Leonardo Lavalle is a well-known sports journalist in the world of sports. His career at ESPN has made him a benchmark for sports news lovers.

Leonardo Lavalle, a former professional player and currently a sports host, commented during his attendance at the 2023 Los Cabos Open that he has managed to enjoy this tournament, which from his point of view exceeds expectations every year: “it is difficult to come to work but as always a great quality of players; I hope the Mexicans do well because the door is opening for them to participate in these important tournaments” he mentioned about the Mexican talent that attended this event, which has a great participation of world-class players.

Lavalle assured that he expects what he called a drought in Mexican tennis to end soon, in addition to the wait for the new generations in this great sport.

The American John Isner and the Brazilian Felipe Meligeni registered victories this Monday in the first day of the seventh edition of the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo, which saw the Mexican couple formed by Rodrigo Pacheco and Ernesto Escobedo say goodbye.

The experienced Isner (No. 114) defeated Australia's Rinky Hijikata (No.110) 6-2, 6-2, while Milegeni (No.177) defeated Chile's Alejandro Tabilo 6-2, 6-4. (No.122).

Both Isner and Meligeni defeated their rivals to advance to the second round. Now Isner will face the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (5 ATP and first seed) and Meligeni will face the American Tommy Paul, third seed.

Meligeni resolved the match practically smoothly, the same route that Isner tried to follow, who was demanded by Hijikata at the end of the second set until he took things to the tie break where he brought out his experience and the epic serve of him.

In other results, the Dutch Gijs Brouwer defeated the Canadian Gabriel Diallo 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, the Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante beat the Chilean Gonzalo Lama 7-6 (3), 6-2 and in duel between americans Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA) defeated Omni Kumar, who came from the qualy, 6-2, 7-5.

In the only doubles match of the day, Venezuela's Luis David Martinez and India's Saketh Myneni defeated Mexico's Ernesto Escobedo and Rodrigo Pacheco 6-3, 2-6, 10-5.

-TUESDAY, AUGUST 1

SCOND DAY, SINGLES FIRST ROUND

(5)Alex de Minaur (AUS) – Skander Mansouri (TUN)

Rodrigo Pacheco (MEX) – (6) Nicolas Jarry (CHI)

Cristian Garin (CHI) – Borna Gojo (CRO)

Ernesto Escobedo (MEX) – Jason Jung (TPE)

Beibit Zhukayev (KAZ) – Ilya Ivashka (BLR)

Dominik Koepfer (GER) – Tomás Barrios Vera (CHI)

Otto Virtanen (FIN) – James Duckworth (AUS)

A new edition of Tennis Talks was held this Monday in which the activity of the main draw of the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo began. The in-depth talks with the protagonists of the seventh edition left lessons about their life, sport and professionalism for all those present.

World No. 13 Cameron Norrie opened the curtain to tell the story of how he decided to move to the country to pursue his dream and also the importance of going to university.

“I played rugby at school, but I decided to commit to tennis, give it a chance, all my energy and it was a big gamble for me, moving from New Zealand to be fully into tennis… I wasn't being very professional in London, I needed mature, so it definitely shaped me, I think that was probably the reason why I went to university, I wanted to have a normal lifestyle, go to classes, ”the British representative shared.

“I always recommend doing the race, you have to be fully committed to going tournament after tournament. At 18 or 19 you sacrifice a lot, all your friends have fun, you feel like you're going to miss that, but if you're good enough you have to do it… The big difference is that you have less pressure at university, you have time to develop physically and you have fun” concluded the Los Cabos Tennis Open champion in 2021.

Then it was the turn of the Mexican youth Rodrigo Pacheco, who shared his experience at Roland Garros junior, where he won the doubles championship in 2023.

Tommy Paul, current No. 14 on the ATP, was asked if he feels pressure to carry the United States flag since there is no player from that country who is close to being number 1 in tennis.

The public was also able to ask different questions to the stars, among them several children who practice tennis. Stefanos Tsitsipas, who closed Tennis Talks, revealed the reason why he decided to pursue a professional career in this sport: “...my main goal was to provide for my family. It was the first thing that came to my mind, to give them a better life. Of course Grand Slams and No. 1 are clichés that of course any player wants, but my vision is to make a living from tennis. I am privileged to have to work hard, there are many people in the world, children suffering without food, without a roof. There is no better feeling when going to sleep than knowing that you worked hard. I owe my life to tennis, I have made a name for myself for that" shared the Greek No. 5 in the world, who also assured that his relationship with fellow tennis player Paula Badosa is the best thing that has happened to him and that he has already become fan of the singer Bad Bunny.

The glow of neon colors on shirts, balls and rackets, under a stage with black and ultraviolet light, added a huge dose of fun to Kids Nite, one of the activities on the opening day of the MIfel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo 2023.

At least 100 children between the ages of 3 and 12 were divided into 4 groups and participated and enjoyed, according to their ages and abilities, playing tennis alongside professional tennis players including Cameron Norrie from Britain, Nicolás Jarry from Chile, Ilya Ivashkafrom Belarus, the American Tommy Paul, Mexicans Ernesto Escobedo and Rodrigo Pacheco and Australian RinkyHijikata, among others.

The fun activity promotes the integration of boys and girls with tennis, it is an opportunity for children who attend the tournament to get closer to stars who play in Los Cabos, who give them advice, gifts and share their training.

With an agenda of activities planned for children and their parents, Mextenis and the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo seek to integrate the community into sports initiation programs, in this case with a first approach of boys and girls to tennis and the activity physical.

Press image from loscabostennisopen.com