Acapulco, Mexico - About 100 tennis players of both sexes, including the star Rafael Nadal, will participate in the Acapulco Open, category Open 500, which begins today in that Mexican city. The tournament, to be held at the Fairmont Acapulco Princess Hotel, will run until March 3rd.

The main competitors are Spaniards Rafael Nadal, who is considered one of the best tennis players of all time, and David Ferrer, who has won three consecutive titles in this tournament, both of whom are among the top five in the world ranking.

If Ferrer earns his fourth trophy, he will be tied with Austrian Thomas Muster, who won in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996. For his part, Nadal, barely recovered from a left knee injury, returns to Mexico after winning the tournament in 2005. Among the female players will be Italy's Sara Errani, who will defend the title she won last year.

The safety of Acapulco, located in the state of Guerrero, will be strengthened with the participation of about four thousand agents, taking into account the recent violence reported in this Mexican Pacific resort city. The tournament's security director, Manuel Vergara, told reporters that the surveillance operation involves troops from the army and navy as well as federal and local police.