Liverpool born tennis player, Neal Skupski is preparing for his first match in the Men’s Doubles at the Mexican Open this Tuesday, amid safety warnings from the event organisers.

Despite cautions from the Mexican tennis authorities, relating to increased crime rates and infrastructure problems in the city, the tournament appears to be going ahead.

The infrastructure issues in question resulted from Hurricane Otis which hit the city of Acapulco in October of last year.

Players were also advised against leaving their hotel where the tournament is being held, due to the state being a hotbed for organised crime.

Skupski partners with Santiago Gonzalez and the pair are facing off against William Blumberg and former world number two, Casper Ruud.  

The British-Mexican duo are the number one seeded pair at the tournament and Gonzalez will be hoping to capitalise on his home advantage on the hard courts of Acapulco.  

Their partnership only began in January of this year and the two players are still searching for their first tournament win together. The drought almost came to an end, at the Delray Beach Open, but they came up short in the final against fellow Brit, Julian Cash and Robert Galloway.  

Their last outing also came in Mexico at the Los Cabos Open where they were stopped in their tracks by Gonzalo Escobar and Alexsandr Nedovyesov by two sets to one in the quarter-final.  

In 2021, Skupski enjoyed Mexican Open success when he won the tournament alongside his older brother Ken.  

Despite an underwhelming start in the new year, the 34-year-old is coming off the back of a successful 2023, when he claimed his third Grand Slam title after victory at Wimbledon. 

Blumberg and Ruud also competed at Los Cabos and made it one step further than their upcoming opponents – they were eliminated in the semi-final by Australian partnership and eventual tournament winners Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson. 

The duo haven’t had the most practice in doubles in recent times as their last appearance together came in July of last year at Wimbledon.  

Although, the experience was cut short after they had to pull out before their second-round match-up against German players, Kevin Krawietz and Tim Putz, because of a shoulder injury to Ruud. 

The Norwegian will certainly be on the side of the underdogs at the Mexican Open as he boasts an unimpressive doubles record of 20 wins and 29 losses with 0 titles won. 

Skupski, the self-proclaimed Liverpool FC fan, was in good spirits as he took to Instagram to celebrate the Merseyside club’s Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea.  

He will be hoping to channel his club’s success into his own this Tuesday. 

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