Cuevas Prevails Over Mayer In Three Sets
Cuevas Prevails Over Mayer In Three Sets
Cuevas became the first player to advance to the semi-finals in Sao Paolo with a 6-2, 6-7(13), 7-6(5) win over Leonardo Mayer on Friday. The tournament’s third seed needed five match points before downing the Argentine in two hours and 55 minutes.
The total points won summarised the close contest: 111 for Mayer, 112 for Cuevas. After the match, the 32-year-old Uruguayan admitted he was proud of his 15-match winning streak at the Brasil Open and happy to have support from the fans in attendance.
“It was a very tough, long match,” Cuevas said. “I had a lot of chances in that second set [four match points]. Then in the third, my return wasn’t so good, plus Leo was serving so well.”
“The [15-match win streak] feels incredible. I felt the support from the Brazilian fans and today a lot of Uruguayans showed up, even the ex-captain of the Uruguayan soccer team showed up. I’m happy to once again be in the semi-finals. I’m going to enjoy this win, play doubles later and focus on tomorrow’s match.”
With the win, Cuevas moves to 2-1 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Mayer. Cuevas will play the winner between Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and second seed Fabio Fognini for a spot in the final.
Did You Know?
In all, Cuevas has played 11 tie-breaks at the Brasil Open. In his previous match, the Uruguayan needed a tie-break to decide his second set against Sebastian Ofner before prevailing 6-4, 7-6(4).