Cuevas, from inter-country kayaking to realising his dreams: 'I'm still passionate about tennis'

Pablo Cuevas, who earlier this week announced his retirement, could surely write a book of stories after a career that spanned more two decades. What all started with the simple fun and games of a child, eventually led to him becoming the best tennis player in the history of Uruguay, where he now plans to give something back so that others can walk in his footsteps.

As a child, at just 10 years of age, he would cross one of the biggest rivers in South America in a kayak, on his own: he would paddle four kilometres, 35 minutes, crossing from one country to another, just so he could play tennis every day. He was driven by a dream.

Cuevas would leave his school in Concordia, Argentina, but his tennis group, he reason for his daily international trip, was on the other bank of the river, in Salto, Uruguay. The son of an Argentine father and a Uruguayan mother, there was no stopping a young Cuevas from practising and having fun. His attitude certainly paid off in the long run.

“Tennis prepared me, it allowed me to travel the world, to discover myself,” the Uruguayan told ATPTour.com the day after announcing his retirement. “That was the goal I started with when I wanted to play tennis because it was what I enjoyed doing and I was able to enjoy myself a lot along the way.”

Cuevas peaked at No. 19 in the PIF ATP Rankings in 2016, won six ATP Tour titles and claimed 242 tour-level wins on the circuit, including three against members of the Top 5.

“When I was a boy, I didn’t know what it meant to be a tennis player, and I didn’t have a ranking in mind that I wanted to reach, I just wanted it to be my job,” Cuevas said. “Then it became much more, being Top 100, Top 50, winning tournaments, but it was always about much more than the numbers.”

What is your best memory?

“There isn’t a moment or a specific tournament that sticks with me above the rest,” Cuevas said. “I’d say it was more all these years, the lessons tennis gave me to apply it both on and off the court.”

When his aspirations started to take shape, Cuevas moved to Buenos Aires, where he would take his initial steps in the game, first in ITF World Tennis Tour events, then ATP Challenger Tour events, before eventually making his ATP Tour debut in 2007.

The Uruguayan made his major main draw debut later that year when he advanced through qualifying at the US Open and lost in the first round of the main draw against Andy Murray. One year later he claimed the Roland Garros doubles title alongside the Peruvian Luis Horna (in the quarter-finals they beat American brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, then the No. 1 team in the world).

However, when everything seemed to be going so well, in 2011, a right-knee injury stopped him in his tracks. Cuevas would have to endure crutches, the mental challenges with dealing with such an injury and a belief that he had lost everything. He even considered changing sports and attempting to become a professional golfer.

But Cuevas stuck with it, recovered, and after more than two years on the sidelines he came back and produced some of the best results of his career.

“There was a bit of everything, I was also building a family at the same time. It’s a sport that takes its toll, you lose much more than you win, but competing, knowing how to pick yourself up and turn the page is unique”, he said, with pride. His wife Clara, and his daughters, Alfonsina and Antonia, will now be able to enjoy more time with him at home.

Cuevas says he is reminded by fans of some of his best shots, which would always go viral, practically every day. His hot shots compilation video would stand up against that of any other player. The six-time ATP Tour titlist explained that it was all improvised and natural.

“It happened without trying. I never practised them and I wasn’t waiting for a moment to be able to do those kinds of shots, it was all spontaneous,” Cuevas said. “I never imagined playing magical points and I know people like it, I do like watching them though.”

Cuevas, meanwhile, is convinced that he will maintain his ties with tennis. He has already started the ball rolling.

“With Facu (Savio, his former coach and friend), we’re working with a lot of children, from the ages of eight, 10, 12, 13, to 16... and we want to create something amazing and competitive to transmit my experience and in Uruguay I think it was something that was needed,” he explained. “I continue to enjoy tennis, I’m passionate about it and it will always be a part of me.”