The Mexican Open is the centerpiece of Latin America's February swing, played on the Pacific coast in Acapulco as an ATP 500. Its defining storyline is a surface conversion: for decades the event ran on clay, a natural fit for the South American dirt season, before reinventing itself as an outdoor hard-court tournament. That switch repositioned it on the calendar between the post-Australian indoor block and the Sunshine Double at Indian Wells and the Miami Open, and it pulled in a field built around hard-court firepower rather than clay grinders.
What sets Acapulco apart is the staging. Matches run almost entirely under the lights in a seaside stadium, with humid coastal conditions and a partisan late-night crowd that gives the event an atmosphere closer to a festival than a tune-up. The night-session format and the climate reward big serving and first-strike tennis, which has shaped both the kind of player who travels here and the kind who wins.
On the champions ledger, the event has rewarded rising and established hard-court names alike. Alex De Minaur went back-to-back, edging Tommy Paul in three sets in 2023 before defending against Casper Ruud in 2024, 6-4, 6-4. Tomas Machac broke through in 2025 past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and in 2026 Flavio Cobolli claimed the title over Frances Tiafoe in straight sets, edging a first-set tiebreak before pulling away 6-4.
As of mid-2026, the tournament holds firm as the marquee ATP stop of the region's hard-court February, its draw strength a step above the clay-court Rio Open and Argentina Open that share the same weeks. The identity question is settled: this is a hard-court event now, and its champion list reflects it.