Two weeks in the past, Uruguayan tennis participant Pablo Cuevas introduced his retirement.
When it got here, tennis followers the world over dipped into their reminiscence banks in admiration of the fashionable grasp of the trick shot. With wonderful palms and an enormous quantity of expertise, Cuevas may pull off pictures from between his legs, no-look winners, drop-shot returns and a lot extra at will.
However like Mansour Bahrami, the trick-shot king to whom he was inheritor, Cuevas was way over only a flashy shotmaker. On his day, he may compete with the perfect gamers in tennis. In 2016, he defeated Rafael Nadal on clay in Rio de Janeiro en path to profitable one in all his six ATP titles (all of which got here on the floor), attaining a singles career-high rating of world No. 19 later that yr. He additionally gained the 2008 French Open doubles title with Peru’s Luis Horna, beating the legendary Bob and Mike Bryan alongside the way in which.
Talking from his residence on the outskirts of Montevideo, Cuevas appears again on a few of his most spectacular pictures and insists that, with one exception, they weren’t one thing he practised.
“It was all spontaneous,” he says.
On the day we communicate, Cuevas appears refreshed from a morning spent browsing within the South Atlantic Ocean. He’s having fun with with the ability to do water sports activities frequently, when he isn’t hanging out along with his spouse and two daughters or teaching promising under-18 Uruguayan tennis gamers. Sometimes he performs tennis or padel along with his compatriot Diego Forlan, the previous Manchester United striker who, this summer time, instructed The Athletic about his swap from soccer to the ITF veterans’ tour.
Earlier than we get into the clips, I wish to know the way he developed his capacity to hit extraordinary pictures:
As a younger participant, did you all the time hit enjoyable trick pictures? How did that develop?
I didn’t practise that in any respect. Simply as there was one each 50 video games in a match, additionally in coaching, each 20 video games there was one. It wasn’t like a coaching session for these type of pictures. They only got here out like that. And in matches, extra spontaneous performs would come out in numerous conditions.
So if you have been practising you’ll simply hit them as they got here?
The faux smash and hitting it below the legs, I did practise it as soon as. The primary and solely individual I noticed do it was (former French Open champion Gaston) Gaudio in a coaching session we shared. Aside from that, that tweener level with Nadal and so forth, I by no means practised it.
Yep, we’ll get to that one. These pictures are most likely what you’re most remembered for — is {that a} good feeling for you, to know that your reminiscence will stay on in that method? Does it hassle you that that’s what you’re greatest recognized for?
It’s one thing I positively realised folks like loads, one thing that’s very current of their minds. However you’re feeling extra delight at one thing you obtain with arduous work, that you simply practise and little by little you incorporate into your recreation till you obtain it. And that’s not the case right here. So it’s not one thing that I labored at and I’m tremendous happy with, but it surely doesn’t annoy me that I’m remembered for that or that folks loved it.
The primary level we watch options each a tweener (tennis communicate for a shot between the legs), after which a lob over Gael Monfils, himself a spectacular shotmaker. It comes from a good match on the Madrid Open eight years in the past, which Cuevas gained 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(4).
This primary shot is one from between between your legs. Was {that a} favorite shot of yours?
It’s positively one of many nicest pictures to see. It’s a pleasant play.
Some kinds of gamers, those which are very monotonous of their recreation, type of bore me.
You might have a number of decisions. You go for the lob. Why did you hit that there? Did you see how shut Gael was to the web?
I don’t suppose I used to be an amazing lobber or a shot I used loads. Gael is a really agile man and noticed that he was very near the web and thought one of the best place to place the ball was there.
Was it enjoyable taking part in towards somebody like Monfils, who additionally hit trick pictures?
Sure, he was a really flashy participant, the sort I like to observe. A kind of that I additionally preferred to play towards. He may shock you at any second along with his serve, along with his pictures or along with his nice attain that he makes use of to defend or hit spectacular pictures.
