Cuevas Looks To Build On Career Year

Although players like Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal are grabbing the early headlines at the Western & Southern Open, another veteran player could quietly move his way through the draw.

Pablo Cuevas has been enjoying a career-best year on the ATP World Tour, ccracing the Top 20 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time and currently sitting at a career-high ranking of No. 19. The 30-year-old from Uruguay was regarded by many fans as a doubles specialist after winning the 2008 Roland Garros men’s doubles title with Luis Horna, but is now enjoying high levels of success in singles.

“It’s been a long journey. On the one hand, I am very happy with the ranking that I have reached, but on the other hand I’m not surprised because it isn’t something that just happened overnight,” he said. “It’s thanks to years of hard work. I’ve been taking baby steps. This is the most important step in terms of my ranking, but it’s just one more step.

Cuevas won his first two ATP World Tour titles back-to-back this February in Brazil, prevailing at the Rio Open presented by Claro and the Brasil Open. Since then, he’s finished as runner-up last month at the German Tennis Championships 2016 (l. Klizan) and has also enjoyed success on other surfaces, reaching the final this June at the Aegon Open Nottingham (l. Johnson).

Although his results on hard courts admittedly haven’t met his expectations, that could soon change as well. On Monday, he won his opening round match in Cincinnati over Sam Querrey in three tough sets.

“I’ve improved and become a more complete player,” said Cuevas. “Of course, I still feel most comfortable on clay, but I can play well on every surface.”

With less than 250 Emirates ATP Rankings point to defend for the rest of the year, Cuevas is looking towards making a run inside the Top 10. But he acknowledged that the higher he climbs, the harder it will be to continue moving up.

“If you look at the [Emirates ATP] rankings, there is a lot distance between The Top 20 and the Top 10,” admitted Cuevas. “I’m going to work and fight to see if I can make it. If I get myself into the Top 15 and start 2017 in this position, then I could make Top 10 my goal.”

As the only player from Uruguay inside the Top 400 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, Cuevas has been receiving plenty of attention at home for his accomplishments this year. With he and his brother, Martin, currently flying the flag for tennis in Uruguay, he’s hopeful his results will encourage kids in the country to pick up a racquet.

“In some way, I’m doing my bit to make tennis more popular in Uruguay,” said Cuevas. “It’s a good thing for sport in general in Uruguay, and above all for tennis.”