The ATP has taken the unprecedented step of warning players to limit their movement at next week's Acapulco clay event, with the city the recent scene of bloody Mexican drug gang violence. Frenchman Gael Monfils may well count himself lucky that's he's carrying an injury and is not expected to participate in the event.
But the tournament, last of a four-week run in South and Central America which has stopped in Chile, Brazil and Argentina, is still expected to feature leading players including Spaniards Fernando Verdasco and Nicolas Almagro and Argentine David Nalbandian.
Once-tranquil Acapulco, a famed Pacific coast resort, has been drawn into the violence which is plaguing northern Mexico as gang fight ruthlessly for control of the drug smuggling market into the US.
“Following an independent security assessment and discussions with tournament organizers, we are satisfied that responsible measures are being taken, and that the event has the full support of the authorities of Acapulco, the state of Guerrero, and the Mexican federal government,” read an ATP statement.
ATP advice given to players: arrive in town at the last moment, stay inside the hotel and don't venture out except to take an official car to the club. Match over - head back to the hotel and clear out of town quick-smart after a loss.
Acapulco once featured as a career building block for a young Rafael Nadal, who won it in 2005 just three months before starting his victory run at the French Open.
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