As one of the best participant hitting spectacular pictures, is your successor Alexander Bublik? Or Nick Kyrgios? Who do you suppose is the person now?
What Kyrgios does is extra spectacular, however along with his ball velocity, along with his wrist acceleration and even typically extra along with his angle than pictures like that. Bublik tries to do extra of this sort of factor and also you even have Monfils, who’s probably the most related in that sense, as a result of it’s not that he’s continuously in search of it, however from time to time he comes up with one thing related.
If there’s one participant on the market who’s in search of extra of that it could possibly be Bublik. He’s in search of that magic on a regular basis, that type of shot.
Are these the sorts of gamers you most like to observe?
I prefer to see gamers like Kyrgios. Not essentially when he’s slightly bit out of his thoughts, however when he has these moments of magic. He’s a participant I like to observe. I like to observe Monfils, however I additionally get pleasure from some extra basic gamers. (Stan) Wawrinka doesn’t do this type of factor, however I actually like to observe him.
With probably probably the most outrageous shot of the bunch, Cuevas hits a forehand winner towards Nadal on the Paris Masters seven years in the past, in a fashion barely seen earlier than or since.
You talked about this shot earlier, and also you have been saying this was simply pure improvisation.
Yeah, completely. In 10 years of observe, I possibly produced that shot as soon as.
How did it really feel when it got here off?
Effectively, you possibly can see slightly bit on my face, and there’s a man within the crowd with an expression like, ‘Wow!’. It’s additionally having that unconsciousness. Not desirous about the shot makes it circulation that method, as a result of if you miss these pictures, it’s horrible. When it really works someplace like that, like a centre courtroom in Paris-Bercy or Madrid, it’s spectacular.
Did Rafa say something about it?
No. He checked out me with a stunned look on his face, as if to say, ‘What an amazing shot, however I’m not too amused by you doing this to me!’.
However we’ve got an amazing relationship and he was removed from offended by that. He was one of many gamers I used to be closest to on the tour.
How was it taking part in Rafa in comparison with Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic?
All three have been tremendous totally different. Roger was probably the most aggressive, the one who served one of the best however on the similar time gave you probably the most free factors. It was nearly tough to out of the blue lose 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. With Roger, possibly I might lose 6-4, 6-4 or, the truth is, the 2 occasions I performed him it was even nearer than that (7-6, 6-4 and 6-3, 7-6). Even with these outcomes, you have been removed from beating him as a result of it was so depending on him. The sport was very aggressive and also you all the time felt very uncomfortable.
With Rafa, when he wasn’t aggressive, he allow you to play. You felt like you could possibly get into the match on a regular basis, he even made you’re feeling that the match depended slightly bit on you.
And with Djokovic, it was a combination between these issues. He didn’t have the aggressiveness, particularly along with his serve, of Roger. And he didn’t decelerate the sport as a lot as Rafa. He was someplace in between.
This yr, Ons Jabeur, one other gifted shotmaker, instructed The Athletic: “I like messing round with some gamers. It’s a number of enjoyable.”
Cuevas possessed the same capacity to drive his opponents to distraction. Within the first instance, towards John Isner in Madrid in 2018, the American collapses in disbelief at Cuevas’ brilliance. Within the second instance, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is so wound up by his opponent’s retrieval abilities that he smashes a ball out of the stadium on the way in which to shedding the semifinal in Estoril 5 years in the past.
With this Isner shot, what’s actually humorous about that is the response that John provides if you squeeze the ball previous him…
There’s a mix of emotions. He’s saying, ‘I can’t consider the place you’re hitting this ball from and the place you’re placing it’. And in a method, he’s considering, ‘That’s the one one I’ve to cowl. I’ve to cowl the down-the-line. If there’s one place he can’t get previous me, it’s there’.
Did you discover it humorous when gamers would react like that after your pictures?
