Home favourite Pacheco's Merida win keeps year-end No. 1 dream alive
The race to finish as the year-end boy’s No. 1 will go to the wire after Mexico’s Rodrigo Pacheco conquered all before him at J500 Merida – successfully defending the title he won 12 months ago.
It is an extra special tournament for home favourite Pacheco given Merida is the city of his birth, and his delight was obvious after defeating Germany’s Max Schoenhaus 6-0 6-3 in the final.
It is the second time this season – and third occasion in his career – that Pacheco has topped the singles podium at a J500 event, while this year he also won the doubles at J500 Milan and Roland Garros.
As a reminder, J500s provide premier playing opportunities for players on the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors and, in effect, are one rung below Junior Grand Slams. Indeed, they offer a sizeable number of ranking points to the victors.
Singles victory at J500 Merida for Pacheco, who also reached the semi-finals of the doubles alongside Bulgaria’s Iliyan Radulov, is significant in the overall race to finish the year as junior world No. 1.
Without getting overly technical, the 18-year-old is neck and neck with Brazil’s Joao Fonseca, who retains the No. 1 spot by virtue of chalking up more Junior Grand Slam singles ranking points this season.
The outcome of this particular battle will be determined in the coming weeks and will very much depend on the activities of Fonseca, Pacheco and others in the closing weeks of the campaign.
Pacheco is this week set to contest J300 Bradenton, while the final of seven J500 events in 2023 will take place next week at J500 Plantation, which is more commonly known as the Orange Bowl, running from 4-10 December.
The outcome of this tournament could go some distance to determining the year-end battle, while whoever finishes the season as the leading boy on the planet will also be crowned an ITF World Champion.
It is not so tight in the girls’ race with Alina Korneeva, who claimed singles glory at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the ITF World Tennis Tour Junior Finals, the clear frontrunner.
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However, there was still a significant result for Czechia’s Laura Samsonova at J500 Merida, with the 15-year-old lifting silverware in Mexico and winning the biggest title of her career so far.
"I absolutely enjoyed every moment of this week in Mexico," wrote Samsonova on Instagram. "Thank you to my family for supporting me from home and my dad who was here with me as always."
Samsonova defeated Kaitlin Quevedo of the United States 6-3 6-4 in the final to jump two places in the ITF World Tennis Tour girls’ rankings to No. 4 behind Korneeva, Clervie Ngounoue and Renata Jamrichova.
The teenager has also followed in the footsteps of another prodigiously talented Czech, Brenda Fruhvirtova, who triumphed at J500 Merida in 2021 and now stands on the cusp of the Top 100 in the WTA Rankings.