stefanie Voegele and No.7 seed Gibbs.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Reigning French Open girls' singles champion Leylah Fernandez of Canada qualified for her fourth WTA main draw without losing a set.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Juvan ultimately became one of three teens to qualify for the main draw, along with Fernandez and Wang Xiyu.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Venus Williams, seeded No.5 this week, accepted a wildcard for her first appearance in Acapulco since winning back-to-back titles in 2009-10.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Doubles partners Dalila Jakupovic and Danka Kovinic arrive at the tournament's Fiesta Blanco.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Sarah Olmos, Giuliana Olmos, top seed Sloane Stephens and Sabrina Santamaria also attended the Fiesta Blanco.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Young Slovenian duo Tamara Zidansek and Kaja Juvan are both rising up the rankings, and also made an appearance at the Fiesta Blanco.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Anna Karolina Schmiedlova smiles for photographers on the Fiesta Blanco red carpet.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Venus Williams brought her star power to the Fiesta Blanco red carpet.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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American Sabrina Santamaria, playing doubles this week with Nina Stojanovic, celebrated her 27th birthday on Monday.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Former Top 10 player and two-time Grand Slam semifinalist CoCo Vandeweghe made her main draw debut in Acapulco against No.7 seed Heather Watson.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Watson rallied from a set down to beat Vandeweghe in a marathon opener, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

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No.8 seed Nao Hibino eased through to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Arantxa Rus in her first round match.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Russian teenager Anastasia Potapova pulled off the most dramatic comeback of Monday's play - rallying from 6-4, 4-0 down to beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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In a first round match of two tournament debutants, Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek beat Russia' Anna Kalinskaya in straight sets.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Kateryna Bondarenko edged Danka Kovinic in two hours and 47 minutes in Monday's first round as she continues her comeback from her second maternity leave.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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In her fifth trip to Acapulco and first as a seed, No.3 seed Marie Bouzkova was unable to score her first main draw victory at the tournament...

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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...as she was ultimately beaten in Monday's opener by German veteran Tatjana Maria, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Defending champion and No.2 seed Wang Yafan was dethroned by her teenage compatriot Wang Xiyu to round out Monday's first round.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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18-year-old Wang Xiyu earned her eighth career win over a Top 100 player with her upset of her seeded compatriot.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Mexican wildcard Renata Zarazua thrilled the locals with an upset of top seed Sloane Stephens in the first round on Tuesday.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Great Britain's Katie Boulter, who missed six months with a back injury in 2019, scored her first WTA main draw win in exactly a year by beating American lucky loser Francesca di Lorenzo in the first round.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Christina McHale came through her first of two all-American matches on Tuesday, beating No.4 seed Lauren Davis, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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WIlliams, who had never lost a match previously in Acapulco, came up just short in one of the most dramatic matches of the year thus far...

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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....before the teenager Juvan saved a staggering seven match points to win, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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In one of the rare all-Slovenian meetings on tour, however, Zidansek got the better of Juvan on Wednesday to reach the last eight.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Fernandez's breakthrough week in Mexico continued on Wednesday, as she dominated No.8 seed Hibino, 6-3, 6-0, to reach her first-ever WTA quarterfinal.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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By virtue of her 6-3, 6-3 victory over German veteran Maria, 18-year-old Russian Potapova and Fernandez set up an all-teenaged quarterfinal.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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As dusk turned into night on Wednesday, Zarazua kept her Cinderella run going with a thrilling comeback over another American, Katie Volynets, in the second round.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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She rallied from a set and a break down, and saved seven break points which would've seen her trail, 6-4, 5-2, to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-0.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Serving up 13 aces, Chinese teenager Wang Xiyu backed up her upset of defending champion Wang Yafan with a 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-1 win over Errani to reach the last eight.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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To close out the second round, McHale rallied from a set down to beat compatriot Caroline Dolehide, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, to reach the last eight.

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17-year-old Leylah Fernandez battled past fellow teenager Anastasia Potapova to book a spot in her first WTA semifinal.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Renata Zarazua also entered her first-ever WTA semifinal, as the 22-year-old continued to thrill her compatriot fans with a quarterfinal victory over Tamara Zidansek.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Heather Watson is the only seeded player to reach the final four, as the 7th-seeded Brit overcame Christina McHale in three sets in their quarterfinal clash.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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18-year-old Wang Xiyu also reached her first-ever WTA semifinal this week, but she fell to Watson in their semifinal battle in two close sets.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Heather Watson moved into the fifth WTA singles final of her career in Acapulco. She has a 3-1 record in her previous finals.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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The magical run of Mexican wildcard Renata Zarazua came to an end, as she fell to Leylah Fernandez in the semifinals, 6-3, 6-3.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Fernandez booked a spot in her maiden WTA singles final -- and is the first Canadian to reach the women's singles final in Acapulco.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Giuliana Olmos became Acapulco's first Mexican WTA champion as she claimed her second title with Desirae Krawczyk 6-3, 7-6(5) over Kateryna Bondarenko and Sharon Fichman.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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In the singles final, Heather Watson leapt out to a 4-0 lead over Leylah Fernandez, then a 6-4, 2-0 lead, and then held quadruple championship point in the second-set tiebreak.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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However, Fernandez fought back to steal an epic second set, saving five championship points in total and taking her own fifth set point.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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A relieved Watson would eventually close out the win on her 10th championship point after two hours and 46 minutes - the longest WTA final of 2020 so far.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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Watson's 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-1 victory ensures that the Briton will return to the Top 50 for the first time since June 2016, while Fernandez continues to close in on the Top 100 with a new career high inside the Top 130.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC

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The Acapulco trophy was Watson's fourth overall, second in Mexico and first in four years since Monterrey 2016.

Photo by Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC