VIDEO: ATP hit of the week. A packed tournament in Acapulco brought some magic!

Last week on the ATP circuit brought a pair of ATP 500 tournaments. However, the Acapulco event was the one that produced the best moments. Among the top three strokes were Tommy Paul, Taro Daniel and last but not least Ben Shelton, whose stroke could easily claim the triumph in the “stroke of the year” poll.

3. Tommy Paul and his marathon skills

This year’s edition was very busy in terms of players. The semi-final duel of the ATP 500 tournament brought the American derby between Fritz and Paul. This match made history. It lasted 3 hours and 29 minutes, making it the longest match ever played in Acapulco.

At the start of the third set, it was a battle for the opening game on Paul’s serve. This great athlete confirmed his label as one of the fastest players on the circuit, when after running to the net, he managed to finish the ball heading behind his back, and even more so, he switched his compatriot in a great way.

In the end, the Australian Open semi-finalist managed to finish the match with a winning score of 6::3, 6::7 and 7::6. However, he could not dominate the whole tournament. In the final, the physical strength may not have been enough and the triumph from Mexico went to Australian Alex De Minaur.

2. Daniel’s “Tweener” and the biggest surprise of the tournament

In the second round, the second seed Casper Ruud had to say goodbye to the tournament in Acapulco. The fourth player in the world was waiting for Taro Daniel of Japan, the 100th player on the ranking, in the second round match.

Daniel, however, put on a great show. The match went into a deciding set and was expected to be close to the three-hour mark.

At 3:4 in the deciding set, the match came down to a change of serve from the Japanese. Ruud first outwitted his opponent, only to have Daniel pull out a “tweener”, a back-to-the-net strike between his legs. Daniel managed to place this shot so well that the Norwegian could barely reach it, and finally Daniel ended the exchange at the net with a simple volley.

After this great moment the match gained momentum and eventually had to be decided in the final tiebreak. In it Taro Daniel used his first and only match point, and after almost three hours he scored the victory of his life. In the subsequent quarter-final, he was outclassed by the late winner De Minaur.

1. Ben Shelton’s magic trick in doubles

Doubles is often overlooked at ATP tournaments, but not in this case. In the first round, the purely American pair Shelton – McDonald clashed with the number four seeded pair Cabal – Farah, so the favourite was clear. However, the relaxed Americans were a perfect second to the Grand Slam champions.

The first set went to a tiebreak, where Ben Shelton pulled off a dream shot at 1:0. Cabal and Farah, in typical doubles fashion, ran to the net, where they shelled the young talent.

Shelton, however, responded to the hard volley in an unprecedented way. The lefty swung his racket around his back, and with a return volley, he overpowered the opposing pair.

This moment also contributed to the surprising victory of the American pair. Shelton and McDonald won 7::6 and 6::4, but dropped out of the tournament in the very next match.

Source: TennisTV, ATP, Ben Shelton