At the midway point of the inaugural Los Cabos Open–the first ever ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) event staged in the Capes Region–three things are evident: organizer Grupo Pegasus has done an outstanding job of building a first-class facility on the grounds of the Delmar International School; even with the Olympic games siphoning the sport’s talent pool, the event has an impressive draw headlined by world-class players; and none of the results are predictable.
Case in point for the latter is Sam Querrey. Scarcely a month ago Querrey was the talk of the tennis world after reaching his first Grand Slam quarterfinal and dispatching the world’s top ranked player, Novak Djokovic, at Wimbledon. Querrey was one of four players given a first round bye at the Los Cabos Open, and he and fellow top seeds Bernard Tomic and Feliciano López took advantage of the time off for a promotional tour of Land’s End above local dinner cruiser non pareil Caborey. In fact, photos of the three volleying on a miniature court in front of the area’s signature landmarks are likely to be among the enduring images from the tournament. Yet Querrey was completely outclassed in his first match by lowly ranked Colombian journeyman Santiago Giraldo, losing in straight sets 7-6, 6-3. Tomic too bowed out early, falling to 72nd ranked Serbian Dušan Lajović.
Perhaps the boat trip tennis was more strenuous than it seemed.
Top-seeded Lopez, who was part of the doubles winning team at the French Open this year, survived both the boat tour and his first round match, cruising past American Reilly Opelka 6-3, 7-6. He is now through to the singles quarterfinals, where he will face Frenchman Julien Benneteau. They play tonight following Giraldo and Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta , Lajović and Spaniard Nicolás Almagro, and prior to Croatian Ivo Karlović and Spaniard Marcel Granollers. All quarterfinal matches will take place at the newly constructed Estadio Pegaso, and begin tonight at 5 p.m. Semifinals will be played tomorrow, singles and doubles finals on Saturday, with the winners divvying up $780,000 dollars in prize money.
Beyond the fantastic tennis–this is the first big-time event in Los Cabos and only the second ATP event in México, after the Mexican Open in Acapulco–the tournament has largely been marked by the outstanding facilities and amenities newly built at Delmar International, a bilingual school in the tourist corridor that connects the cape cities. Organizer Grupo Pegaso not only built a stadium for 3,500 people, but also a grandstand stadium holding 1,000, and two more auxilary hard courts. The new digs, combined with superb Land’s End views, make for a spectacular setting, with separate areas set aside for myriad food and drink options, and booths touting corporate sponsors like Mazda, Cinemex and Michelob. Cinemex has set up an outdoor concession stand that mimics the type found at their many theaters, competing for customers with stands selling upscale wine, artisanal tequila, and an assortments of traditional foods. Manta, the Enrique Olvera helmed restaurant at The Cape Hotel, is among the most notable restaurant purveyors.
Crowds have been modest so far, with those coming out for the most part extremely knowledgeable and respectful of the world-class players they’re able to watch perform. It is expected that greater numbers will be hand on for the quarters, semis and finals, although tickets are still available. For more info, click here.