Rafael Nadal has the Mexican Open as one of his lucky tournaments

The previous two times he was in the Port he won the title, and then he had a season where he added another ten trophies, including Grand Slam.

He returned for the third time to Acapulco, and felt at home

Unaffected by the humidity or wind conditions, and with the support of the crowd, much more participatory than in Novak Djokovic's match, witness of the Spanish triumph 6-4 and 6-3 over the German Mischa Zverev.

"In Acapulco, the reception is always fantastic, I only have words of gratitude, every time I'm here they make me feel at home," he said after the match.

Although it is his third time in Mexico, for Rafa it was his debut on cement, the previous two times he won El Guaje on clay, and now he has to do it on a hard surface, and against a tough field of rivals.

One of them was Zverev, 30th in the world, who eliminated the number one in the world, the British Andy Murray in the Australian Open, and despite living in the shadow of his younger brother, Alexander, he has a good serve, accurate right-hand shots, and defense that is his best weapon.

But in front of him was the best defender on the circuit, the Spaniard studied his opponent at the beginning of the match, slowly leading him to the net, without big shots, but with long rallies. They reached 3-3 in the first set, it was a duel of left-handers accustomed to exchanges, despite being a hard court.

Zverev conceded three break opportunities, but prevented Manacor's player from taking the lead with good serves and aggression.

But the tournament's second seed was patient, waiting for his moment, and it came right in the tenth game. With 0-30, Nadal smelled blood and went for his prey, with a cross-court lefty shot he got the opportunity to break, and with another powerful drive he took the set 6-4 in 36 minutes.

The Spaniard has had a good start to the season, reaching the final of the Australian Open, where he lost to Roger Federer, and did not show any rustiness, he looked solid with his forehand and was consistent with his serve.

As the match progressed, Rafa became more aggressive, wanting to finish it quickly, but the German resists, and even had a break opportunity, which the Manacor player avoided at the start of the second set, with a great forehand when the point seemed lost.

That gave Nadal the strength he needed, and with a good forehand he got his own break opportunity, which he achieved when he approached the net and his opponent missed the shot; with the break, the match was in favor of Rafael, who focused on connecting big shots.

Inspired, he dictated the rhythm of the match with his left hand, while his rival moved from side to side, even when in trouble, a powerful shot solved the problem, the Spanish player felt at home.

"The two times I have come, I have had a good season afterwards, Acapulco gives me positive energy, so I hope this year is the same," said Nadal.

Zverev began to make several consecutive errors, and with 5-3, Nadal served for the match, giving a new display of reaching every ball and being prepared for tougher opponents this week; he got the match point with a backhand, and in just one hour and 16 minutes he got past the first hurdle.

The celebration was contained, just a raised fist and gratitude to the crowd who has him as the favorite, because he doesn't forget the other two occasions when he dominated the tournament from start to finish.

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