MÉRIDA.- The boy who, at the age of five, began to watch tennis and who once said “how good these players are” rose to the level of the big names in the Yucatan Tennis World Cup.
Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez17 year old left handed Meridawrote the biggest story for local tennis by being crowned the first Yucatecan in the contest, which this Monday closed its 35th edition.
The rain that forced the suspension on Sunday with Rodrigo winning the first set 4-2 against the Korean Gerard Campana Lee gave a truce so that in a rare event the final will be completed on Monday. It was thought that no people would go, but the “Lorenzo Molina Casares” stadium field was practically filled to see Rodrigo maintain dominance over the first seed.
When Campana Lee missed his return in the last game, Rodrigo threw himself onto the clay, keeping his eyes closed, between sweat and a few tears, while the fans exploded with joy in the “San Monday” of tennis. The sets were 6-3 and 6-2, leaving Pacheco Méndez without losing a single set in the entire singles competition.
“My dad used to bring me to watch the World Cup matches when I was five years old. That’s where it all started. I used to say ‘how good are those players’. One day I would like to play like that. And now I not only played the Cup but I won it“said the new monarch who trains in the La Ceiba Golf Club.
Andrés Urencio, in 1990, was the last Mexican to win the main trophy of the World Cup, whose award was given to him by Jorge Haro Giffeniggeneral director of the tournament, accompanied by Arturo Millet Molina, president of the Campestre; Carlos Sáenz Castillo, director of IDEY; Astolfo Valenzuela, from the sponsoring companies, and Mauricio Millet Reyes, from the Yucatecan Tennis Association.
