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 trendy grasp of the trick shot. With glorious fingers and an enormous quantity of expertise, Cuevas might pull off photographs 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 might compete with the perfect gamers in tennis. In 2016, he defeated Rafael Nadal on clay in Rio de Janeiro en path to profitable one among his six ATP titles (all of which got here on the floor), reaching a singles career-high rating of world No. 19 later that 12 months. He additionally received 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 house on the outskirts of Montevideo, Cuevas appears again on a few of his most spectacular photographs and insists that, with one exception, they weren’t one thing he practised.
“It was all spontaneous,” he says.
On the day we converse, Cuevas appears refreshed from a morning spent browsing within the South Atlantic Ocean. He’s having fun with having the ability to do water sports activities commonly, when he isn’t hanging out together with his spouse and two daughters or teaching promising under-18 Uruguayan tennis gamers. Sometimes he performs tennis or padel together with his compatriot Diego Forlan, the previous Manchester United striker who, this summer time, instructed The Athletic about his change from soccer to the ITF veterans’ tour.
Earlier than we get into the clips, I wish to understand how he developed his skill to hit extraordinary photographs:
As a younger participant, did you all the time hit enjoyable trick photographs? 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 sort of photographs. They only got here out like that. And in matches, extra spontaneous performs would come out in several conditions.
So if you had been practising you’ll simply hit them as they got here?
The pretend smash and hitting it beneath 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 photographs are most likely what you’re most remembered for — is {that a} good feeling for you, to know that your reminiscence will reside on in that method? Does it trouble you that that’s what you’re finest recognized for?
It’s one thing I undoubtedly realised individuals like quite a bit, one thing that’s very current of their minds. However you’re feeling extra pleasure at one thing you obtain with arduous work, that you just practise and little by little you incorporate into your sport 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 pleased with, but it surely doesn’t annoy me that I’m remembered for that or that individuals loved it.
The primary level we watch options each a tweener (tennis converse 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 received 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 undoubtedly one of many nicest photographs to see. It’s a pleasant play.
Some sorts of gamers, those which might be very monotonous of their sport, sort of bore me.
You might have a couple of selections. You go for the lob. Why did you hit that there? Did you see how shut Gael was to the online?
I don’t suppose I used to be an incredible lobber or a shot I used quite a bit. Gael is a really agile man and noticed that he was very near the online and thought the very best place to place the ball was there.
Was it enjoyable taking part in in opposition to somebody like Monfils, who additionally hit trick photographs?
Sure, he was a really flashy participant, the type I like to observe. A kind of that I additionally appreciated to play in opposition to. He might shock you at any second together with his serve, together with his photographs or together with his nice attain that he makes use of to defend or hit spectacular photographs.
As the very best participant hitting spectacular photographs, is your successor Alexander Bublik? Or Nick Kyrgios? Who do you suppose is the person now?
What Kyrgios does is extra spectacular, however together with his ball pace, together with his wrist acceleration and even typically extra together with his angle than photographs like that. Bublik tries to do extra of this sort of factor and also you even have Monfils, who’s essentially the most related in that sense, as a result of it’s not that he’s always searching for it, however from time to time he comes up with one thing related.
If there’s one participant on the market who’s searching for extra of that it might be Bublik. He’s searching for that magic on a regular basis, that sort 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 just a little 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 take pleasure in some extra traditional gamers. (Stan) Wawrinka doesn’t do this sort of factor, however I actually like to observe him.
With presumably essentially the most outrageous shot of the bunch, Cuevas hits a forehand winner in opposition to 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 had been saying this was simply pure improvisation.
Yeah, completely. In 10 years of follow, I possibly produced that shot as soon as.
How did it really feel when it got here off?
Properly, you possibly can see just a little bit on my face, and there’s a man within the crowd with an expression like, ‘Wow!’. It’s additionally having that unconsciousness. Not fascinated with the shot makes it move that method, as a result of if you miss these photographs, it’s horrible. When it really works someplace like that, like a centre court docket in Paris-Bercy or Madrid, it’s spectacular.
Did Rafa say something about it?
No. He checked out me with a shocked look on his face, as if to say, ‘What an incredible shot, however I’m not too amused by you doing this to me!’.
However we’ve an incredible 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 had been tremendous totally different. Roger was essentially the most aggressive, the one who served the very best however on the similar time gave you essentially the most free factors. It was nearly tough to all of the sudden lose 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. With Roger, possibly I’d lose 6-4, 6-4 or, in truth, the 2 instances I performed him it was even nearer than that (7-6, 6-4 and 6-3, 7-6). Even with these outcomes, you had 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 can get into the match on a regular basis, he even made you’re feeling that the match depended just a little bit on you.
