Pablo Cuevas made it titles in back-to-back weeks with a win Sunday in Sao Paulo. Cuevas won the Rio Open last week and took home the title at the Brasil Open today, his second straight year to do so in Sao Paulo.
Cuevas Wins Close Opening Set in Tiebreak
Pablo Cuevas and Pablo Carrenu Busta were meeting for the fourth time as they played in the Brasil Open final. Cuevas had won two of the three previous meetings. The opening set saw both men with brilliant serving displays. Cuevas opened with a service hold and was quickly matched by the Spaniard. The two would then trade holds all the way to a tiebreak, with neither man facing a single break point. In the breaker, Cuevas blinked first by dropping a service point to hand Carreno Busta the mini-break at 3-2. That would last just one point as Cuevas evened it 3-3 at the first changeover. The third seed from Uruguay would win four of the next five points to clinch the opening set 7-4 in the tiebreak. Cuevas won 28 of 40 service points in the set, while Carreno Busta won 27 of 36.
Second Set Sees Cuevas Pounce Early
The third seed would make his mark in the set in the third game after the pair traded service holds. In an 11 point game, Cuevas crafted three break chances off of the Spaniard. He would take the third to earn the 2-1 lead. The next game saw a little wobble from Cuevas as he would face his first break point of the match. The Uruguayan saved it to push to a 3-1 advantage. Carreno Busta would continue his struggles on serve in the set as Cuevas secured a bonus break in the next game to push to a 4-1 lead. Cuevas would blow his first chance to wrap up the title in the 8th game as he was broken for the first time. The third seed would rebound quickly though as he broke the Spaniard in the following game to complete the title win 7-6 (4), 6-3.
The set saw a huge dip in serve for Carreno Busta as he won just half of his service points, 17 of 34. Cuevas had trouble on second serves, but won 14 of 18 on first serves in the set to make up for it. Cuevas is now 11-1 on clay in 2016.
Final Notes
The final was the first for Carreno Busta at this level. Despite the loss, the Spaniard can take something from the event as he broke a string of two straight tournaments where he had lost in the opening round. In an odd twist, Cuevas beat all Spaniards in making his way to his fifth career title. The third seed beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Roberto Carbaelles Baena, Inigo Cervantes and Carreno Busta. He is now 5-1 in ATP World Tour finals appearances overall. All five of his titles have come on clay.