Pablo Cuevas met good friend Renzo Olivo in the first semifinal on the sixth day of the German Open. Coming into the match, Cuevas was dominating the tournament. He had yet to lose a set or even be broken; remarkably, he only had to defend two break points prior to the day. Olivo, on the other hand, had a much tougher road. Mikhail Youzhny and top seed Philipp Kohlschreiber both took three sets to get past. After an hour and 40 minutes of action, it was the Uruguayan Cuevas who became Hamburg's hero in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3. His tennis IQ and blistering forehand was just too much for his six-years-younger opponent to handle.
Double fault dooms Olivo
Cuevas came out firing in the opening game. He held at love in dominant fashion—paced by some powerful forehands and smart shot placement. The next game began with Olivo leading 40-15 before his opponent brought the score to the first of many deuces; after five deuces and three break points saved—all on Cuevas backhand errors—the Argentinian survived to even the score at 1-1. As the set progressed, two more games went by before Olivo saw a chance to break at 30-40. Cuevas, who was now adept at dodging breaks like they were bullets in The Matrix, sliced a serve out wide that was returned just wide. Pushed to one more deuce, the Uruguayan held to regain his lead, 3-2. The scripts were then flipped as Cuevas held break points, but couldn’t convert on either of his two looks at 15-40. Third time wasn’t the charm either, and the world number 153 escaped yet again. The next five games played out without even a glimpse of a break point. It appeared as though the match would be heading into a tiebreak, but a slight miss of the service box proved to make a huge difference. At 30-30 with the set score at 5-6, Olivo double-faulted to give Cuevas a seventh break point. That one became lucky (or unlucky, depending on the point of view) number seven; the third seed won the set on a shot hit wide from his 24-year-old adversary.
One of the biggest advantages that the 30-year-old held was his dominance at the net. Smart serve-volleying tactics gave him important edges when he needed the most; he won six of his eight net points in the set, while Olivo went three of six. Nonetheless, saving six of seven break points against a player of Cuevas' caliber is really impressive.
Cuevas finishes another straight sets victory
Twelve points began the second set, and all twelve went to the server. Through three games, Cuevas was looking really good. That continued into his second return game where he found a 15-40 lead. A backhand error botched one break chance, and a rocket forehand winner saved the other. The old cliché says that death comes in threes, but in this match, it was Olivo saving break points that came in threes. With a lunging backhand volley that would make Boris Becker proud, the Argentinian saved a third break point in the game before holding to level the score, 2-2. After a hold at love, the play in this match was elevated to an impeccably high level.
Following a backhand winner down the line at deuce with a break on the longest rally of the match, Cuevas had his path to the final laid out. Olivo, however, wouldn’t let that be an easy road; he jumped out to a 15-40 lead on the 30-year-old’s serve. In a game that featured almost eleven minutes of diving volleys, missed overheads, inhuman retrieving skills, and the untimely double fault, Cuevas found a way to hold. Five break points also stood in the way, but the world number 24 kept his composure saving every single one. With a 5-2 lead, the match was essentially over. Olivo held serve at 30 to make the score, 3-5, but the match lasted just one more game as Cuevas held at 15 to close it out.
Olivo's Cinderella run may have struck midnight, but he improved as the tournament wore on. In the second set he found five break points; he didn't convert on them, but it was progress. His success in Hamburg will also catapult his ranking 44 spots to number 109 in the world.
This semifinal win—one that continued his unbroken, no sets lost streak—will send Cuevas into the top 20 for the first time in his career. It will also give him a chance to win his third ATP World Tour event in 2016. He will meet the winner of Stephane Robert - Martin Klizan in the Hamburg final on Sunday.