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.”

The world’s best doubles players put on a show for fans at the third edition of the ATP Doubles Showdown at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. 

Hosted by Wayne Bryan, the festivities kicked off with a fun Q&A onstage in the fan zone. Those in attendance were treated to a dance-off between Marcelo Melo and Jean-Julien Rojer and an embarrassing Andy Murray story courtesy of his brother Jamie Murray.

“It’s always great here in Cincinnati,” said Daniel Nestor, World No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings. “That’s why we love playing here. It’s a great event here to help promote our game. We had all the top guys out, which is important to keep this going. It’s a good time.”

Other ATP World Tour doubles stars to join in the showdown included Bruno Soares, Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, Rohan Bopanna, John Peers, Eric Butorac, Max Mirnyi, Treat Huey, Juan Sebastian Cabal, Henri Kontinen and Raven Klaasen.

“It’s incredible to see people enjoy doubles like this,” said Klaasen, World No. 10 in doubles. “It’s my second year doing this and to see the crowd come out and have fun like this playing tennis, it takes me back to when I was young. We got into the game because it’s a lot of fun.”

Gael Monfils began the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday with a routine win in Cincinnati. The Frenchman lost only nine points on his serve (36/45) to prevail past Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and four minutes.

Ninth seed Monfils never faced a break point and broke the 25 year old twice in the first set and at 6-5 in the second set. The 29 year old improved to 34-11 this season, including 27-7 on hard courts. Monfils also continued to boost his chances to play at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at The O2 in London, scheduled for 13-20 November.

Monfils is currently in eighth place in the Emirates ATP Race To London, thanks to recent deep runs on the North American hard courts. Last month, he won his first ATP World Tour 500 title at the Citi Open (d. Karlovic). At the Rogers Cup in Toronto, he reached the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament (l. to Djokovic).

In Cincinnati, he’ll try to get past the quarter-finals, which he reached in 2011. Monfils will next face Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, who beat Canadian Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 7-5.

John Isner will put his 3-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Milos Raonic on the line when the two meet in the second round. Isner, No. 22 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, took 77 minutes to eliminate Italian Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-2 on Tuesday.

The top-ranked American is coming off his first ATP World Tour final of the season at the BB&T Atlanta Open (l. to Kyrgios). The 6’10” right-hander last beat Raonic in March 2015 on the hard courts in Miami. Isner won 6-7(3), 7-6(6), 7-6(5). Of the seven sets they’ve played, five have ended in a tie-break.

“It’s going to be a tough match for both of us. I’m looking forward to it. Of course it could come down to a few points here or there… Milos is obviously one of the best players in the game right now. I have so much respect for him as well. He does everything the right way,” Isner said. “I believe I can win the match as well. I feel like I’m starting to turn the corner on things.”

Kei Nishikori has firmly entrenched himself in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, but he believes he’s ready to start moving even higher.

The World No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Rankings is the fifth seed at the Western & Southern Open and will face Mikhail Youzhny in his opening match. Nishikori arrives in Cincinnati after defeating Rafael Nadal to win a bronze medal in men’s singles at the Rio Olympics, giving Japan its first Olympic medal in tennis.

“I think he was playing good, but maybe he wasn’t 100 per cent. He was playing a lot of matches, doubles and singles, but I think I played really good tennis,” said Nishikori. “But the week was a great experience and it was a big honour to get a medal.”

The Japanese star credited his work with Michael Chang over the past three years with a vast improvement in his game. Eight of his 11 ATP World Tour titles have come since he began working with the Hall of Famer in January 2014, as well as four of the five occasions where he’s reached the quarter-finals or better at a Grand Slam.

“It’s been working well. My tennis is much more consistent and also more aggressive. I try to come in a little more now,” said Nishikori. “He also has a great eye for all the players and searches for a lot of things about them.”

But Nishikori is far from content. He’s eager to begin correcting his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalries with Andy Murray (1-7) and Novak Djokovic (2-10) in order to start regularly winning the biggest titles on the ATP World Tour.

“I lost to Andy a little bit easily in the Olympics and also lost to Djokovic in two sets in Toronto, so I still have many things to work on to beat those two guys,” said Nishikori. “But slowly, I think I’m getting there.”

The Tennis World is remembering Andrew Florent as a charismatic, generous and fun-loving personality after the Australian doubles specialist passed away Tuesday, aged 45.

Florent waged a spirited fight after first being diagnosed in January 2013 with bowel cancer, which subsequently spread to his liver. At the time he was told he had between three and 18 months to live, but he fought on bravely for 3 1/2 years and even competed in the legends’ doubles at the 2014 Australian Open.

Florent is survived by his wife Rachael and their two sons, Ollie, 18, and Jai, 15.

“Flory could light up a room like no other. He was the life of the party and never took himself too seriously,” said his close friend and former partner Paul Kilderry. Long-time doubles partner Josh Eagle said Florent had an “insatiable zest for life”.

“He was one of a kind. Everybody loved Flory,” said fellow Australian doubles specialist David Macpherson, who partnered Florent for two seasons. “He was jovial, witty and as positive a life force as you would ever meet. He was very generous and derived a lot of enjoyment from doing things for other people.”

Florent turned pro in 1990 and played through 2003, finishing with 211 doubles match wins and winning three titles: St. Poelten (1994 and ‘99) and Adelaide (1998). He reached a career-high Emirates ATP Doubles Ranking of 13 in 2001.

But Florent will perhaps best be remembered as a larger-than-life character beloved for his high jinks and camaraderie. Stories of his playfulness are legendary…

One of Florent’s favourite stops on the ATP World Tour was the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, during which the annual players’ revue is held. Florent loved nothing better than to get in character and entertain his peers on stage. “That was his number one reason for wanting to play Monte-Carlo,” Eagle said. “He wanted to be front and centre in the show and he absolutely loved it. While others were shying away from taking the stage, his M.O. was to make the players laugh and smile.”

