'Never repeated': Roger Federer caught in tennis tug-of-war

The tournament director of the Mexican Open has hit out Roger Federer and his involvement with the Dubai Open after never appearing at the Acapulco event.

Federer has always played the Dubai Open when he is available, never appearing in Mexico.

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This means the 20-time Grand Slam champ can't appear at Acapulco due to the tournaments occurring at the same time of year.

Not being able to draw the biggest names obviously impacts the marketability of ATP 250 and 500 events.

The Swiss maestro has won the Dubai tournament eight times - missing it six times - but will be unavailable this year.

Despite Rafael Nadal often visiting the Mexican event and boosting its prestige, Federer withdrew from Dubai after resting following his return to the ATP Tour in Doha.

Tournament director Raul Zurutuza claimed Federer had a deal with Dubai and hoped more of its kind would 'never repeated' so big name players can visit multiple events.

“There are many players that one as a manager would like to have, the truth is we talk a lot with their representative,” Zurutuza said at a pre-event press conference.

“I have seen him (Stefanos Tsitsipas) happy, I received him at the airport, he is a super relaxed guy. I hope he falls in love with Mexico and stays with all due respect to Dubai.

“That story of Roger (Federer) who never came to Mexico because of the Dubai issue, I hope it will never be repeated with another player.

“It is important that each player can be in as many tournaments as possible.

“Tsitsipas arrived well, he trained and it is interesting, I think we will have good things with him.”

Nadal's absence from Acapulco

Nadal announced that he had pulled out of the Rotterdam Open due to the back injury, which has troubled the 20-time grand slam this year.

But early reports suggested Nadal had also withdrawn from Acapulco, where he is the defending champion, with speculation the competition was unable to match his appearance fee.

Tournament director Raul Zurutuza has confirmed the competition didn't have the money to attract the Spaniard.

But Zurutuza said the tournament would go on without the Spaniard, despite him being missed, and other big names such as Tsitsipas gave the tournament weight.

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