Ernesto Escobedo misses out on a victory against Fernando Verdasco

As a Mexican native and one of the top 100 players in the world, the appearance of American player Ernesto Escobedo created high expectations at the Los Cabos Open, but he was unlucky in the draw.

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In the first round, he was set to face one of the crowd's favorites and the tournament's 6th seed, Spanish player Fernando Verdasco, who showed his experience by coming back from a seemingly lost match to win 6-7 (6), 7-5, and 6-2.

After the disappointment of his participation in the first edition of the tournament in Baja California Sur, where he was eliminated in the first round by fellow countryman Marcel Granollers, the left-hander avoided another surprise and overcame a tough obstacle with mentality and skill.

Escobedo, another promising player on the Tour, who is fighting to reach the Next Gen Finals and advanced to the second round in Acapulco, showcased all his resources: a powerful serve, a strong forehand, and an aggressive style that sometimes leads to unforced errors, but it was not enough to overcome the veteran player.

The first set proceeded smoothly. Escobedo relied on powerful shots, while Verdasco responded from the baseline.

The American player, who caused trouble for Verdasco in their only previous encounter in Miami, seemed to learn from that defeat and had the only three opportunities to break serve, although he did not take advantage of them.

The tie-break started with a 220 km/h serve from Neto, but Verdasco was not impressed and took the first advantage with a score of 3-1, although the American player quickly returned to make it 5-4.

He missed the first set point, but not the second one, winning the set 7-6 (6).

In the second set, Verdasco tried to regain the initiative to get back into the match; however, the momentum was with Ernesto, who maintained his aggressiveness to shine in his parents' country, despite the crowd showing more support for the Spanish player.

He showcased moments of quality, such as a crosscourt backhand or a parallel forehand, before having his first break opportunity in the seventh game. The first break point saved the Spaniard, but he couldn't save the second one.

With a 4-3 lead in the score, Escobedo maintained his solid serving and was one game away from completing another surprise after the previous eliminations of Frances Tiafoe (8) and Ivo Karlovic (5) in the tournament.

With Fernando's serve, Ernesto had two match points, but he couldn't convert either. That's when the match turned around.

Neto had more opportunities to close it out with his serve, but inexperience showed up, and Fernando found his first three consecutive break chances, converting the second one to level the set 5-5.

Not only that, the Spanish player held his serve and then earned another break opportunity, which meant a set point that he did not let slip away (7-5).

After not having any chances to break his opponent's serve for almost two sets, opportunities started appearing one after another for the Spanish player, who secured another break at the start of the deciding set, taking a commanding 3-0 lead into the first break.

Escobedo felt the blow, letting go of the chances to defeat the 38th-ranked player in the world diminished his confidence, and the match became long for him.

He did not stop fighting for every point, especially in the seventh game, when he had three break opportunities, but Verdasco was not up for another first-round surprise in Los Cabos and claimed his first victory in the tournament.