Gracias Pablo Cuevas

This week Salto’s finest aka Pablo Cuevas announced his retirement from tennis. Time waits for nobody and Cuevas is no different.

When it comes to tennis retirements,   there are certain themes especially for players who rely on their movement.   Not everyone has a serve like Karlovic who at 50 could probably win matches on the pro tour,  sure he couldn’t return a phone call but that’s not the point.  

Not having a huge weapon and when a player loses that 2-5%, they are going to be late to the ball, the weight of shot isn’t there and it’s a lot easier to attack for the younger opponents. Day in, day out it gets more difficult to retain consistency. Getting injured later in the career just accelerates the process.

Pre Injury

Cuevas definitely had a before and after career. There was the period where he was starting out on his way playing the Futures and Challengers.

In 2005 he made his Davis Cup debut vs. Cuba and won his first of two Futures titles beating Machi Gonzalez in the process. It wasn’t until 2007 that Cuevas made his Grand Slam debut losing to Andy Murray after qualifying at the US Open, he lost in the last round of qualies to Dusan Vemic at Roland Garros.

After consolidating his 2007 season with strong Challenger results 2008 was the year that got Cuevas noticed to a wider audience outside of Latin America for varying degrees. His singles breakthrough was at Viña del Mar where he had 2 match points against hometown hero Fernando Gonzalez but ended up losing 6-7 7-6 6-2, though in the 2nd set tiebreaker he hit one of the most famous winners, the clip says enough. The crowd and Gonzalez were really intimidating Cuevas, had Cuevas won the semi final, it would have been his first ATP title as Juan Monaco injured his ankle in a doubles match when he collided with the linesman’s chair and withdrew from the final.

In 2008 Roland Garros Cuevas won the doubles title with Luis Horna. These were two talented singles players entering for some cash and having fun, yet they won the title which was refreshing and surprising. The great ride started when they played the French duo of Clement and Llodra in the first round, an excellent combo and competent at singles as well, so they definitely aren’t doubles specialists. They were handled with ease, then took out Nieminen and Lindstedt in the next round and after this they took out Dlouhy/Paes in the 3rd round. They made the quarter finals taking out 2 seeded combinations.

In the quarter finals the shenanigans with the Bryans began. The Bryans were huge favourites, but luckily the conditions were very heavy with the constant rain, making the court heavier which was better for the South Americans. The 3rd set tiebreaker was hilarious when Ceuvas jumped the net and it was clearly nowhere near the Bryans, but after the match when Lucho and Cuevas won, the Bryan bitches refused to shake Cuevas’s hand. “He was really disrespectful,” Mike said. “He jumped the net right in our face. It’s classless.” But Cuevas’s response was class. “Maybe I celebrated a little too much. But it’s worth it,” he said. “It’s not every day you beat the No. 1 team.”

From 4.00

The semi final against another unseeded team Soares/Vemic was their most difficult match, as they got closer to the final, they blew match points, but managed to make it through to the final. Lucky the conditions were quite heavy and it suited Lucho and Cuevas for sure. They came out on fire slapping returns that the doubles specialists weren’t used to handling at all. Lucho ripping on the forehand side and Ceuvas with the single hander, these devastating shots were too much for Nestor/Zimonjic who looked all at sea out there under the onslaught. The first set was over quickly and the second was slightly more competitive, but the same pattern continued the South Americans won 6-2 6-3. One could see they couldn’t believe that they won and Cuevas said afterwards “we weren’t expecting to get that far”.

Better Than Ever

Up until 2021, Cuevas had a big win over Andy Roddick at Miami, which was like playing at home for him. Later in the year, is where the knee problems started and he was out of the game for a very long time. One can never tell how players will come back and Lucho Horna came out and said “if he recovers from injury, then Cuevas has the potential to be a top 20 player”. Lucho was right as Cuevas reached 19^th at the world at his peak.    Here is an interview with Pablito,  where he explains how he became a better player after the injury and his tennis journey Pablo Cuevas Interview

As outstanding as it was to reach the top 20 after being out of the game for almost 2 years. His Grand Slam record was not great and never reached the 4^th round of any Slam. He made the 3^rd round at Roland Garros and there were definitely some opportunities lost. Tennis is a brutal sport, and don’t get that many chances need to take them.

In 2014 Cuevas had 2 of his best weeks on the professional tour. He won his first title at Båstad by destroying Joao Sousa for the loss of 3 games. Not sure how much time was spent at Pepe’s Bodega during the week. Next week he won Umag after qualifying, also he won the Montevideo Challenger later in the year.

The biggest tournament win of his career was the 2016 Rio Open and he has a record that no one has achieved since. Cuevas defeated 5 left handers in a row, considering how magnificent his backhand was, you may get the impression he liked playing lefties. He defeated Bagnis, Monteiro, Delbonis, Nadal and Pella.

The Entertainer

There is an old debate in Argentina, whether you are a Menotti or a Bilardo fan. Bilardo was the arch pragmatist, only results, whereas Menotti wanted to win but it had to be entertaining. That’s the thing with tennis it’s not ski jumping, you don’t get points for style.

Cuevas delivered a lot of entertaining moments, with the trickshots that never get old,  the ATP Cup ad making the best of quarantine during the Covid time.

Not everything is measured in wins and losses, unless you’re a bean counter. Cuevas was very fun to watch especially when he was kicking the opponent out so wide on the ad side, slaying the backhands and the variety. Tennis needs all kinds of players, but that is getting more difficult in the age of homogenisation.

Congratulations on a great career Pablito, thank you for being yourself and always cool with me. Enjoy the asado, skiing, surfing life with your family in your post tennis career.