Pablo Cuevas: the book is not closed
It is possible to be ranked 19th in the world and to have won six titles on Tour and to still have to go through the qualifying round: this is the fate of Pablo Cuevas (ATP 104).
The Uruguayan, who came to Geneva early, got through the first round with his 6-3 4-6 6-3 victory over Jakub Paul (ATP 670), the winner of the Swiss Tennis pre-qualifying tournament, in a match that went unfinished on Saturday. Pablo Cuevas will play his place in the main draw this Monday against Lorenzo Giustino (ATP 174).
After undergoing knee surgery in 2011, the Uruguayan spent two years away from the courts before making a comeback that shows great strength of character. At the age of 35, he believes he is still capable of writing beautiful pages in the beautiful book of his career. For his first appearance at the Parc des Eaux-Vives, he hopes to shuffle the cards.
While Pablo Cuevas has not yet finished the job, Henri Laaksonen (ATP 139) has perfectly done his own. The Schaffhausen native made the most of the rain to secure his place in the main draw with wins over two left-handed players, Germany’s Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (ATP 134) and Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo (ATP 166). This is the first time in his career that he has reached the main draw of the Gonet Geneva Open.
The former TC Geneva player made a winning return to the Parc des Eaux-Vives six years after losing in the second round of qualifying to American Daniel Young. “I haven’t been able to play this tournament in recent years because I was always in the qualifying round of the French Open. The postponement of the French Open changed everything,” says the Schaffhausen native, who was on a three-match losing streak in the first round of Challengers tournaments before the Gonet Geneva Open. “I arrived on Thursday. I prepared myself well,” he says. Even though I was close to losing my first match, I’m happy with my level of play. I was able to raise it when the circumstances demanded it.”