It was carnage at the Abierto Mexiaco Telcel on Wednesday, when an illness swept through Acapulco and forced several players out of the tournament. Casper Ruud and Tommy Paul both withdrew, while Holger Rune retired from his match after just three games. Alexander Zverev and Ben helton completed their matches but lost, so seeds have made a mass exodus.
Alas, the show must go on. Here are my picks for two of Thursday’s quarterfinal matchups.
Brandon Nakashima vs. David Goffin
Nakashima and Goffin will be facing each other for the second time in their careers. Their only previous meeting came three years ago in Basel, where Nakashima got the job done 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4. The 23-year-old American comes in at 42nd in the rankings was 3-5 for his 2025 campaign prior to this week. He opened in Acapulco with a 7-6(6), 7-5 defeat of Benjamin Bonzi prior to benefiting from Rune’s retirement.
Goffin is turning his season around in Mexico. The veteran finished runner-up at UTS Guadalajara to Tomas Machac has advanced in Acapulco with straight-set victories over Rinky Hijikata and Ben Shelton. He crushed Hijikata 6-2, 6-3 after losing to Hijikata 6-1, 6-2 last month in Adelaide, so Goffin’s improvement is clear. A minor upset could be in the cards.
Pick: Goffin in 3
(Q) Learner Tien vs. (8) Tomas Machac
Something has to give in this one, because both Machac and Tien have been awesome dating back to last season. Machac is up to No. 25 in the world. Tien reached the final of the NexGen ATP Finals in December and the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.
Machac has advanced this week with defeats of fellow Czech Jakub Mensik (three sets) and Daniel Altmaier (straights). Tien has arguably been even more impressive, as he followed up a victory over Cameron Norrie by ousting No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-4. This could be the best match of the tournament, but I’m giving a slight edge to the red-hot American.
Pick: Tien in 3
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.