There’s not a lot time to see all that on the courtroom, in comparison with if you see it 1000’s of occasions in a replay. However you sense it, and on the similar time it’s a confidence enhance — each the response of the opponent and your personal good shot.
In some way the ball lands in — to Isner’s disbelief (Tennis TV)
That is one other response that’s a bit related, towards Davidovich Fokina. He can’t consider the shot you hit.
Yeah, that was far more of a fluke than the Isner one. And sure, he appears annoyed. I don’t keep in mind what the rating was, however I feel if I used to be forward it was to complete him off and if issues have been even it was to begin to take benefit in that match.
It was a giant turning level — Cuevas broke his opponent’s serve after which gained 9 of the ultimate 12 video games.
Undoubtedly, there have been emotional issues that had an affect. It took the opponent down and lifted me up.
Is that this one pure intuition once more?
Completely, to practise that I would wish an individual to throw me that ball as a result of that ball was coming very quick. That was a last-resort factor. My physique goes a method and the ball is staying behind me. There was nothing to provide you with. I don’t know the way that got here out.
The following shot is one thing related to Federer — a drop-shot return. It comes towards the diminutive Argentinian, Diego Schwartzman, from a match in Hamburg in 2015 that Cuevas gained in straight units. This one was extra premeditated.
Given this was a return reasonably than a shot in the course of a rally, was it a bit extra tactical? Or a shot you had talked about together with your coach?
Yeah, that is much less improvised. I didn’t out of the blue talk about a drop shot with my coach, however Schwartzman was a stable man from the baseline. You needed to change his velocity, his rhythm, and in addition take him out of his consolation zone.
There’s a lot sidespin on the ball that by the point it bounces for a second time it’s nearly exterior the tramlines (Tennis TV)
Did your coaches ever say to you, ‘It is advisable to hit fewer loopy pictures’, or was it one thing you mentioned? Or did they know that was simply the way you performed and they also embraced it?
No, that didn’t occur. As a result of in my 15, 20 years of tennis, there are 15, 20 pictures like that. For those who take that common, it was one per yr. Fortunately a number of these pictures got here off, so there was no reproach.
This one is the showboating shot towards Stefanos Tsitsipas in Estoril that Cuevas stated earlier was a shot he had practised. It’s an outrageous no-look, behind-the-legs volley.
That is showboating, isn’t it? That is having some enjoyable?
Possibly it’s probably the most controversial shot, within the sense that, for the others, there have been no higher choices. On this case, there have been many. This was the worst choice, to do this. And even when this goes nicely, the individual on the opposite facet could not prefer it. Much more folks preferred it than didn’t prefer it, however there are additionally some who didn’t prefer it and I can perceive that.
It’s one the place you miss a shot like this, you look unhealthy and are left asking your self, ‘What did I do?’.
However I made it and it raised my degree.
Did Stef thoughts, do you suppose?
He didn’t prefer it on the courtroom. There wasn’t even eye contact to say, ‘Hey, that was an excellent one’ or, ‘I can’t consider what you probably did’. It was like, ‘I’m not you as a result of I didn’t prefer it’. However these are issues that occur in matches. I’ve a very good relationship with Stefanos.
Arguably one of the best shot of Cuevas’ profession, towards Zverev from a quarter-final he gained in 2017, is so memorable that the Madrid Open tasked Bublik with attempting to recreate it this yr. He finally nearly received there.
Nevertheless it’s nonetheless not a patch on the unique:
“Are you kidding me?! This man is totally mainline,” as commentator Rob Koenig put it. There’s additionally a drop shot and the chasing down of an Alexander Zverev drop shot main as much as the flicked no-look winner that Cuevas hits.
Presumably your most well-known shot — discuss us via it.
Effectively this one, I actually had no different choice. I used to be actually far again and I needed to run quick to get to that ball. I ran the entire courtroom from that drop shot again there. That could be one of the best one. Possibly the hardest one to tug off is the one we simply noticed with Tsitsipas. However this one I’ve taken the best choice in the easiest way.
