In the South American nation of Uruguay, sports are an integral part of its vibrant culture. Its stars are a closely knit group and that fraternity was on display on Saturday at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Montevideo. Diego Forlan, a former legend of Uruguayan football and one of the greatest players in the world, attended the draw ceremony at the $75,000 clay court event. Alongside countryman and top seed Pablo Cuevas and former champion Guido Pella, Forlan helped make the singles draw for the 13th edition of the tournament. “It´s a great chance to help this tournament, which is held in my home club, the Carrasco Lawn Tennis Club," said Forlan, an avid tennis fan. "I actually started...
In one of the more thrilling doubles finals of the season, Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas emerged with the trophy at the Erste Bank Open 500 on Sunday. The Indian-Uruguayan duo saved a pair of match points for a tight 7-6(7), 6-7(4), 11/9 victory over Marcelo Demoliner and Sam Querrey. The match, which lasted one hour and 45 minutes, saw Bopanna deny the first championship point at 9/7 with a volley winner, followed by a Querrey forehand unforced error as the second came and went. "Absolutely brilliant," Bopanna exclaimed. "It’s one of the first years for me that I won a 250, 500 and a 1000. I’d made a final of a 250, 500 and a 1000 also but it’s...
Pablo Cuevas and Guillermo Duran earned their first team title in dramatic fashion at the Generali Open, surviving a thrilling Match Tie-break for the Kitzbühel crown. Fourth seeds Cuevas and Duran saved one match point to defeat Hans Podlipnik-Castillo and Andrei Vasilevski 6-4, 4-6, 12-10 in one hour and 26 minutes. It was the third victory in a Match Tie-break for the Uruguayan-Argentine duo this week. "We’ve known each other for a long time but we never had the chance to play together," said Cuevas. "It’s a pleasure to play with a friend and it feels even better if you end the tournament in this way. We are very happy." Podlipnik-Castillo and Vasilevski did well to handle the pressure of...
