Tsitsipas beats Safiullin in Acapulco opener

Acapulco, Feb 28 (IANS) Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was the runner-up in 2021, registered a 6-3, 6-4 win against Roman Safiullin in his Mexican Open, an ATP 500 event, first round late on Tuesday.

The World No. 12 has moved up two places to No. 10 this week in the Live Rankings and can secure his place in the Top 10 of Monday's ATP Rankings by reaching the semifinals.

After pledging to donate $1,000 USD per ace this week to the hurricane relief program in Acapulco, Tsitsipas hit five aces in his opening win and saved the lone break point he faced late in the opening set, ATP reports.

Mid-set breaks in both sets made for a relatively stress-free outing for the Greek, who advanced to the semi-finals (2022) and final (2021) in his previous two Acapulco appearances,

Tsitsipas' next opponent will be Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli, who beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round.