At Scottsdale in 1997, Eagle and Florent were on the wrong end of a hiding from Rick Leach and Jonas Bjorkman. Sitting at the changeover with their opponents about to serve for the match, the Aussies donned Incredible Hulk masks to play out the final game. “You wouldn’t’ get away with that today, but the crowd on centre court loved it,” Eagle said. “And Rick and Jonas weren’t at all annoyed. They knew that was Flory just having a bit of fun.”

At a Challenger in Chinese Taipei in 1994, Eagle and Florent drew the local wild cards, who had never played on the tour. Florent insisted that he and Eagle go out to ‘celebrate the draw’. They arrived home at 6am and proceeded to lose the match 7-6 in the third later that day.

Tributes to Andrew Florent

Paul Kilderry
“Flory had a unique ability to connect with people from all walks of life. He was one of the friendliest players on tour and had amazing relationships with everyone, from the top ranked, to lowest ranked and all staff members. Flory never had a bad word to say about anybody and was an awesome mate to all of his fellow Aussie players

 “Flory could light up a room like no other. He was the life of the party and never took himself too seriously. Often when you would get to an event, people would ask, ‘Is Flory coming this year?’ That could be anyone from the drivers to accreditation staff or the tournament director.

 “Flory was an amazing natural athlete after a very good junior career focused on his doubles. His volleys were a throwback to the great Aussie volleyers of the past.”

RIP Florrie ♥️? pic.twitter.com/4GFy1bjqPS

— Darren Cahill (@darren_cahill) August 16, 2016

David Macpherson
“He was one of a kind. Everybody loved Flory. He was jovial, witty and as positive a life force as you would ever meet. He was very generous and derived a lot of enjoyment from doing things for other people. He shared that special Aussie bond with his countrymen and he was one of our favourite people in the whole world.”

“He and Rachael were a great couple who met early in life and she was always so supportive. He was a tremendous father to his boys and he took a lot of pleasure seeing them grow up the past few years, especially as he watched them develop into good footballers.

“As a player he had a beautiful technique and his volleys were as good as anyone who played the game. He was an incredible athlete who was explosive at the net, and one of the game’s best poachers.”

So sad to hear of the passing of Andrew Florent. He was a very kind/charming/generous person. 1 of the most well liked people in tennis. RIP

— Justin Gimelstob (@justingimelstob) August 16, 2016

John Fitzgerald
“Andrew Florent was one of a kind. 

“After his family, Flory’s mates were incredibly important to him. He was at his best surrounded by fun-loving people who quite often looked to him to create an atmosphere that made you glad to be alive. He loved tennis but loved his family and mates much more. The devotion of his friends since his illness is a remarkable testament to him.

“In all the years I knew him, I never came across one person who didn’t love the bloke, such was his infectious nature. He would never say no to participating in a charity event, whether tennis was involved or not, and in the case of my charity in Adelaide, he quite often ‘made’ the event himself as the star of the show. 

“I had the pleasure of playing doubles with Flory a couple of times. One of those was in Indian Wells and Flory taught my two toddler daughters Do Re Mi from the Sound of Music…’Doe a deer, a female deer’! He remained ‘Doe a deer’ to them for the rest of his life. 

Ollie and Jai are Andrew and Rachael’s pride and joy. The whole family can take strength knowing that a lot of love is directed towards them and Flory’s mates will forever look out for them.

Flory never failed to bring a smile to my face, right to the end. RIP mate.”

So sad to hear the news about Andrew Florent. Our thoughts goes out to his family. We will miss you my friend.

— Thomas Johansson (@tompatennis) August 16, 2016

Joshua Eagle
“Flory was one of the ‘good guys’ of world tennis. Extremely popular on and off the court with all his competitors, he had an innate ability to bring people together for the better. He was always one to celebrate his wins and losses and savour the fact that he was traveling the world playing the game he loved with his close mates, whom he treated as family. 

“Flory was the most generous person in the world, always giving his time to help out a young fan or volunteer or to play a clinic with sponsors. He was always first to buy dinner or a round of drinks at the end of the day for his mates and often would give the shirt of his own back if he felt it looked better on them.

“Flory brought so much enjoyment to every single day that he lived and it was infectious. Every morning when we shared a room he made me start the day by singing his beloved Hawthorn Football Club song with him and occasionally we even belted it out at the odd karaoke venue around the world. Flory received great pleasure out of making his family and friends happy and laugh.

“After life on the ATP World Tour, Flory embraced his next journey of family and work. With his beautiful wife Rachael, they have done a tremendous job raising two highly capable and respected boys and he loved nothing more than spending time with them and watching them develop. 

“We all loved Flory. With his insatiable zest for life, he absolutely crammed in many great times and memories that will live on forever.

“Flory will be sadly missed. However, his amazing fighting spirit will be remembered all around the world as he certainly put up the good fight right to the very end.”

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President
“Andrew’s passing is a great loss to the tennis family. He played the sport with absolute class and his popularity amongst his fellow athletes will long be remembered. Our thoughts are with Andrew’s family and friends during this difficult time.”

Tennis Australia
“The tennis family mourns the loss of our much loved friend Andrew Florent who has lost his long and brave battle with illness. Florrie, as we all knew him, was a true character of our sport as a player and coach, and a larger-than-life personality. His infectious sense of humour and love of life touched so many around the tennis world and he will be sorely missed. Our sympathy goes out to his family, Rachael, Ollie and Jai, and his many friends. RIP Florrie.”