Mexico Open: Grigor Dimitrov returns to defend his crown in Acapulco

Grigor Dimitrov returns to the Mexico Open to defend his Acapulco crown but faces stiff competition at the popular resort.

Since the tournament switched to blue hard courts in 2014 after 20 years on clay, the big names in the game have come out to play at the Fairmont Acapulco Princess.

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The Wimbledon semi-finalist from Bulgaria will be up against top seed Kei Nishikori, who is is one match win away from reaching the 200 match wins milestone, last year's finalist Kevin Anderson, and David Ferrer, who heads into the tournament fresh from securing the Rio Open title.

"There's always a strong field out here," Dimitrov told the official ATP Tour website. "I'm at a good level at the moment and I'm excited to start my campaign."

"It's not easy conditions. It's very warm and humid, so not everyone likes that. I pride myself on conditions like that. I really feel that I can do well."

The world No 10 will play 22-year-old Serbian Filip Krajinovic in his first-round match and is seeded to face Delray Beach Open champion Ivo Karlovic in the quarter-finals and Ferrer in the semi-finals.

Blistering start

Ferrer, 32, has made a blistering start to the season with a 13-1 record and two ATP titles to his name this season following his victory in Doha in January.

He will be aiming to land his fourth Acapulco title after three straight victories from 2010-12.

World No 32 Santiago Giraldo and Mexican No 1 Daniel Garza have been handed wild cards for the event while Victor Estrella Burgos has been seeded seventh ahead of his Acapulco debut.

The 34-year-old Dominican Republic native became the oldest first-time champion in the Open Era when he captured his maiden ATP World Tour title in Quito two weeks ago.

Favourite

Maria Sharapova, who will be playing at the tournament for the first time, is the favourite to claim the women's title and opens against American hopeful Shelby Rogers.

The top seed and world No 2 will be up against Italian Sara Errani, who claimed the Mexico Open title in 2012 and 2013 and America's 20th ranked Madison Keys.. 

Caroline Garcia, Irina-Camelia Begu, Timea Bacsinszky, Roberta Vinci, Sloane Stephens and Madison Brengle are the other seeds in action.

"It's quite a tough deal. There are a lot of girls that have had big wins, even some that are not seeded, so I look forward to tough competition and of course being the number one seed," Sharapova said.

Watch the Mexico Open live on Sky Sports 3 from 10pm on Monday.