Pablo Cuevas is a talented clay-courter who never seems to get the full respect he deserves around the game. Looking at his 2019, it shows once again why Cuevas is such a dangerous opponent on clay.
Pablo Cuevas’ 2019 season:
Ranking at the beginning of the season: 88
Ranking at the end of the season: 45
Ranking change: +33
Peak rank: 43
Low rank: 94
Singles win/loss record: 41-26 (22-23 in ATP Tour main draws)
Titles: Aix En Provence Challenger, Tunis Challenger
Finals: Estoril
Excellence on the dirt
For the former world no.19, it was just another season of very solid clay court performances. The Uruguayan has won all six of his ATP Tour titles and 13 ATP Challenger Tour trophies on clay and is a very natural player on the dirt. On top of that, Cuevas has a fantastic feel for the ball and often produces unconventional shots that others wouldn’t even have the skill for.
Cuevas’ first classic hunting ground is the Golden Swing, a series of South American clay-court events in February. Although maybe less successful than in some of the previous years but the Uruguayan still managed to make the semifinals in Rio de Janeiro and Cordoba. Going out to rising star Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Rio Open, he still managed to amaze the crowd with this fantastic drop volley:
Finding himself unable to get into the main draws of ATP Masters 1000 clay events, Cuevas went looking for points on the ATP Challenger Tour. Tunis was his first destination and the Uruguayan enjoyed a great week there, ripping through the draw in straight sets. In the final, he defeated Portuguese Joao Domingues.
The luckiest of losers
The next stop on Cuevas’ clay tour were ATP 250s in Budapest and Estoril. He scored a great win over Marin Cilic in the capital of Hungary and reached the quarterfinals. It seemed like things were taking a turn for the good, but Cuevas was surprisingly beaten by Salvatore Caruso in the final round of qualifying at the Portuguese event.
Tennis tournaments can sometimes get weird though and after Filip Krajinovic’s withdrawal, Cuevas made the main draw anyway, meeting Caruso again. The Uruguayan took his lesson though, beating the Italian this time 6-2 6-2. He took the sudden opportunity and was almost unstoppable the whole week, falling only to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the championship match. But what we’ll remember most from that final is this unbelievable trick shot:
Seeking big Grand Slam run
Cuevas prepared for Roland Garros at another Challenger event – this time in Aix en Provence. Another stellar week saw the Uruguayan clinch one more title and come to Paris with some fine form.
Despite all the assets of his clay-court game, Cuevas has never transferred it into a great run at the Paris slam. For the fourth time in his career, Pablo reached the third round at the French Open. The opposition gets much tougher at that stage of Grand Slam events. Although Cuevas gave a pretty good fight, he was unable to match Dominic Thiem’s power and lost to the eventual runner-up in four sets.
The latter half of the season wasn’t the best for Cuevas, who scored consecutive wins at just one event, qualifying for the China Open in Beijing. Even the post-Wimbledon clay-court swing wasn’t good for the Uruguyan as he took just one victory in three events.
Cuevas decided to end his season at his home Challenger in Montevideo. A three-time champion of the event (2009, 2014, 2017), the Uruguayan was the favorite of the tournament from the get-go but was stopped by a 17-year-old Argentinian sensation Juan Manuel Cerundolo. Even the very vivacious crowd couldn’t help.
The @PabloCuevas22 show continues in Montevideo.
They love the 🇺🇾 at the @uruguayopen! pic.twitter.com/mEr1s5YKEi
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) November 7, 2019
What’s to come for Pablo Cuevas?
At 33 years old, the Uruguayan is slowly approaching the twilight of his career. The only thing missing from his pedigree in order to be remembered as a great clay specialist is that one big Roland Garros run. The Golden Swing and the European clay-court season will be where Cuevas defends the most points in 2020. These two parts of his campaign should determine whether or not his upcoming season will be perceived as a success. Hopefully, he’ll land a couple more great trick shots in the process!
Main Photo from Getty.
