By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, February 20, 2016
Pablo Cuevas hit his 11th ace to seal a 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3), 6-4 upset of Rafael Nadal and reach the Rio Open final.
Photo credit: Rio Open
Sweat dripped from his hand as Pablo Cuevas stepped up to serve for the biggest win of his career.
Cuevas shook off the perspiration and a persistent Rafael Nadal, slamming an ace out wide to seal a 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3), 6-4 upset of the top-seeded Spaniard that sent Cuevas into the fifth final of his career.
The world No. 45 played with more conviction on crucial points, hit 16 more winners (48 to 32) and often out-played the king of clay from the baseline denying Nadal's bid to reach his 100th career final.
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"I lost an opportunity; that's it," Nadal said afterward. "I fight a lot to the end. I'm losing these (close) matches the last three tournaments. So it's just accept and keep working to change the dynamic."
It is Cuevas' third career Top 10 victory following wins over Tomas Berdych last season and Andy Roddick at the 2011 Miami Open.
The 30-year-old Cuevas will play another left-hander, Guido Pella, in tomorrow's final. Pella snapped Dominic Thiem's eight-match winning streak with a 6-1, 6-4 victory in the day's first semifinal.
Credit Nadal with a spirited fight, but his footwork was sluggish, his shots were unruly and by the end he looked like a man who had run out of ideas in overplaying the drop shot. Nadal converted just two of 13 break points and did not win a point on Cuevas' first serve in the final set.
Once unbeatable against opponents with one-handed backhands on clay, Nadal suffered his second straight semifinal loss to a one-hander following his three-set loss to Thiem in Buenos Aires last weekend. Nadal has lost four clay-court semifinals in the past year after amassing a 52-match winning streak in clay-court semifinals that was snapped by Fabio Fognini in the 2015 Rio semifinals.
Nadal na zona mista
Posted by Rio Open on Saturday, February 20, 2016
A sloppy first set signaled an erratic performance from Nadal, who surged out to a 3-0 lead only to see Cuevas come back with a three-game run of his own, cracking an inside-out forehand to level.
The top-seeded Spaniard struggled to string three positive points together in this rematch of the 2015 Rio quarterfinals. Nadal sometimes left his backhand short in the court and was sailing his forehand when he tried stepping inside the court.
It was a topsy-turvy tie breaker. Cuevas hit a serve winner to take a 4-2 lead. Nadal responded with four consecutive points earning double set point at 6-4. Cuevas saved the first and a tight Nadal double faulted on the second, eliciting a groan from the pro-Rafa crowd.
Looking unsettled, Nadal reloaded and zapped an acute-angle inside-out forehand winner for a third set point. A 15-shot rally ended with Cuevas unleashing an anguished cry when he steered a backhand wide. Nadal gutted his way through a 75-minute set where he was often outplayed from the baseline.
Both men left the court for complete apparel changes preparing for the sweat-soaked battle to come. Nadal knocked a backhand winner to save a break point in his opening service game of the second set.
Digging in, Cuevas fought off four break points and held with a flicked drop shot winner for 2-1. Cuevas pounced on a poor drop shot and knocked off the winner breaking for 3-1. A fine angled volley extended his lead to 4-1.
Trailing 2-5, Nadal reeled off three straight games to level.
Serving at 5-6, Nadal saved a set point with twisting a serve that dragged Cuevas well wide. Nadal saved a second set point pulling off an audacious forehand drop shot, eventually forcing the tie breaker.
In the breaker, Cuevas again burst out to a 4-2 lead on the strength of a stretch backhand volley. This time, he made the lead stick. An inside-out forehand gave him a third set point. Nadal netted a forehand as Cuevas leveled after two hours, 37 minutes of sticky play.
Through two sets, Nadal converted just two of 10 break points, struggled to drive his backhand deep in the court and sprayed his forehand wildly at times. Still, he scraped, fought and slid his way to a 3-2 lead in the decider.
A nervy netted double fault gave Nadal a second break point. He had a good look at a forehand, but Nadal hooked his down the line drive wide and rubbed his forehand in consternation. Cuevas had fought off 11 of 13 break points by then holding for 3-all.
Ruing his lost opportunities, Nadal netted a forehand to hand Cuevas break point. Cuevas curled a backhand off the sideline earning the break for 4-3, then quickly consolidated with a love hold for 5-3.
Nadal sailed his 20th forehand error and Cuevas roped a crosscourt forehand pass to earn double match point. A bold Nadal nudged a forehand drop shot that nicked the top of the tape and plopped over. He saved the second match point with a churning serve. An ace out wide followed by a stretched volley enabled Nadal to step back off the brink, for 4-5, as the crowd roared in support.
Serving for the most meaningful win of his career, Cuevas slid a slice wide for a third match point. Exploding into his 11th ace, Cuevas ended a three hour, 28-minute marathon in style.