And with Djokovic, it was a mixture between these issues. He didn’t have the aggressiveness, particularly together with his serve, of Roger. And he didn’t decelerate the sport as a lot as Rafa. He was someplace in between.
This 12 months, 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 skill to drive his opponents to distraction. Within the first instance, in opposition to 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 offers if you squeeze the ball previous him…
There’s a combination 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 photographs?
There’s not a lot time to see all that on the court docket, in comparison with if you see it 1000’s of instances in a replay. However you sense it, and on the similar time it’s a confidence increase — each the response of the opponent and your individual good shot.
Someway the ball lands in — to Isner’s disbelief (Tennis TV)
That is one other response that’s a bit related, in opposition to 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 bear in mind what the rating was, however I believe if I used to be forward it was to complete him off and if issues had 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 received 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 understand how that got here out.
The following shot is one thing related to Federer — a drop-shot return. It comes in opposition to the diminutive Argentinian, Diego Schwartzman, from a match in Hamburg in 2015 that Cuevas received in straight units. This one was extra premeditated.
Given this was a return quite than a shot in the midst 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 all of the sudden focus on a drop shot with my coach, however Schwartzman was a strong man from the baseline. You needed to change his pace, 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 outdoors the tramlines (Tennis TV)
Did your coaches ever say to you, ‘You could hit fewer loopy photographs’, 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 photographs like that. In the event you take that common, it was one per 12 months. Fortunately a number of these photographs got here off, so there was no reproach.
This one is the showboating shot in opposition to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Estoril that Cuevas mentioned 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 essentially 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 try this. And even when this goes effectively, the individual on the opposite aspect could not prefer it. Much more individuals appreciated 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 dangerous 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 court docket. There wasn’t even eye contact to say, ‘Hey, that was a very good 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 extremely good relationship with Stefanos.
Arguably the very best shot of Cuevas’ profession, in opposition to Zverev from a quarter-final he received in 2017, is so memorable that the Madrid Open tasked Bublik with attempting to recreate it this 12 months. He finally nearly obtained there.
Nevertheless it’s nonetheless not a patch on the unique:
“Are you kidding me?! This man is completely 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.
Probably your most well-known shot — discuss us via it.
Properly 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 court docket from that drop shot again there. That may be the very best one. Possibly the hardest one to drag off is the one we simply noticed with Tsitsipas. However this one I’ve taken the best choice in one of the best ways.
You have 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 quite a bit, within the bodily half and within the hours spent taking part in tennis. I devoted a number of time to coaching on the whole and indubitably to the bodily half.
The final couple of photographs we see present some extra of the variability in Cuevas’s sport.
First, he places a ridiculous quantity of spin beneath 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 combination, a little bit of every part.”
The following one is a diving backhand in opposition to house favorite Fernando Gonzalez within the 2008 Chile Open semifinal, which received Cuevas a spectacular level however at the price of an injured again.
Was that one thing you had been snug doing, diving across the court docket?
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?
A little bit bit, yeah. I bear in mind considering many instances, ‘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’m wondering if there are another photographs that Cuevas remembers significantly fondly.
He chooses an underarm serve, that he hit having missed his first serve when up championship level within the 2017 Brazil Open remaining in Sao Paolo, in opposition to 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 essentially the most expedient solution to win at that second.
“Lots of people mentioned, ‘Wow, what expertise’, or, ‘Wow, how did he dare do one thing like that?!’,” Cuevas says of this level.
“The fact was quite a bit much less gifted or glamorous than what individuals see.
“I’d dedicated 12 double faults in that match, I wasn’t controlling my serve. Once 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 mentioned to myself, ‘Serve, get it in and end this. Then we’ll see’.
“However should you have a look at it, there’s nothing gifted 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, in contrast to the trick photographs, 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 you must spend three hours taking part in, it’s very powerful,” he says.
“To win, you must end taking part in higher than the opposite participant. It’s not like soccer, the place you do issues effectively for some time and if the opposite crew doesn’t rating objectives, the match is over.
“Right here you must 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 remaining, to win his solely ATP 500 title.
In retirement, he’s having fun with spending time together with his household, hitting the seaside and training junior gamers; he desires to get entangled in actual property improvement 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 opportunity of attending to experiment with some new photographs.
— Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero contributed translation.
(Prime photographs: Adam Fairly, Elsa / Getty Photographs; Design: Eamonn Dalton for The Athletic)