A fire has broken out in Acapulco not far away from the city’s Mexican Open tennis venue. British contender Jack Draper will hope the issues don’t affect his upcoming semi-final against Alex de Minaur, having exceeded expectations to make it to the last four in Latin America.
The blaze broke out in the Miramar and Las Brisas areas of Acapulco – an area usually at a low risk of such events due to the damp and humid conditions.
Photos show smoke streaming from the fire near the Arena GNP Seguros, which is hosting this year’s Mexican Open. It remains to be seen whether upcoming matches, which are due to get underway in the early hours of Saturday morning (GMT), are affected.
The ATP Tour and tournament organisers have both been contacted by Express Sport for comment.
Sixth seed Casper Ruud will take on second seed Holger Rune in the tournament’s second men’s singles semi-final. But first it’s Draper against Australian hopeful De Minaur.
Draper got his Mexican Open title bid off to the perfect start on Tuesday, notching a bagel on his way to a straight-sets win over Tommy Paul to send an emphatic message to the rest of the field.
The 22-year-old, born in Sutton, followed that up with another bagel in a comfortable win over Yoshihito Nishioka in the last 16. Draper’s untouchable run continued in the quarter-finals on Friday morning (GMT).
After seeing off Miomir Kecmanovic in straight sets, Draper has put 36 games on the board in Acapulco while only conceding 11. That booked his spot in the semi-finals of an ATP 500 event for the first time in his career.
Draper has reached two ATP 250 finals – doing so back-to-back late last year at the Sofia Open and the Adelaide International – but he lost on both occasions to prolong the search for his first ATP title.
De Minaur is 41 places above Draper in the men’s rankings, boasting seven ATP titles including last year’s Mexican Open.
