Querrey shocks Nadal in final of Acapulco tennis meet

Acapulco (Mexico) March 5 (IANS) Sam Querrey upset Spanish star Rafael Nadal 6-3 7-6 (7-3) in the final of the Mexican Open here becoming the first American to win the title in the tennis tournament s 24-year history.

The 29-year-old Querrey ended Nadal s unbeaten streak in the Mexican Pacific resort city in Saturday night s final reports Efe.

It s definitely a tournament that I m going to remember for the rest of my life. It s just one of those weeks where I got in the zone and everything was working for me. I hope I can have more like this Querrey said.

After the match against (Belgium s David) Goffin I knew I could go far here if I continued to play at that level. My forehand and backhand were great and my serve bailed me out of trouble when I needed it. I felt like I had a lot of support throughout the week and everyone has been so kind. It s been a pleasure to play here Querrey said.

Querrey entered the hard-court tournament ranked 40th in the world and will move into the top 30 when the new ATP rankings come out on Monday.

He played very well almost reaching perfection. I played under a lot of pressure because of his serve and baseline game. He left me with very few options and the few I had he also played good. I have to congratulate him. I m also very happy with my week and my game Nadal said.

The 30-year-old Nadal who reached his first Grand Slam final in nearly three years at January s Australian Open was looking to win his first hard-court title since January 2014 when he took the trophy at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.

Nadal won the title in Acapulco in 2005 and 2013 and entered the final with a 14-0 career record at the event.

In the women s final Ukraine s Lesia Tsurenko defeated France s Kristina Mladenovic 6-1 7-5.

--IANS
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