You will need to have been fairly fast. How a lot was it pure, and the way a lot did you’re employed in your athleticism?
I labored loads, within the bodily half and within the hours spent taking part in tennis. I devoted a number of time to coaching generally and no doubt to the bodily half.
The final couple of pictures we see present some extra of the range in Cuevas’s recreation.
First, he places a ridiculous quantity of spin below the ball to take it away from Matteo Berrettini within the quarter-final of the 2019 Hungarian Open.
Cuevas says: “I don’t suppose I made up something. Undoubtedly, after so a few years of tennis, you see a number of issues, you practise, you set your stamp on it. It’s a mix, a little bit of the whole lot.”
The following one is a diving backhand towards residence favorite Fernando Gonzalez within the 2008 Chile Open semifinal, which gained Cuevas a spectacular level however at the price of an injured again.
Was that one thing you have been comfy doing, diving across the courtroom?
I mainly by no means did it. In 20 years, I did it twice: that point and in a Davis Cup tie. That time was good. It was on the finish of the second set, nearly to get me to match level. However that fall gave me again ache for one thing like six months.
So did you remorse doing it?
Somewhat bit, yeah. I keep in mind considering many occasions, ‘How essential is it to win a degree or not?’, and being cautious earlier than doing one thing like that. However these issues occur so quick that there’s not a lot time to suppose earlier than doing it.
As we end up, I ponder if there are some other pictures that Cuevas remembers notably fondly.
He chooses an underarm serve, that he hit having missed his first serve when up championship level within the 2017 Brazil Open last in Sao Paolo, towards Albert Ramos-Vinolas. He ended up profitable the purpose and cites it for example of a shot which may appear like the selection of a maverick however is, in actuality, merely probably the most expedient option to win at that second.
“Lots of people stated, ‘Wow, what expertise’, or, ‘Wow, how did he dare do one thing like that?!’,” Cuevas says of this level.
“The truth was loads much less proficient or glamorous than what folks see.
“I’d dedicated 12 double faults in that match, I wasn’t controlling my serve. After I missed the primary serve, in these 5 seconds between one serve and the opposite you begin to suppose: ‘Oh, I can’t commit one other double fault… if I don’t win it right here, I’ll by no means win it once more… don’t miss the serve… serve underarm… however should you serve underarm, what are they going to say after the match?’.
“All that in 5 seconds,” he says.
“So I stated to myself, ‘Serve, get it in and end this. Then we’ll see’.
“However should you have a look at it, there’s nothing proficient about it. It’s stiff, tense. The one factor I didn’t wish to do was miss the serve.”
Trying again on his profession, Cuevas mentions the “spectacular achievement” of profitable the Roland Garros doubles in 2008, and cites his 6-7(6), 7-6(3), 6-4 win over Nadal in Rio de Janeiro eight years later — as a result of, not like the trick pictures, it was the consequence of years of arduous graft.
“In singles, you set in a number of arduous work. In that lengthy match with Nadal on clay, the place it’s important to spend three hours taking part in, it’s very powerful,” he says.
“To win, it’s important to end taking part in higher than the opposite participant. It’s not like soccer, the place you do issues nicely for some time and if the opposite staff doesn’t rating targets, the match is over.
“Right here it’s important to sustain that degree and that’s what I managed to do in that match.” Cuevas backed up that win by beating Guido Pella within the last, to win his solely ATP 500 title.
In retirement, he’s having fun with spending time along with his household, hitting the seaside and training junior gamers; he needs to get entangled in actual property growth and develop an funding portfolio.
And the tennis world may but see him in Bahrami-style exhibition matches.
“I like that concept,” he says, smiling at the potential of attending to experiment with some new pictures.
— Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero contributed translation.
(High images: Adam Fairly, Elsa / Getty Pictures; Design: Eamonn Dalton for The Athletic)
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